Hegemonic Masculinity Concepts

• The study analyzes Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's displays and projections of masculinity
• It uses textual analysis of his public remarks during his electoral campaign and first three years as president.
• The study examines remarks through the lens of masculinity studies, framing it in theorizing on "precarious manhood".
• It aims to decode the context and underlying causes of Duterte's behavior and address its harmful effects.
• Texts of Duterte's speeches and remarks were collected from official archives and news reports.
• Texts were interpreted along three key areas in masculinity studies:
  • Heteronormativity and gender and sexual scripts
  • Homophobia and gender policing
  • Toxic masculinity
• The study identifies a brand of masculinity that is orthodox, traditional, or macho, marked by toxic masculinity.
• Keywords include Duterte, textual analysis, and masculinity studies.

Introduction

• The study seeks to analyze how President Duterte displays and projects masculinity.
• Duterte displayed misogyny to a degree unprecedented in Philippine politics.
• The support for such behavior indicates underlying problems in how Philippine society views masculinity and gender issues.
• It is crucial to start a conversation on the aspects and categories of masculinity that Duterte portrays and help address underlying issues.
• The paper examines how Duterte portrays concepts in masculinity studies in his official statements and speeches.
• It draws on theorizing in masculinity studies to offer explanations for Duterte's remarks.
• The study offers a different reading of Duterte that might help gain new insights, as it relies on masculinity studies.
• This study illuminates both theory and practice in masculinity studies.

Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities

• This study draws on the Precarious Manhood theory developed by Bosson and Vandello.
• Vandello and Bosson (2013) argue that this conceptualization of manhood overlaps with preexisting theories of masculinity in psychology and sociology.
• Manhood is a “precarious social status” ruled by three tenets:
  • It is elusive or hard-earned
  • It is tenuous or easily lost
  • It requires action and public proof
• The study also draws on concepts such as:
  • Heteronormativity and gender and sexual scripts
  • Homophobia and the fag discourse
  • Hegemonic masculinity, hypermasculinity, toxic masculinity, and masculine bravado

Methodology

• The study's methodology makes use of secondary data
• The study analyzes phrases, sentences, and paragraphs within public statements and speeches
• A textual analysis is used to offer a reading or interpretation rooted in masculinity studies.
• Textual analysis focuses on underlying ideological and cultural assumptions.
• It involves understanding the language, symbols, and pictures in texts to learn how people make sense of and communicate life experiences.
• The method opens up analysis not just of latent meaning in a text, but also its implicit patterns, assumptions, and omissions
• Qualitative method offered by textual analysis is seen not as a collection and examination of data, but as a reading
• The researcher can locate meanings in texts by analyzing how it promotes certain points of view.
• The study analyzes remarks it gathered to examine Duterte’s insistence on heteronormativity and gender and sexual scripts.
• It also covers his engagement in homophobia and the fag discourse.
• Remarks are read and explained along with the context in which they were made.
• The study covers relevant remarks from Duterte's earliest campaign pronouncements until his latest relevant remarks.
• Covers a total of 45 relevant remarks or texts in the study.
• 26 representative or revealing remarks were chosen to demonstrate theories and concepts.

Discussion

• Ingraham (1999) defines heteronormativity that “heterosexuality is the standard for legitimate and expected social and sexual relations"
• Heterosexuality framed as good sexual expression in opposition to homosexuality are not naturally occurring, but are instead the product of social constructs.
• Heterosexuality requires learning and maintenance through social practices and systems of gender policing or oppression.

Only Mistresses Allowed: Duterte, Heteronormativity, and Gender and Sexual Scripts

• "Learning" and "maintenance" is facilitated by various institutions within society such as religion, the state, medicine, and law (Ingraham, 2005).
• Duterte's response to calls for the legalization of same sex marriage reveals how he subscribes to heteronormativity.
• Duterte discusses sex and gender as something God-given, and thus fixed and innate.
• Duterte appeals to institutions to likewise reject same sex marriage and uphold the heterosexual default.
• Duterte drums up the polar opposition between the female and the male, and suggests limiting roles based on gender.
• Men receive societal and sexual rewards for being sexually assertive.
• Heterosexual norms for sexual activity assign men a visibly initiating role.
• Heteronormativity is also perpetuated by the enactment of gender through gender scripts.
• Simon and Gagnon (as cited in Parker and Aggleton, 2007) describe a gender script as a metaphor for how social behavior is produced.
• Gender and sexual scripts are social constructs.
• In defending himself against accusations of sexism, Duterte paints his behavior as something normal.
• The society dictates how men and women should act based solely on their sex.
• Most gender scripts dictate that men should be providers while women should be caregivers.
• Duterte outlines male and female gender scripts differences when it comes to public service and government work.
• He readily admits to and is even proud of being “a womanizer."
• Following the gender script requires building masculine capital; cultural capital that gives men “masculine” skills to achieve legitimacy (Vasquez del Aguila, 2014).
• Building a man's masculine capital includes exhibiting masculinity through certain behaviors such as sexual expertise, drinking, and athletic interests.
• Homosociality: “male-male peer relations have a profound influence on some men's heterosexual involvement” (Flood, 2008).
• Homosociality provides a safe space for men to make sense of their sexual and gender lives.
• As often happens in homosocial bonding, Duterte happily flashes his “masculine credentials" and encourages heterosexual relations as a key component of homosocial bonding
• Majors and Billson (1992) defined "cool pose" as a ritualized masculine identity that entails behaviors, scripts, physical posturing, impression management, and performances.
• To gain masculine capital, one must not care about gaining masculine capital and readily take risks.

