Volume 50, May–June 2015, Pages 37–46
Construction of hegemonic masculinity: Violence against wives in Bangladesh
Synopsis
This
study uses newspaper data to examine how violent men of Bangladesh
validate their identity as men through their acts of violence. Prior
research on violence against women in Bangladesh was based on
economically disadvantaged wives in rural areas or megacities.
Systematic applications of Butler's (1990) gender performativity theory
and Connell's (1995) hegemonic masculinity idea to empirical data on
violence against women in Bangladesh are rare. By applying these
frameworks, I find that in a society that promotes violence against
women violent men can use such acts as the most honorable way of being
men. I explain that hegemonic gender norms relate to wife abuse, and
suggest that the intersection of gender and age has seemingly had
profound effects on violence against women, independent of other
structural inequalities.
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