Orthodox and Inclusive Masculinity: Competing Masculinities among Heterosexual Men in a Feminized Terrain

Abstract

Using in-depth interviews and participant observation from sixty-eight male cheerleaders and four selected cheerleading teams, this research examines the construction of masculinity among college-age heterosexual male cheerleaders. Whereas previous studies of men in feminized terrain have shown that hegemonic processes of dominance and subordination influence most men to bolster their masculinity through an approximation of orthodox masculine requisites, this research finds that heterosexual men in collegiate cheerleading today exhibit two forms of normative masculinity. One form retains most tenets of orthodox masculine construction, whereas the other is shown to be more inclusive. Men who subscribe to this inclusive form of masculinity do not respond to their transgression into feminized terrain in the same manner as has been shown in other investigations of men in feminized arenas because they are shown to accept feminine behavior and homosexuality among men. The emergence of this more inclusive form of masculinity is attributed to many factors, including the structure of the sport, the reduction of cultural, institutional, and organizational homophobia, and the resocialization of men into a gender-integrated sport.