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In \u2018Embodying Emergent Masculinities\u2019, Marcia Inhorn and Emily Wentzell argue that \u201cmasculinity research within anthropology must account for ongoing, embodied changes in men\u2019s enactments of masculinities over time on both individual and societal levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The article focuses on two studies about men who are breaking the hegemonic masculinity-mold in their respective cultures, embracing what the authors coin \u201cemergent masculinities\u201d. The article concludes that studies about masculinity must recognize emergent masculinities because \u201can emergent masculinities approach that takes new forms of masculine embodiment seriously as an object of empirical investigation helps to challenge pernicious stereotypes of masculinity that still persist in many regions of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original theorist of \u201chegemonic masculinity,\u201d R. W. Connell, defined hegemonic masculinity as \u201cthe strategy for being a man that legitimizes patriarchy and enables gendered social dominance in a given cultural context; it is shaped by, though not necessarily identical to, cultural ideals of manliness.\u201d As we learned through the example of the Aka, \u201cthe strategy for being a man\u201d does not always legitimize patriarchy nor does it always enable gendered social dominance; rather, the embodiment of hegemonic masculinity in Aka culture results in gender egalitarianism. The Aka example would render Connell\u2019s definition incorrect. However, in North America, where hegemonic masculinity can be defined as white, middle to upper-middle class, able-bodied, and heterosexual, the masculine ideal does<\/em> legitimize patriarchy and enable gendered social dominance. We must recognize that this is not because of what hegemonic masculinity is inherently as a concept, but rather because of what we have constructed<\/em> hegemonic masculinity to serve as: an agent of legitimizing patriarchy, racism, and sexism.<\/p>\n While the cross-cultural examples provided by Inhorn and Wentzell serve to provide evidence of variations in masculinity, and a sort of \u201canti-hegemony\u201d movement among some<\/em> men, in North America, our fixation with gendered products would serve as evidence that North Americans are, overall, still fixated on portraying and embodying hegemonic gender.<\/p>\n But how can this be? We\u2019re way <\/em>more progressive and accepting than our forerunners. We\u2019re millennials,<\/em> we\u2019re all<\/em> about equality, \u201cfighting<\/em> the man<\/em>\u201d<\/em>, \u201cbreaking the mold<\/em>\u201d<\/em>,<\/em> and accepting different races, genders, sexualities.<\/p>\n So, progressive generation Y, how is it then that \u201cleading U.S. toy manufacturer Hasbro\u2019s \u201cgirls\u201d category raked in $300 million\u201d in the early 1990\u2019s but, \u201cearned a record-breaking $1 billion\u201d in 2013? \u00a0According to this fact, we care about\u00a0$700 million dollars more<\/em> about not <\/strong>breaking the mold than our predecessors (and that\u2019s just one company)<\/u>.<\/p>\n Still convinced this doesn’t apply to you?<\/p>\n Do you think that drinking a beer is “more manly” than having a fruity cocktail, or say, a glass of ros\u00e9? Is it the colour of these beverages that is offensive to your masculinity? North American millennial males were so offended by the idea of drinking pink wine that they felt forced to reinvent it \u2013 rename it \u2013 reclaim a genderless beverage<\/strong> for the sake of their masculinity.<\/p>\n \u201cPink wine was once just for girls, but this summer male drinkers are putting down their pint glasses and getting in on the act. Introducing Bros\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n The viral sensation that is Bros\u00e9 serves as evidence that North American millennial males\u2019 masculinities are so tied up with the hegemonic ideal, that drinking something pink \u2013 a colour coded for females in our society through a process of enculturation \u2013 might somehow affect and or totally erase it.<\/p>\n If millennials were truly as progressive as they thought they were, Bros\u00e9 wouldn\u2019t have become a viral trend, and we wouldn\u2019t spend billions of dollars on gendered products to publicly, and internally, reaffirm our masculinities and or femininities.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/desireemaxineschmitt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/344\/2017\/10\/Screen-Shot-2017-10-26-at-3.02.06-PM.png\")
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