Hegemonic Masculinity: Formulation, Reformulation, and Amplification

Few concepts in gender studies are as used—and misunderstood—as 'hegemonic masculinity.' This book is more than just a useful primer but a careful theoretical exegesis of the term and its conceptual and cultural contexts. (Michael Kimmel, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, Stony Brook University)

Like many powerful concepts, hegemonic masculinity has been deployed variously as a sharp tool that clarifies the workings of the social world, as a fuzzy term that means whatever an author wants it to mean, and as a simplistic foil against which a writer attempts to assert some other idea. James Messerschmidt—long a leading scholar in the field—contributes a clear road map to understanding the origins, development and continuing importance of the concept. Hegemonic Masculinity is a welcome and valuable contribution to the maturation of gender theory in the social sciences. (Michael A. Messner, University of Southern California)

James Messerschmidt provides a comprehensive and insightful discussion and analysis of the socio-historical trajectory of the concept of hegemonic masculinity. This book is, without question, the most comprehensive, clarifying, and in depth treatment of the concept hegemonic masculinity to date. Going beyond summary, Messerschmidt’s meta-analysis of the large body of theoretical and empirical work on hegemonic masculinity extends as much as it clarifies the meaning, applicability, and importance of the concept. This book should—and I believe will—become a standard and required text for anyone interested in gender and social inequality. (Mary A. Schippers, Tulane University)

James W. Messerschmidt’s Hegemonic Masculinity is a tour de force, masterfully placing the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and its changing development in historical and contemporary context. Messerschmidt skillfully examines new and diverse research on hegemonic masculinity over the past thirty years, confirming the continued significance of Connell’s original emphasis on the legitimation of unequal gender relations, yet he simultaneously shows that a renovated concept is necessary to understand the omnipresence of hegemonic masculinities today—locally, regionally, and globally. A significant and momentous work that all students and scholars interested in confronting gender inequality must read! (Øystein G. Holter, University of Oslo)

Hegemonic Masculinity is a comprehensive and informative overview of the history, critique, reformulation, and current theory of this core concept. It is sure to become a classic text in gender studies—an indispensable introduction for new students and a reliable resource for established scholars. I highly recommend it. (Judith Lorber, professor emerita, Graduate School and Brooklyn College, CUNY; author of Breaking the Bowls: Degendering and Feminist Change)

James W. Messerschmidt is professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Criminology at the University of Southern Maine, where he also teaches in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. He is also adjunct professor, School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. In addition to more than sixty-five articles and book chapters, he has authored thirteen books, with the most recent being Gender Reckonings: New Social Theory and Research, co-edited with Patricia Martin, Michael Messner, and Raewyn Connell.