The Beer Talking: Four Lads, a Carry Out and the Reproduction of Masculinities

Discourse analytic research on masculinity has produced some interesting and insightful understandings of male-bonding talk and/or talk around alcohol-related activities. These and other contributions have helped demonstrate the dependence of ‘hegemonic’ masculinities on the discursive subordination of the ‘other’, notably women and gay men. The present study builds on such work by examining the reproduction of masculinities in the context of a group of four young men interacting under the influence of alcohol. The talk was recorded with the permission of the four participants (one of whom is a co-author – GE) and subsequently subjected to discourse analysis. Particular attention is paid to definitions of (male) self and others – women, gay men and men from ethnically different backgrounds – which are negotiated during the interaction. The analysis is discussed in the light of current debates on the discursive reproduction of masculinities.