Criminology 1 Essay: R.W. Connell's Hegemonic Masculinity and Assault

This essay delves into the complex relationship between hegemonic masculinity, as defined by R.W. Connell, and the perpetration of sexual assault against women. The paper begins by defining sexual violence and introducing the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which posits that dominant forms of masculinity are maintained through the subordination of women and other marginalized groups. It explores the principles underlying hegemonic masculinity, including antifemininity and the need for control and dominance, and how these principles may contribute to men's propensity for sexual violence. The essay discusses research that examines the connection between masculine gender role stress, the avoidance of femininity, and the commission of sexual assault. It also reviews studies on the impact of alcohol on men's sexual violence. The essay highlights the impact of sexual assault and concludes by emphasizing the role of hegemonic masculinity in promoting male dominance and the resulting potential for violence. References to key studies and theorists, such as Connell, are included to support the arguments presented.

Running Head : Criminology
CRIMINOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Sexual assault involves unwelcome sexual conduct that the offenders used to assert
dominance over women. It is an offensive act in which the individuals with ill intention made
physical contact without the consent of that woman or applied coercive force to induce sexual
conduct against their consent (DeMatteo, Galloway, Arnold & Patel, 2015). The paper deals with
R.W Connell’s cases of hegemonic masculinity relating to sexual violence of women.
Discussion
Concept of Sexual violence
Thus sexual violence involves oral penetration, forced violence, drug-assisted sexual
abuse, or any form of sexual exploitation to women. Sexual assault involves coercive sexual
conduct by the perpetrator or physical contact against the will (Fedina, Holmes & Backes, 2018).
The rape falls under sexual violence and involves penetration of any object to the body to any
extent.
Concept of hegemonic masculinity
Hegemonic masculinity is the gender theory advocated by R.W.Connell, which identifies
compound masculinities that differ in culture, time and people. Thus Hegemonic masculinities
are categorized as an act that sanctioned the dominant position of men in the social order and put
justification of male and women population and also the various marginalized manner of being
male in the society (Johansson & Ottemo, 2015). The theory intends to define the method of
men’s dominant position in the society and different gender distinctiveness, which are
considered as feminine in society. To the context of sociology, the notion of hegemonic

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masculinity is adopted from the principle of cultural hegemony which is advocated by the
theorist of Marxist Antonio Gramsci who evaluates the relationship of influence among the men
and women in the society (Duncanson, 2015). The hegemonic masculinity covers the community
that has been challenged and transformed sociologically. The advocates of this theory claimed
that gender theory plays a significant role in analysing the gender relationship, education
criminology, the physical condition of genders, and the functional arrangement of organisations.
However, several criticisers argued that it ignores the positive side of masculinity, not self-
replicating, relies on the drawback that underlines the nature of masculinity or it vague in
practical application. The theory has proved to be functional in organisational research on gender
issues in the workplace and has been recognized its increasing rate. According to R.W Connell in
the contemporary period, hegemonic masculinity is based on two factors that are grading the
dominance of intermale and control of women. The theory is the stereotypic principle of
masculinity that propose to structure the aims of young males and socialisation. The ides of
hegemonic masculinity were first projected in the field report from the investigation of social
injustice in the high schools of Australia, in the discussions of creating masculinities and
knowledge of men's bodies and debate relating to the role of the male in the labour politics of
Australia. The theory draws a source from sociology and social phycology which provides
literature about the role of male gender recognize in the social context of masculinity and
possible change of male behaviour.
Principles of hegemonic masculinity
The adherence of men to antifeminine standards is accompanying the action of sexual
violence. The men who cohere to the principles of hegemonic masculine may realize the
compulsion to be sexually aggressive towards women for the purpose of maintaining dominance

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in the society (Baugher, & Gazmararian, 2015). The theory of hegemonic masculinity denotes
the normative ideology which embodies the idea that an individual to be a man implies to be
dominant in the social structure and it required to maintain subservience of women. The
individual differences which exist in a dominant male society, the masculinity proposes to
positioned men in the area of dominance and thus, the perfect arrangement of masculinity is that
men are mix socially with others in order to attain. Hegemonic masculinity is demonstrated to
the sense that men are anticipated to cohere to a stringent set of masculine gender roles that
functioned to advance the dominance of males through subservience and disbelief towards
femininity. The men who firmly cohere to the principles of hegemonic masculinity observe stress
in the area where the masculinity is challenged. The appraisal of the individual in stressful
situations is termed as masculine gender role stress. The case which stimulates anxiety because
of subservience to women in which men feel at risk by women (Fahlberg & Pepper, 2016). This
situation upsurges the stress of men due to incapability of meetings the principles advocated by
hegemonic male role norms. It suggests that the male reacts in a manner that reaffirms
masculinity in a situation where they experience stress for not fulfilling the roles of the
traditional masculine. Antifeminity refers to the internal desire of men to escape being as alleged
as feminine by evading from acts, feelings, and thoughts that are related to femininity (Connell,
2017). The concept of antifemininity involves terror of the traditional value of feminism and thus
inspires to restrict one’s sentiments and portrait a frontage of hardiness. The willingness for
control and authority is centralised to hegemonic masculinity and also denotes men’s need to
dominate others for the purpose of achieving status to himself and even to society. In addition to
that, the men who cohere to the principles of masculinity are probable to adopt extreme steps for
maintaining control in society (Mayeda & Vijaykumar, 2016). Notwithstanding reviewed