I Don't Want To Be Gay Again: Homophobia, and Gender Policing

• Gender policing is the enforcement of cultural expectations of what forms of masculine and feminine expression are appropriate or normal (Payne and Smith, 2016).
• Key example here is the "fag discourse,” a concept explored by Pascoe (2005).
• Fag discourse is used mostly by men to police themselves and others into acceptably masculine identities.
• Fag category is related to the "unmasculine” behavior, ranges from being stupid or incompetent, dancing, caring too much about one's physical appearance
• Duterte deploys the "fag category" to discredit his critics; attaches fag category to a political opponent during the 2016 elections.
• The word bakla (gay) itself is dynamic, and the assignment of the category is situational
• It can be used to describe males engaging in any sort of behavior that may be considered non-masculine
• Mechanics are akin to “hot potato,” where insults are traded attempts to deflect being the last to hold the fag category.
• Pascoe (2005) notes that boys in his study actively avoid directing it as an insult towards their homosexual peers.
• "Gay" can be masculine, but “fag,” cannot.
• Duterte made these remarks responding to critics using the term "gay," had nothing to do with sexual orientation.
• Instead it emanates from Duterte's perception that such a stance denotes weakness on the part of his critics.
• Duerte also displays homophobia by stating it is not desirable in wanting to say he is gay in the past as a joke; affirms undesirablity by denouncing gayness.

Cannibalism, with a Dash of Salt and a Splash of Vinegar: Toxic Masculinity

• Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) defined hegemonic masculinity as the embodiment of "the currently most honored way of being a man" (p. 832).
• It simultaneously sets down subordinate forms of masculinity, while also legitimizing the subordination of women.
• Only a minority fall into this category, men tend to veer away from the hegemonic norm.
• Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) add that it primarily means ascendancy “through culture, institutions, and persuasions" (p. 832).
• Understanding hegemonic masculinity is orthodox, traditional, or “macho” masculinity.
• Male identity is constructed based on the rejection of femininity and homosexuality; calls for risk taking and values the tolerance of pain
• Men exercise dominance over other men through the stigma of homosexuality.
• Hypermasculinity frame is grounded on “a shared understanding of a masculinity that builds on assumed male superiority, overt sexuality, and a willingness to engage in violence” (Bengston, 2016, p. 424).
• Here Duterte personifies the macho personality calloused sex attitudes towards women and the conception of violence as manly.
• He encourages violence and displays calloused sex attitudes towards women while establishing male superiority.
• Toxic masculinity is constructed of aspects hegemonic masculinity fostering domination, misogyny, homophobia, greed, and violent domination.
• As Haider (2016) sums it, “[this] recasting of violence is an explosion of the will to destroy" (p.561).
• Violence is institutionalized by emphasis of male entitlement to power; transitioning to manhood; the formative function of in the transition to legitimacy.
• Kimmel (2005) notes violence is rewarded and never punished.

Conclusion

• Violence has been the currency of Duterte's presidential campaign, particularly targeted towards drug users.
• Duterte currently occupies the most powerful political position in the country.
• Given the position's implications his behavior towards gender and masculinity calls for thorough analysis by unpacking them.

Analysis

• Analysis illustrates a toxic masculinity that deludes boundaries between public and domestic patriarchy noting contradictions in narratives and identity.
• Should examine more about in how their effects manifest in his projections of masculinity.
• The article focuses on heteronormativity and gender and sexual scripts, homophobia and gender policing, and toxic masculinity. -The interplay between the cultural context and the related concepts that used to unpack remarks.

Explore concepts related to hegemonic masculinity. Understand its definition according to Connell and Messerschmidt. Identify key components of hegemonic masculinity and its influence.