Deconstructing Masculinity: Interrogating the Role of Symbolism in Gender Performativity

Progress towards gender parity is hindered by unconscious ways that hypermasculinity is valorized at a symbolic level. By deconstructing how social and textual phenomena as well as social structures contribute to gender performativity, we can elucidate hard-to-discern patterns that perpetuate hegemonic masculinity. The subliminal elevation of symbols of hypermasculinity excludes both women and non-gender conforming men. By delving into these symbolic meanings that operate subliminally, we can more effectively debunk beliefs that “real men” fall within narrow parameters of masculinity. There remains much to explore in terms of hidden pressures for men to constrain their expression of emotions, project an appearance of hardness, and equate violence with power, to name just a few persistent facets of toxic masculinity. While abstract forms of inculcating hypermasculinity are difficult to identify, interrogating their role in masculine performativity will result in a more comprehensive understanding of impediments to gender equality.

The goal of this Research Topic is to bring to the fore the variety of subtle ways that hypermasculinity is unwittingly encouraged and reinforced through hidden symbolism. Attention to the everyday reinforcement of the gender hierarchy through symbolism will enhance recognition of the potential impact of norms, traditions, and practices that are hidden in plain sight.

This Research Topic invites analyses that incorporate symbolism using novel ways of applying social constructionist and/or symbolic interactionist perspectives to abstract or invisible social constructs disguised because their conscious expression would be uncomfortable.

The role of symbolism in understanding masculinity extends to many familiar aspects of daily living including the following topics:
- hazing rituals in men’s sports and fraternities;
- symbolism of sports team mascots;
- symbols employed by androcentric institutions like the military and law enforcement;
- the manosphere;
- hypermasculinity used in product marketing;
- superhero portrayals;
- gendered language in job ads and performance reviews;
- bigorexia;
- the role of symbolism in gun control;
- the study of public figures to assess the trajectory of gender stereotypes (e.g., former US president Donald Trump’s trading cards and Britain’s Prince Harry’s 2023 tell-all memoir).

By understanding symbolic representations of toxic masculinity, we see how individuals and social institutions adapt their thinking and behavior based on these symbolic meanings. While these widely shared meanings can become self-fulfilling prophecies, efforts to recognize and disrupt entrenched symbolic fixtures can facilitate the dismantling of narrow, hegemonic definitions of masculinity that subordinate marginalized masculinities.

The editors welcome an interdisciplinary and diverse range of innovative papers employing a broad range of conceptual and theoretical analyses related to symbolism underlying hypermasculinity. Papers may be empirically-based or discursive. Submissions that present new ideas in light of recent changes in the discipline are strongly encouraged.

Please note, abstract submission is not mandatory and you are welcome to submit a manuscript without having submitted an abstract.

We acknowledge the funding of the manuscripts published in this Research Topic by McDaniel College. We hereby state publicly that McDaniel College has had no editorial input in articles included in this Research Topic, thus ensuring that all aspects of this Research Topic are evaluated objectively, unbiased by any specific policy or opinion of McDaniel College.