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Genders in Play: Multiple Femininities and Masculinities in Male-Dominated Social Realms

Vaughn, Jonathan S
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1494249847678014

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
Gender scholars have long theorized about the existence of multiple femininities and hegemonic masculinity within any given society. Prior work has examined how individuals construct these femininities and masculinities and how these constructions can evolve over time in response to a larger societal changes. Guided by existing scholarship that illustrates some of the possibilities and limitations of femininities and the enduring power of hegemonic masculinity, I examine women’s experiences in three novel, male-dominated social realms: firearms shooting, amateur automobile racing, and video gaming. While each site is overwhelmingly male, they differ from each other quite dramatically in terms of social norms, structural traits, and organizational demands. As the ubiquitous phenomenon of hegemonic masculinity percolates through each of these unique social structures, what emerges in each are organizational norms that successfully maintain masculine dominance, but do so in very different ways. Women participants experience these unique environments and respond by adapting in their own unique ways, crafting femininities that run the gambit from struggling against masculine hegemony to complicitly reaffirming it. By situating ethnographic research of three unique sites within a single comparative study, and illustrating how structural and organizational differences can lead to wildly divergent gender constructions, this paper expands our existing understanding of how multiple femininities are crafted and the surprising range of adaptability hegemonic masculinity can display in its efforts to maintain social dominance. Moving beyond theoretical approaches, this paper uses rich empirical data to illustrate the importance of setting in determining the opportunities available to women in any given social group. It also calls into question the contemporary conventional wisdom that claims that an organization simply crafting diversity-friendly rules will be sufficient to create level playing-fields for women.
Steven Lopez (Advisor)
205 p.
Sociology
Gender, Women, Hegemonic Masculinity, Power, Inequality, Sport, Sociology,

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Vaughn, J. S. (2017). Genders in Play: Multiple Femininities and Masculinities in Male-Dominated Social Realms [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1494249847678014

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Vaughn, Jonathan. Genders in Play: Multiple Femininities and Masculinities in Male-Dominated Social Realms. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1494249847678014.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Vaughn, Jonathan. "Genders in Play: Multiple Femininities and Masculinities in Male-Dominated Social Realms." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1494249847678014

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1494249847678014
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.