“Let’s Hug It Out, Bitch”

Abstract

Media scholars have begun to examine how masculinities function in the media through exploration of a variety of texts and personas; however, most have sought to do so by using textual analysis. We argue that this emphasis on textual analysis has overshadowed scholarship on media audiences, limiting opportunities to understand how audiences’ gender identities are affected by mediated masculinities. Through interviews with viewers of HBO’s Entourage, we examine how viewers apply their attitudes and beliefs about masculinity to Entourage’s characters and use Entourage’s portrayal of masculinities to think through their own gender identities. We found that participants were drawn to a fantasy version of a powerful, dominant masculinity and felt less favorably about characters who exhibited forms of masculinity that incorporated attitudes and behaviors deemed feminine. Our findings suggest that scholarship on the crisis in masculinity, and theorization of hegemonic masculinity generally, would be strengthened with critical qualitative audience studies.