Hegemonic masculinity
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The normative ideal of masculinity that men are supposed to aim for and women are supposed to want. Characteristics associated with hegemonic masculinity are agressiveness, strength, drive, ambition, and self relience.
The concept of 'hegemony', derived from Antonio Gramsci's analysis of class relations, refers to the cultural dynamic by which a group claims and sustains a leading position in social life. At any given time, one form of masculinity rather than others is culturally exalted. Hegemonic masculinity can be defined as the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women.[1]
[edit] NOTES
1^ Connell, R. W. (2005) Masculinities. Second Edition, Cambridge: Polity Press
