Hegemonic masculinity and rape culture: negotiating manhood at a Canadian university

Abstract

Using in-depth qualitative interviews with 12 male-identified individuals between the ages of 19 and 25 recruited from the Memorial University community, this project examines how men negotiate the complexities of hegemonic masculinity in a society in which that hegemonic masculinity is constructed as violent. This research is prompted by the current crisis in North America of campus rape culture and grounded in the need to identify solutions to the rate of sexual violence occurring in university communities. To examine masculinities in this context, I explore this key question: How do male-identified individuals understand and negotiate the intricacies of masculinity and societal expectations of what it means to “be a man”? to explore this, I turn to the following sub-questions: a) to what extent do participants identify with hegemonic notions of masculinity? b) what developmental experiences have most influenced their self-identification (either positively or negatively) with traditional masculine norms? c) how is rape culture understood, perceived and perpetuated (or challenged) by male-identified university students? Drawing on the theoretical work of gender researchers such as Raewyn Connell and Michael Kimmel, this thesis will include insights into the ways in which masculinities are being reproduced, challenged and resisted.