Looking out for the ‘Aussie bloke’: gender, class and contextualizing a hegemony of working-class masculinities in Australia

Abstract

This thesis explores working-class masculinities in Australia, looking at such masculinities in relation to areas such as media representations, education, work, intimacy, and leisure and risk. In particular this thesis sets out to contextualize what is argued to be a hegemonic masculinity in a specific location, considering how the hegemony of certain representations of working-class masculinity is embedded in Australian culture in ways that legitimize certain gendered, classed, sexualized and ethnic positions while delegitimizing others. Working-class masculinity is considered as an inclusionary and exclusionary tool. This thesis uses masculinity theory, class theory, and some empirical research to look at working-class masculinity in Australia as centralizing and, consequently, hegemonic. In doing so this study explores this highly important and oft debated term in such a way as to suggest that the term hegemonic masculinity may in fact need to be contextualized in order to be clarified.