Spring 2020
Forms of Hegemonic Masculinities
4 digital zines I made that explain hegemonic masculinities in different cultures
1. Transnational Business Masculinity
Transnational Business Masculinity is a type of hegemonic masculinity under the trend of the global economy. It is a “dominant form of masculinity that embodies, organizes, and legitimates men’s domination in the world gender order as a whole” (Connell, 2005).
The cover page
The page composes with a couple of the world’s richest businessmen, including Jeff Bezos, the CEO and President of Amazon; Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals, oil & gas company; Ma Huateng, the CEO of Tencent, Asia’s most valuable company; Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google; and Masayoshi Son, CEO of a Japanese holding company SoftBank. These people are placing in the background of a diagram of the economic trend, and the overall dark tone of the visual shows a sense of tension.
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The ever-changing technology and interest connect people worldwide and enable businesses to become cross-national. The new digital communication means and the free trade or reduction of trade barriers not only speed up the circulation of the capital and goods but also stimulate the growth of global markets. Multinational corporations and global capital markets are becoming rising important within this social trend. Transnational Business Masculinity exists in the men who possess the power in the key industry. They are “the bearers of these configurations of practice generally controlled the key industries in the local economy” (Connell, 2005).
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The visuals in the pages reflect a managerial world that is dominated by males. According to The Glass Ceiling Commission (1995), among the top U.S. corporations, “ninety-five percent to ninety-seven percent of top executives were men” (Connell, 2005). The transnational business masculinity is contributed by social stereotypes that present males as more salient than women in leadership roles within the organizational structure. In turn, the prevalence of this type of masculinity solidifies men’s authority over women. Nevertheless, such a masculinity form also faces more health risks related to high pressure and long-hour work. While collaboration is indispensable in the workforce, many of the most successful companies are known for their hyper-competitive cultures that optimize the deliverables.
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These men possess the Transnational Business Masculinity do not necessarily need to be the most wealthy people as what the cover page shows. Nevertheless, they are considered affluent and being in a leading and dominant position in a social hierarchy. Although in the realm of business and a world of borderless competitions, this hegemony becomes less associated with races, the Transactional Business Masculinity still has a high degree of agreement with the traditional western hegemonic masculinity traits like power, high social status, heterosexuality, non-femininity. Different from the “herbivore men” and the Korean Flower Men, which are being a regional masculinity ideal that “constructed at the level of the culture of the nation-state,” the Transnational Business Masculinity is “constructed in transnational arenas” (Kareithi, 2014). Its opposite traits with the two types of Asian new ideal men images and the consistency with the traditional gender order confirms the existence of a fluid dynamics within the concept of hegemony that corresponds with certain cultural and institutional power.
References:
Connell, R. W., & Wood, J. (2005). Globalization and Business Masculinities. Men and Masculinities, 7(4), 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X03260969
Kareithi, P. J. (2014). Hegemonic masculinity in media. Media and gender: a scholarly agenda for the Global Alliance on Media and Gender, 30.
2. Chinese Metrosexual Masculinity
The emergence of the Chinese metrosexual masculinity is embedded into the trend of globalization, the social-economic shift after the Economic Reform, and the cultural inheritance of Confucian values. This type of masculinity emphasizes the traits of high education, urban-based modernity, and business power, which are represented in this digital zine.
The cover page
An overall look of the metrosexual masculinity. The visual composes an urban successful businessman/white-collar worker with a background of the city of Shanghai—the country’s biggest city and a global financial hub.
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As production factors such as commodities, technology, information, services, currency, personnel, capital, and management experience are increasingly becoming cross-regional, the world economy is also closely linked as a whole. This economic globalization is one of the important features of the contemporary world and an essential premise for the emergence of the Metrosexual Masculinity for the flourishing of entrepreneurship. At the same time, the increasing popularization of the internet enables this group to follow the latest global trend. Under the influence of cultural exchanges, manliness attaches more to the western lifestyle and the big name-brands. It is indicated by the phenomenon where this group of males “become obsessed with displays of conspicuous wealth and brand names such as Armani suits and Rolex watches” (Louie, 2012).
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The masculinity ideal in China is constructed culturally with a balanced paradigm of the binary opposition between Wen, “the cultural or civil” and Wu, “the physical or martial” of Confucianism. In modern civilized society, Wen represents intellectual achievement through receiving education, and Wu represents physical fitness. People nowadays are more inclined to Wen as it is more relevant to obtain a stable career and to achieve self-realization. It is reflected in the study abroad boom since 1978, and the narrative of seeking an MBA degree overseas has become a must for the metrosexual masculinity.
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One of the fundamental causes of the emergence of metrosexual masculinity is the 1978 Economic Reform. The reform has enabled not only overseas companies to enter the Chinese market but also a considerable number of Chinese companies to open up to global markets. It irreversibly brings China into the world economy and encourages the development of business, which eventually drive urban development (as shown on p5: a city map of Shanghai).
References:
Louie, K. (2012). Popular Culture and Masculinity Ideals in East Asia, with Special Reference to China. The Journal of Asian Studies, 71(4), 929–943. doi: 10.1017/s0021911812001234Kareithi, P..
