TY - JOUR
T1 - What makes hegemonic masculinity so hegemonic? Japanese American men and masculine aspirations
AU - Tsuda, Takeyuki
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Research on ‘hegemonic masculinity’ needs to more specifically examine its hegemonic properties by analysing how masculine ideals embodied by white men have become pervasive and widely-accepted by men of colour through their voluntary compliance and consent. This paper analyses the influence of hegemonic masculinity on the lives of Japanese American men. Because they have adopted hegemonic masculinity as an idealised standard that they aspire to, but cannot attain, their subordinate masculinity is construed as inferior and effeminate, constraining their romantic power over women. Such negative assessments are shared by Japanese American women, who are also under the pervasive influence of hegemonic masculinity. In response, some Japanese American men attempt to appropriate the qualities of an idealised manliness in public performances, indicating how they continue to conceive of their masculinities in hegemonic terms. Although a few of them valorised Asian American manhood in order to challenge hegemonic conceptions, such alternative masculinities may eventually be appropriated by hegemonic masculine discourses to perpetuate pre-existing racial inequalities.
AB - Research on ‘hegemonic masculinity’ needs to more specifically examine its hegemonic properties by analysing how masculine ideals embodied by white men have become pervasive and widely-accepted by men of colour through their voluntary compliance and consent. This paper analyses the influence of hegemonic masculinity on the lives of Japanese American men. Because they have adopted hegemonic masculinity as an idealised standard that they aspire to, but cannot attain, their subordinate masculinity is construed as inferior and effeminate, constraining their romantic power over women. Such negative assessments are shared by Japanese American women, who are also under the pervasive influence of hegemonic masculinity. In response, some Japanese American men attempt to appropriate the qualities of an idealised manliness in public performances, indicating how they continue to conceive of their masculinities in hegemonic terms. Although a few of them valorised Asian American manhood in order to challenge hegemonic conceptions, such alternative masculinities may eventually be appropriated by hegemonic masculine discourses to perpetuate pre-existing racial inequalities.
KW - Hegemony
KW - Japanese Americans
KW - gender
KW - hegemonic masculinity
KW - ideology
KW - race and ethnicity
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U2 - 10.1080/1070289X.2020.1851005
DO - 10.1080/1070289X.2020.1851005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097532519
JO - Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
JF - Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
SN - 1070-289X
ER -