The Patriarchy of Hegemonic Masculinity
Why do we, as Americans, cheer on and applaud dominant men? Our American society celebrates the hegemonic masculine traits of men, such as being the alpha-male or being the father of a family where the wife takes care of the children and the father goes to work. Dominance can be as simple as physical ability in the way that we cheer as future Hall of Famer and former Most Valuable Player, professional baseball player; Alex Rodriguez hits a walk off homerun. Dominance can also be shown through the confidence and leadership abilities that some of the greatest male athletes had. Meanwhile, superstar tennis player Serena Williams has these exceptional physical attributes but receives much less praise from …show more content…
This works to motivate those who are deemed as inferior within the social construct to strive for complete dominance over their fellow males. Within this twisted social expectation, there is a societal deception that everyone else is displaying masculine traits, through the worries of being "out-dominated" by their peers, men are pressured to consciously find ways to demonstrate their dominance as an unstoppable and consistent authority figure. This adds a set of "masculine requirements" that include maintaining a breadwinner position within the family structure, adhering to extreme masculine expectations of portraying this dominance, and the idea that men must use women solely for sexual conquests without emotional connection. Primarily, men must live up to their dominant roles or risk losing a hegemonic position within the patriarchy, in which they are subject to severe treatment and possibly violent forms of gender policing if seen as weak or failing to manifest patriarchal ideals of dominance. Simply put, a man must be masculine all the time. Patriarchy acts as a social construct that structurally benefits him, yet socially places a significant amount of pressure on
Why do we, as Americans, cheer on and applaud dominant men? Our American society celebrates the hegemonic masculine traits of men, such as being the alpha-male or being the father of a family where the wife takes care of the children and the father goes to work. Dominance can be as simple as physical ability in the way that we cheer as future Hall of Famer and former Most Valuable Player, professional baseball player; Alex Rodriguez hits a walk off homerun. Dominance can also be shown through the confidence and leadership abilities that some of the greatest male athletes had. Meanwhile, superstar tennis player Serena Williams has these exceptional physical attributes but receives much less praise from …show more content…
This works to motivate those who are deemed as inferior within the social construct to strive for complete dominance over their fellow males. Within this twisted social expectation, there is a societal deception that everyone else is displaying masculine traits, through the worries of being "out-dominated" by their peers, men are pressured to consciously find ways to demonstrate their dominance as an unstoppable and consistent authority figure. This adds a set of "masculine requirements" that include maintaining a breadwinner position within the family structure, adhering to extreme masculine expectations of portraying this dominance, and the idea that men must use women solely for sexual conquests without emotional connection. Primarily, men must live up to their dominant roles or risk losing a hegemonic position within the patriarchy, in which they are subject to severe treatment and possibly violent forms of gender policing if seen as weak or failing to manifest patriarchal ideals of dominance. Simply put, a man must be masculine all the time. Patriarchy acts as a social construct that structurally benefits him, yet socially places a significant amount of pressure on