Hegemonic Masculinity and Aggressive Sexuality
The alienation caused by hegemonic masculinity not only leads to men's aversion to their own bodies but also exacerbates male aggression, which can manifest in sexual crimes.
Beyond social power and wealth, sex is also a way for men to form self-identity.
Men often believe that the penis is the source of female pleasure, a belief particularly evident in East Asian pornography.
In male-centric pornography, men use their sexual dominance over women to compensate for psychological deficiencies stemming from their lack of social status.
This reflects a combination of hegemonic masculinity and phallocentric sexual culture.
Sexual violence is a prevalent social phenomenon, and perpetrators are mostly male.
In the 1970s, scholars introduced the concept of "rape culture."
Rape culture refers to a societal environment where "rape" is normalized and made common due to gender role norms associated with hegemonic masculinity and social tolerance of offenders.
Understanding rape culture helps explain why media often portrays "dominant CEO" characters and why storylines frequently depict "no means yes."
Mass media in this context endorses the legitimacy of hegemonic masculinity and exacerbates its dissemination.
In such a culture, women who experience sexual harassment or violence may struggle to seek help due to fears of "victim-blaming" and "slut-shaming," resulting in secondary victimization by hegemonic masculinity.
Simultaneously, hegemonic masculinity limits men's perspectives to a one-dimensional evaluation system and gender prejudice constraints.
Men are constantly trapped in a Freudian "castration anxiety," which is also a form of self-identity anxiety.
Transgender People and Hegemonic Masculinity
Like homosexuals, transgender people are seen as violating the principles of male dominance due to their unique identity and non-traditional representations and behaviors. They are often taboo in traditional cultures.
Transgender people raise new social issues and theories that challenge the existing male-dominated order.
The social activism of transgender people represents a special form of symbolic violence resistance, questioning and reflecting on the current symbolic order.
These new social issues question the foundation of male dominance and lay the groundwork for subverting the male order.
Symbolic violence governance usually operates through collective behaviors of classification.
As victims of male dominance, transgender individuals are often labeled as "deviants" and "shameful."
From the perspective of hegemonic masculinity, heterosexuality should deny homosexuality, cisgender individuals should deny transgender individuals, and non-cisgender heterosexuals are labeled as "deviants," carrying a stigma.
The features of heterosexual dominance are essentially characteristics of hegemonic masculinity.
On one hand, this is related to physiological differences between genders; on the other hand, it is connected to traditional sexual customs based on reproduction.
From the perspective of hegemonic masculinity, men are expected to be active and penetrative, while women are expected to be passive and receptive. This is both a principle and the core of male order.
Transgender individuals' changes and deconstructions of gender attributes, and even their disruptions of genital attributes, are seen as serious violations of male order.
In this view, "feminized men" and "masculine women" are seen as the greatest disgrace to men.
The existence of transgender individuals is seen as subverting established social cognition and power structures, specifically challenging male dominance.
However, given various subjective and objective reasons in today's social environment, overturning traditional patriarchal social order is nearly impossible.
This forces transgender individuals into a paradox of "neither conforming to nor being able to resist" symbolic dominance.
On one hand, patriarchal social order treats them as "non-mainstream," separating them from the normative gender order; on the other hand, this separation makes it difficult for them to integrate, perpetuating the standards of distinction.
Symbolic Rupture
Transgender people's challenge to hegemonic masculinity can lead to greater visibility and equality.
However, to truly subvert male symbolic dominance, marginalized groups should not simply opt for symbolic rupture.
We should recognize that in some regions, laws or policies have shifted the status of transgender people from "deviants" to "normal," reducing their need to fight against exclusion and discrimination.
Yet, this approach often involves conforming to male order for social recognition, keeping transgender individuals on the periphery.
Similar to feminist movements, transgender communities also have the potential to mobilize through cultural influence.
However, due to historical and social reasons, transgender culture is often confused with phenomena such as homosexuality and "cross-dressing."
Transgender individuals may face discrimination from heterosexuals, feminists, and misunderstandings from homosexuals, leading to setbacks in the transgender movement.
In the transgender movement, it is challenging to find a purely representative figure with strong social influence and appeal.
As Pierre Bourdieu noted, for permanent change in expression, symbolic subversion must lead to permanent changes in standards and social norms.
Symbolic subversion should seek legal recognition of transgender characteristics, effectively abolishing traditional gender distinctions.
Optimistically, the transgender movement has already established a position of political and scientific subversion in its theoretical activities and symbolic actions, exerting significant influence in social activities.
However, we must recognize that hegemonic masculinity remains deeply entrenched in current social culture.
This not only alienates cisgender men but also leads to societal prejudice against homosexuals and transgender people.
True change can only come from a shift in overall social cognition, leading to a restructuring of societal order.