Improvising' Gender Through Artistic Profession

Hybrid (Hegemonic) Masculinities of Japanese Classical Musicians

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2388674
AutoresBeata M Kowalczyk (0000-0002-7865-3672, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznań, Poland, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume28
Fascículo4
Páginas359-378
Data de publicação2025-03-12
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMen and Masculinities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1097-184X • E-ISSN: 1552-6828
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1097184x251326193
OpenAlexW4408346665
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas40

Despite the growing recognition of gendered approaches to artistic and creative work, research exploring how men perform their gender through artistic work, or how work in the arts intersects with masculinity, remains limited. This article aims to fill this gap. Drawing on biographical interviews with Japanese classical musicians, it explores how men construct their gender identity through work in a feminized environment, navigating the oppressions of the father-provider model of masculinity prevalent in Japanese society. I show that by embodying behaviors and attitudes coded as feminine and unmanly, Japanese musicians hybridize their masculinities. Man and masculinity scholars have found that while the hybridization of masculinity is a manifestation of social change in gender relations, it tends to obscure existing inequalities and reproduce systems of power and dominance. This article examines whether hybrid masculinities also entail a reworking of gender, thereby promoting a more equitable gender order. To account for the potential change in the system of inequalities, I bring the concept of hybrid masculinity into conversation with a performative theory of (re)doing gender. I show that while the enactments of hybrid (hegemonic) masculinities among Japanese musicians often result in the restoration of the system of dominance, some performances can be interpreted as anticipating change, especially in the realm of reproduction. I argue that in order to make sense of the hybridization of masculinities, we should also consider the socio-cultural context in which they are situated

Aesthetics · Art · Classical music · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Improvisation · Masculinity · Musical · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Visual arts · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics