Masculinity, according to Kimmel (1994), is not a manifestation of our inner-self but rather a social construct consisting of attributes and behaviors associated with boys and men that are a part of historical culture. While masculinity can vary across the globe depending on cultures, Western society’s common masculinity traits include dominance, assertiveness, sexual ability, and intelligence (cite). Masculinity, from a Western view, has been too narrow, making young men’s interests less valuable by the evolving social conditions in which they live (Clayton, Hewitt, & Gaffney, 2004).
From the framework of masculinity, there has been a shift into hypermasculinity, which is an overemphasis and exaggerated adherence to the traditional male gender roles
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Hegemony, according to Kimmel and Davis (2011) is “the process of influence where we learn to earnestly embrace a system of beliefs and practices that essential harm us, while working to uphold the interests of others who have power over us” (p. 9). This means that hegemonic masculinity has specific forms of masculinity, and those that do not embody the most aligned societal forms of masculinity are seen as less than or “others” (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). This hegemonic masculinity happens due to men having a fear for anything that would be considered feminine. A reasoning behind such fear could be the result from a young man’s lack of emotional relationship with his father (Disney et al., 2015). While certain masculinities can be viewed as positive based on the attributes it comes with, it also can be viewed as negative for men that do not embody what is seen as normally masculine. This, in turn, would make them the “other”, which in this case would be feminine. The “other” or being “othered” means that a person is different than society’s norms and one or more of their salient social identities are not a part of the dominant social group