Borrowing from Femininity: The Caring Man, Hybrid Masculinities, and Maintaining Male Dominance

Abstract

Prevalent cultural representations of masculinity depict men as aggressive, emotionally distant individuals whose hard and muscular bodies epitomize these traits. These traditional representations of masculinity have also been linked to sexism and male dominance, which has encouraged many men to distance themselves from these representations. This study employed grounded theory methods to analyze interviews with twenty-five men about their understanding and construction of their masculinity. The analysis revealed that some men construct a hybrid masculinity by describing themselves as caring or being in touch with their feminine side to create social distance between themselves and men who adhere to traditional representations of masculinity. While men incorporated what they viewed as feminine characteristics into their identities, they reinforced, rather than challenged, the symbolic boundaries of gender and the resulting gender hierarchy. Ultimately, the men in this study were able to co-opt the language of caring to gain more prestige while reinforcing gender inequality and male dominance.