3. Japanese Herbivore Men
The term “herbivore men” became popular in Japan since 2006 to describe young men who lost their “manliness” or become “feminized” because of an increasing number of them. This type of man places a low priority on sex and being more interested in the human qualities of a woman. They desire a stable romantic relationship and like to develop it slowly. The concept of “herbivore men” is in opposition to the concept of “carnivore men”. While “carnivore men” is traditionally masculine, flirt, sexually driven, confident, and a “hunter” by nature, “herbivore men” deviates from this path. It is the product of the social shifting of gender convention and the 1980s Asset Price Bubble.
The cover page
An overall look of the herbivore men with a warm smile and showcasing his gentle nature.
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A representation of the traits of herbivore men through the images of transparent water surface and a peach branch: quiet, lack assertiveness in a romantic relationship, indifferent attitude toward desires of the flesh. The visual vaguely reveals a sense of femininity and the uncertainty toward the traditional definition of what the manliness should look like.
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Affected by the 1980s Asset Price Bubble, the Japanese economy experienced a major setback, and since then has entered the Heisei Great Depression. Under this context, grow up witnessing the older generations (father, uncle, etc.) coping with the economic collapse, the “herbivore men” found the older males lost their identity as the provider for the family. The traditional salaryman, white-colored businessman model of masculinity does not function anymore, and the image of “herbivore” becomes a silent refutation of imposed ideologies and cultural expectations, a counter-dominant practice that is challenging the conventional values and ideals of dominant masculinity” (Deacon, 2013).
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In ancient Japan, manliness is closely linked to the Samurai, a hereditary military noble class that receives the education of integration of culture and martial arts and is responsible for war affairs. Although being a violent existence, through the influence of Shinto and Zen Buddhism, its way of life is full of wisdom, honors, and courage. Its traits of aggression and confidence are consistent with what considered traditional masculinity. Similar to how gender plays a role in the samurai culture, in the contemporary era, there is also a clear gender division of labor in both workforce and family. The emergence of “herbivore men” blurs the line of such gender order. They are the men who feel “constricted by a ‘manliness’ that means creating norms and controlling and protecting women and who are attempting to release themselves from its spell” (Morioka, 2013). While the “herbivore men” are the potential allies to females who would free them from fixed values, the phenomenon itself has signified a larger tolerance of individual differences in the society.
References:
Deacon, C. (2013). Herbivore boys and the performance of masculinity in contemporary Japan. Manga girl seeks herbivore boy: Studying Japanese gender at Cambridge, 129, 129-176.
Morioka, Masahiro. (2013). A Phenomenological Study of “Herbivore Men”. The Review of Life Studies. 4. 1-20.
4. Korean Flower Men
The Korean Flower Men appeared as pop idols. The emergence of this masculinity image is a socio-cultural phenomenon associated with the influence of Japanese manga. The Flower men have effeminate looks and appearances, slick presentation, and lack of profanity and sex. They appear in popular TV dramas, movies, produce pop music, and also appear on things like socks, jewelry, and mugs. This hybrid masculinity is conceived by female and youth consumers and has a fan base. It pushes consumption and becomes a cultural output.
The cover page
Jang Keun-suk is one of the most prominent representations of the Korean Flower Men, a cast of the 2009 South Korean television series “You’re Beautiful." With the flowery background, long hair, facial expression, and earing, the soft, sensitive, expressive masculinity is highlighted.
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Western hegemonic masculinity traits such as power, opposition to femininity, avoidance of emotion, combines with Confucian traditional patriarchal order also found in South Korean society. Unsatisfied with being the secondary gender to traditional macho men and being treated as merely sexual objects, Korean women and teenage girls create the image of“new man” with their increasing consumption power, who have a sensitivity to understand social pressures exerted on females. Such a masculinity ideal is shaped by the media and the fanatical worship of the fans. This new male representation on various media channels “offers a new version of masculinity that challenges traditional masculinity and recasts the ‘ideal guy’ for its mostly female audience” (Miyose and Engstrom, 2015).
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In 1997, affected by the Asian Financial Crisis, to overcome the difficulties, the South Korean government had to apply for an emergency rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund at the cost of intervention and supervision by IMF on its economic policies. Since then, South Korea has entered an “IMF era." In the following years, currency devaluation, corporate bankruptcy, and company layoffs have left bitter memories for Koreans. With the unequal treatment towards females in the workforce, women subsequently became unemployed, plus the idea that “women should be secondary to men, contributed to the emergence of a softer male image” (Miyose and Engstrom, 2015).
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The Korean Flower Men image began its popularity in the Korean entertainment industry in the late 1990s and became the foundation of the later Korean Wave on a global scale. In Turkey, the number of registered fans of Korean fan clubs has exceeded 100,000. In the United States, the popularity of the Korean Wave has expanded from the Asian American group to American white and black groups. The beautiful appearance and the core traits of Korean Flower Men masculinity retain in the homosocial bands nowadays and are fond of audiences regardless of their genders. The successful widespread of the Korean Flower Men image is carried by the Internet and social media and transforms the old way of what the male role should be.
References:
Miyose, C., & Engstrom, E. (2015). Boys Over Flowers: Korean Soap Opera and the Blossoming of a New Masculinity. Popular Culture Review. doi: 10.18278/pcr.26.2.1