Shifting Masculinities in Anglo-American Countries

This article provides an overview of the changing nature of masculinities in several English speaking cultures. The evidence and theory come from numerous investigations into masculinities among both gay and straight male youths in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Collectively, I show that cultural homophobia is rapidly decreasing among young men in these cultures, and that this is particularly true of teamsport athletes. I suggest that the dominant way of theorizing masculinities over the previous quarter century, hegemonic masculinity theory, is incapable of explaining these changes. Thus, I introduce a new theory, inclusive masculinity theory, and the new heuristic concept of homohysteria, to make sense of the changing nature of young men’s masculinities.