Abstract

Hegemonic masculinity is a concept that seeks to draw attention to the ways in which masculinity has been naturalised and normalised and to further highlight how this perpetuates specific gender-based relations of power. This entry examines the evolution of the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which has dominated masculinities research since the early 1980s. The concept has also been the focus of major debate and discussion in critical studies in men and masculinities (CSMM) and subject to substantial critique and revision over time. This entry traces the theoretical evolution of the concept and documents its methodological roots, examining the significance of the relationship between a range of methodological developments and increasing theoretical sophistication in relation to the concept. The entry concludes with a consideration of how recent methodological developments might further contemporary iterations of the concept of hegemonic masculinity.