Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Chair

Karen Weiss.

Committee Co-Chair

Melissa Latimer

Committee Member

Daniel Renfrew

Abstract

The concept of masculinity should be understood in terms of its fluidity. One cannot say that there is a specific "white" masculinity or a specific "straight" masculinity; rather, masculinity is constantly changing. The inherent problem of defining masculinity has not deterred researches but has fueled a large and growing body of literature dedicated to studying masculinity's dynamic process of change. For a long time, gay men have been regarded as a group who is incapable of possessing masculinity; indeed according to hegemonic masculinity, gay men must be excluded. However, research has shown that gay men are rejecting this notion and are actively engaged in the creation and synthesis of their own versions of masculinity. This study will examine how a group of gay men are portraying, negotiating, or rejecting aspects of the dominant (hegemonic) masculinity in their personal ads on an online website, ManHunt.net. My examination will use both a qualitative and quantitative approach to investigate how these men differ in their presentation of masculinity along with how the age and location of the men affect the prevalence of the traits seen in the online ads.

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