Hybrid Masculine Power: Reconceptualizing the Relationship between Homosociality and Hegemonic Masculinity

Abstract

Most research on heterosexual interaction among men focuses on ideologies, discourses, and practices that correspond to conventional renditions of hegemonic masculinity. Specifically, previous research suggests heterosexual men in homosocial interaction tend to suppress non-hegemonic meanings in constructing a sense of masculinity. Less attention has been given, however, to the ways in which men in homosocial settings conceptualize and negotiate with masculine ideals so as to produce a “hybrid” form of hegemonic masculinity that appropriates non-hegemonic practices. This study examines the production of hybrid hegemonic masculinity through participant observation of men in the social setting of a college bar. Results show that although men did align themselves with conventional hegemonic masculinity, they also incorporated gender practices associated with non-hegemonic masculinities. Interestingly, men often engaged in emotive sharing and preferred cooperation to competition as strategies in small group interaction for reproducing domination over women and subordinate masculinities. The argument is made that hybrid hegemonic masculinity may signal a shift in the landscape of hegemonic masculine power that increasingly appropriates alternative masculinities as a way to protect and reproduce gendered power and privilege.