"Welcome to the Men's Club: Homosociality and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity" & "'Dude, you're a fag': adolescent masculinity and the fag discourse"
In "Welcome to the Men's Club: Homosociality and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity," by Sharon R. Bird, I learned that homosociality means "nonsexual attractions held by men (or women) for members of their own sex," whereas heterosociality "refers to nonsexual attraction held by men (or women) for members of the other sex" (Bird 121). Bird pointed out that there are three aspects of homosexuality that contributes to hegemonic masculinity, which are emotional detachment, competitiveness, and sexual objectification of women. These elements are present in most of my male friends with a few exceptions. In my opinion, the handful of them that does not show emotional detachment, competitiveness, and/or sexual objectification of women are really sweet and gentle guys. I agree with the statement "emotional detachment is one way in which gender hierarchies are maintained" because if an individual shows emotions, others can easily take advantage by manipulating that individual's emotions (Bird 125). One of the respondent who participated in the interview said, "It's like otherwise you're gonna get walked on" and that is why males are consistently competing with one another (Bird 128). By engaging in the objectification of women, men show their peers that they are tough and in control. In the conclusion, Bird mentioned on page 130 that "violations of the norms of hegemonic masculinity typically fail to produce alterations in the gender order; instead, they result in penalties to violators," which reminded me of a reading that talked about the punishments an individual will receive if he/she do not act/dress their biological sex.
C. J. Pascoeâs ââDude, youâre a fagâ: adolescent masculinity and the fag discourse,â discussed how teenage males use the terms âfagâ and âgay.â According to the author, fag is âa generic insult for incompetenceâ and âis central to a masculine identity,â whereas ââgayâ is a fairly common synonym for âstupidââ at River High (Pascoe 75). I have heard insults where people use these two terms to refer to someone who is not homosexual. These terms are use interchangeably to describe an individual who lacks ability or makes a mistake. When someone is asked to characterize a gay male, many would say he acts/dresses/walks in a feminine way. The author made a good point and reinforced the idea that âa boy can be gay and masculineâ (Pascoe 76). With that said, it is wrong to characterize homosexuals because just like gender, there are differentiations between individuals within the same category.Â
