The resilience of hegemonic salaryman masculinity: a comparison of three prominent masculinities
Author
Summary, in English
It is the aim of this thesis to explore whether salaryman masculinity has lost its status as a hegemonic form of masculinity to otaku masculinity or herbivore masculinity. The thesis makes use of the theoretical framework of hegemonic
masculinity as first used by R.W. Connell. In order to assess changes in masculinity, 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted with students, both male and female, from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The main findings of the research were that, other than what a great deal of
literature on hegemonic masculinity in Japan suggests, the salaryman lifestyle still serves as a powerful ideal in the lives of young students, and that otaku and herbivore masculinity have not taken over the hegemonic status of salaryman masculinity. The fact that it has been suggested otherwise was
found to be mostly due to misguided understandings of what the terms otaku and ‘herbivore man’ mean, which in turn is due to poor ethnological grounding and lack of an emic perspective.
masculinity as first used by R.W. Connell. In order to assess changes in masculinity, 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted with students, both male and female, from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The main findings of the research were that, other than what a great deal of
literature on hegemonic masculinity in Japan suggests, the salaryman lifestyle still serves as a powerful ideal in the lives of young students, and that otaku and herbivore masculinity have not taken over the hegemonic status of salaryman masculinity. The fact that it has been suggested otherwise was
found to be mostly due to misguided understandings of what the terms otaku and ‘herbivore man’ mean, which in turn is due to poor ethnological grounding and lack of an emic perspective.
Publishing year
2015
Language
English
Publication/Series
Working papers in contemporary Asian studies
Issue
51
Full text
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Document type
Working paper
Publisher
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Topic
- Other Social Sciences
Keywords
- Masculinity
- Hegemonic masculinity
- Japan
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1652-4128
- ISBN: 978-91-981692-1-8