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

Abstract

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.

‘Mine’s a Pint of Bitter’: Performativity, gender, class and representations of authenticity in real-ale tourism

“…Although the context and age of normative male drinkers varies in the research, the development of hegemonic masculine identities takes place through heavily gendered and thematically specific discourse and the ritualised performance of drinking. Gough and Edwards (1998) demonstrated the dependence of hegemonic masculinities on the discursive subordination of 'others'. By creating distinctions between 'selves-as-men' (held in positive regard) and 'other' identities (mainly homosexual men, women and men of 'different' regions or ethnicities) males enhance their self-definitions while simultaneously reinforcing traditional hegemony of white males (Gough and Edwards, 1998: 430).…”

Constructing hegemonic masculinities in South Africa

“…Consensus in this position, and hence its implied factuality, is claimed through the use of words such as 'we' (l. 24) and 'us' (l. 28). In essence he invokes a rehearsed argument that links eff eminacy, homosexuality and masculinity (Gough and Edwards 1998;Martino 2008). Connell (1992: 736 emphasis original) explains that '(t)o many people, homosexuality is the negation of masculinity, and' because femininity is also considered masculinity's opposite 'homosexual men must be eff eminate' .…”

Male Team Sport Hazing Initiations in a Culture of Decreasing Homohysteria

“…Alcohol acts as a disinhibitor (for both hazers and recruits), permitting an escalation of activities to occur (Robinson, 1998). Furthermore, because excessive alcohol consumption is coded as a masculine endeavor (Gough & Edwards, 1998), recruits who willingly consume and sustain a higher tolerance of alcohol upgrade their masculine capital (Peralta, 2007).…”