The Influence of Declining Homophobia on Men’s Gender in the United States: An Argument for the Study of Homohysteria

2017

Men and Masculinities

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In this research, utilising data from 30 semi-structured interviews, we examine how heterosexual undergraduate men compare their experiences of bromances to that of their romantic relationships (romances). We find that the increasingly intimate, emotive and trusting nature of bromances offers young men a new social space for emotional disclosure, outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. Participants state that the lack of boundaries and judgement in a bromance is expressed as emotionally rivalling the benefits of a heterosexual romance. Our participants mostly determined that a bromance offered them elevated emotional stability, enhanced emotional disclosure, social fulfilment, and better conflict resolution, compared to the emotional lives they shared with girlfriends. Thus, this research provides an empirically grounded conceptual framework for understanding men's view of close homosocial relationships in comparison to their romantic relationship in the 21 st century.

Section: The Influence Of Homohysteria On Homosocialitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Privileging the Bromance: A Critical Appraisal of Romantic and Bromantic Relationships

Robinson

White

2017

Men and Masculinities

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“…how men and boys police or promote the gender behaviours of each other), or what Demetriou The decrement of homohysteria creates a culture of increased inclusivity, which has tangible effects on gendered interactions and language (McCormack, 2011a). McCormack and Anderson (2014) use the term inclusivity not to imply full equality of all minority groups, 5 but instead increased access to the power that was once confined to heterosexuals through homophobia. This inclusion has social benefits for both gay and straight men (McCormack, 2012a).…”

Section: Inclusive Masculinity Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether dressing up in women's clothes and jewellery, showing off grooming products, or comparing themselves to women, in stark contrast to the requisites of orthodox masculinity, the masculinities displayed by these vloggers frequently include behaviours traditionally coded as feminine (see McCormack and Anderson, 2014). At school, Charlie was comfortable being identified with a 'softer' masculinity, saying, 'I definitely think there were people who were more feminine that I associated myself with'.…”

Section: Association With Femininitymentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Charlie Is So Cool Like’: Authenticity, Popularity and Inclusive Masculinity on YouTube

Morris

2015

Sociology

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On the world's most utilised video-sharing social networking site, YouTube, CharlieMcDonnell (Charlieissocoollike), Dan Howell (Danisnotonfire), and Jack and Finn Harries (JacksGap) are Britain's most popular video-bloggers (vloggers). With more than two million regular subscribers to each of their channels, along with millions of casual viewers, they represent a new form of authentic online celebrity. These young men, whose YouTube careers began as teenagers, do not espouse a traditional form of masculinity; they are not sporty, macho, or even expressly concerned with being perceived as heterosexual. Instead, they present a softer masculinity, eschewing the homophobia, misogyny, and aggression attributed to boys of previous generations. These behaviours are theorised using Anderson's Inclusive Masculinity Theory. Drawing on analysis of 115 video-blogs (vlogs), along with an in-depth interview with Charlie McDonnell, this article examines how these young men developed and exhibit their inclusive masculinities and attitudes, which we postulate are a reflection of dominant youth culture.

“…It was the positive impact of decreasing homophobia on heterosexual men that formed the empirical base for our Feminist Forum article (McCormack and Anderson 2014). Over the previous decade, there has been a significant improvement in the lives of heterosexual men (Adams 2011;Anderson 2009), particularly among younger generations (those called 'millennials').…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homohysteria: Definitions, Context and Intersectionality

McCormack

2014

Sex Roles

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(2014) 'Homohysteria : denitions, context and intersectionality.', Sex roles., 71 (3-4). pp. 152-158. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0401-9Publisher's copyright statement:The nal publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0401-9.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. In our original article (McCormack and Anderson 2014), we discussed six key ways that heterosexual men's gendered behaviors had expanded. These were: 1) the social inclusion of gay male peers; 2) the embrace of once-feminized artifacts; 3) increased emotional intimacy; 4) increased physical tactility; 5) erosion of the one-time rule of homosexuality; 6) eschewing violence. We advanced homohysteria to explain these changes, and also explored how the concept might be applied in other ways. 2We are grateful for the opportunity to respond to the commentaries in this Feminist Forum. We are encouraged by the four papers, and now take the opportunity to use the commentaries and some of their primary critiques to further articulate and refine homohysteria as a concept. Motivation for HomohysteriaThe concept homohysteria was originally developed as part of inclusive masculinity theorya theory that provides a way of understanding the stratification of masculinities in contemporary U.S. and U.K. cultures (Anderson 2009). We highlight that the 'inclusive' nomenclature of the theory relates to inclusivity of homosexuality among heterosexual men.It recognizes that social power is located within heterosexuality, and changing levels of Insert figure 1 here Engaging with the Feminist Forum CommentariesIf homohysteria is to be of utility in the social sciences, further empirical support is required.In their paper, Parent et al. (2014) offer three areas that they think need to be addressed in developing the concept. They call for 1) clarity of definition; 2) recognition of the diversity of sexuality; and 3) incorporation of an intersectional and international approach that extends the concept beyond heterosexual men in the U.S. In the rest of this response, we engage with these issues. Definitional ClarityParent et al. (2014) argue that definitional clarity and falsifiability are necessary for theoretical utility. Adopting a sociological perspective, and contrasting it with Parent et al, wehighlight that concepts and theories do not need to be precisely measurable in order to be useful tools for macro-cultural analysis. The concept of hegemonic masculinity, ...