Doing Hegemony: Military, Men, and Constructing a Hegemonic Masculinity

Hegemonic masculinities are at the top of the gender hierarchy and exist in relation to subordinated gender constructs. Traditional constructions of hegemonic masculinities include risk-taking, self-discipline, physical toughness and/or muscular development, aggression, violence, emotional control, and overt heterosexual desire. Using a grounded theory approach, 43 men were interviewed focusing on the process of hegemonic masculinities construction (n = 25 pre-active duty Reserve Officer Training Corps members and n = 18 Delayed Entry Program men). By casting non-military personal (i.e., civilians) and service members of different branches (i.e., Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force), different occupational specialties (i.e., infantry, artillery, supply, etc.), and different rank (officer versus enlisted) as less physically able, self-disciplined, willing to take risks, emotionally controlled, and/or intelligent, pre-active duty servicemen discursively dominate others. The end result is that men create hierarchies that subordinate others while simultaneously placing their own perceived characteristics in positions of symbolic dominance.