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literature, there is a critical gap in understanding the relationship between sexual aggression and
hegemonic masculinity. The tendency of men to experience anxiety in a subservient position to
women was proved to be significantly related to sexual assault. The avoidance of feminism can
be targeted by practising control over women within interpersonal relations. By making
theoretical analysis, there need to examine whether dominance intervenes in the relationship
between the commission of sexual violence and antifeminist. Another question arises whether
the experience of men’s stress associated with women's subordination in this connection.
Researches
The study reveals information drawn from the two-stage of examination on the impact of
liquor on men’s sexual violence towards women (Smith, Parrott, Swartout, & Tharp, 2015). The
first stage involves the conclusion of the questionnaire battery and the second stage is the alcohol
administration laboratory procedure. Although the present research does not focus on the impact
of alcohol on men’s sexual violence, the participants obtainable to the laboratory reported
through the telephonic interview that they consume three or more alcohol each drinking daytime
during the previous year along with that nonproblematic drinking arrangement (Jewkes et al.,
2015). The hypothesis is novel and is specifically designed to address the goals. The participants
are mainly male public drinkers who aged among 21 and 35 employed from metro Atlanta
society through internet poster and newspaper. Respondents mark off by telephone affirm the
self-described alcohol ingestion during the previous year. In the second stage of study in order to
guarantee that the respondent endures the alcohol controlled in the laboratory. Respondents are
eligible if they are capable of reporting average consumption of at least 3 days per week over the
previous year and nondrinkers are omitted (Javaid, 2016). The respondents were marked off for
medical disorders, psychopathological investigations and head injuries that put in the clash with

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the consumption of alcohol. The respondents who admitted the criteria abovementioned were
considered to be ineligible. The current examination searches to inspect the machinery for
heterosexual men's perpetration of sexual assault towards females only the men who are
categorized as heterosexual and who had been in familiar relationships during the previous years.
The scale of masculine gender role stress was directed to ascertain the men’s tendency towards
the involvement of masculine gender role stress (Leone & Parrott, 2018). The scale is shown to
determine the situation that is more stressful for men in comparison with the woman. The
masculine gender role stress is cohering to the masculine philosophy is an exclusive construct
that can be assessed worldwide. The previous research led with the planned target population has
shown masculine gender stress scores to be finely circulated with worthy alphas. The Revised
conflict tactics scale was employed to assess sexual assault within the intimate connection. The
78 items are combined to ascertain both victimization and commission from diverse aspects of
violence within near relations. Participants are advised to indicate 7 point scale of a number of
times they commit sexual violence towards intimate partners during the previous year. In the
current scenario, the alpha consistency of .70 was obtained for the 7 items subscale. For instance,
if the contributors indicated an answer of 3-5 times in the previous year, his score would be 4
(Fahs, Swank, & Clevenger, 2015). The methodology of scoring CTS -2 allows examination of
the rate of recurrence of sexually aggressive conduct committed against women. The present
learning address the break in literature specifically in the area of an intimate relationship. The
findings in the current literature sought a theoretical basis but untested to date, machinery by
which customary hegemonic masculine principles and masculine gender role stress simplify
sexual assault. The research expands the scope of current literature by presenting both
experiences of tension adheres to the subordination to women and the antifemininity standard as

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a significant aspect of the association between men's willingness for dominance and commission
of sexual violence.
Impact of sexual assault
The violence against women over the early 30 years has been identified as a severe social
health issue globally. Sexual aggression happening to a distressing rate and studies conducted in
the United States observes that women experience attempt or completed rape than men.
Furthermore, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey noted that one out of
five women witnessing rape victimization during their lifetime 51% of rape survivors of females
report unfair treatment by the former intimate partner (Connell, 2017).
Conclusion
There are several factors in theory for the commitment of sexual assault by men to female
inmates (Javaid, 2015). One factor is evading feminity, which is achieved through domination
over others, especially women in the interior interpersonal interactions. The evasion of
femininity is construed to stand the foundation of hegemonic masculinity because it inspires the
dominance of males in the social order by positioning the females in subsidiary positions.

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References
Baugher, A. R., & Gazmararian, J. A. (2015). Masculine gender role stress and violence: A
literature review and future directions. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 24, 107-112.
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Duncanson, C. (2015). Hegemonic masculinity and the possibility of change in gender
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Fahlberg, A., & Pepper, M. (2016). Masculinity and sexual violence: Assessing the state of the
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