Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination: Toward a comprehensive social theory of gender

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Bourdieu’s concept of masculine domination offers a comprehensive social theory of gender as compared to Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity through examining the proposition of positive hegemonic masculinity.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that argues that Bourdieu’s concept of masculine domination offers a comprehensive social theory of gender as compared to Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that Bourdieu’s concept of masculine domination incorporates both discursive and material structures of the gender system that privileges men/masculine over women/feminine, making it a comprehensive social theory of gender.

Research limitations/implications

The concepts of hegemonic masculinity and masculine domination have not been reviewed in the light of emerging perspectives on hegemony, power and domination. The future research could focus on a review of research methods such as institutional ethnography, in examining masculine domination.

Practical implications

Using masculine domination perspective, organizations could identify specific managerial discourses, aspects of work organization and practices in order to eliminate gender-based discrimination, harassment and unequal access to resources.

Social implications

Public policy interventions aimed at inclusive development could examine women’s condition of continued disadvantageousness, through masculine domination perspective.

Originality/value

The authors seek to provide a comparative view of the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and masculine domination, using the categories of comparison that was not attempted earlier.

Citation

Reddy, R., Sharma, A.K. and Jha, M. (2019), "Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination: Toward a comprehensive social theory of gender", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 39 No. 3/4, pp. 296-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2018-0133