The Homosocial Intent of Male Sexual Predation…

Prohaska, A., & Gailey, J. (2010). Achieving masculinity through sexual predation: the case of hogging Journal of Gender Studies, 19 (1), 13-25 DOI: 10.1080/09589230903525411

We can know as much, snigger too, that sexual predation by men hides that longing that many men have to be even closer than is physically possible to other men. The act of degrading women does not denote hyper-sexuality but rather, as Prohaska and Gailey (2010) would have it, homosociality (p.15). The practice of ‘hogging’, that is ‘men seeking out women they perceive as fat or unattractive for sport or sexual gratification’ (2010, p.13) is apparently more common than might be believed. It involves the explicit display of male dominance over women and therefore satisfies the never-ending requirement of hegemonic masculinity, to prove ‘one’s manhood’ (2010, p.15).

Of course, ‘[p]roving one’s manhood’ through ‘[d]egrading and humiliating women’ (2010, p.16) casts those men who perform such odious practices in an extremely bad light. What sort of man would treat another human being with such callous disregard and disrespect? How could any man fuck a woman who he detests for the sole purpose of later bragging to his mates about it? The authors suggest, perhaps a man who is beholden to ‘hostile masculinity’ (2010, p.15). Hostile masculinity combines an obsession to control women with a loathing of them as well (2010, p.15). In effect, the worst possible aspects of hegemonic masculinity realised. As with any other form of sexual abuse, the critical element is violence.

Prohaska and Gailey (2010) conclude that through their research, they have discovered that the main reason why men choose to engage in ‘hogging’ ‘was to achieve status among their peer groups’ (p.22). In other words, these men want to prove to their male friends and colleagues how distant they are from women and how much they are like ‘real men’ (2010, p.22). Moreover, by constructing a world in which women are the other, the logical conclusion could be that men who ‘hog’ are most attracted to other men. I am more than slightly confused by this proposition. Hegemonic masculinity makes for men who hate women and fags with equal intensity, so that the world these men inhabit is not attuned to the love of anyone…

Update: For some good ‘background reading’ on homosociality, please refer to the following article by Michael Flood…

Flood, M. (2007). Men, Sex, and Homosociality: How Bonds between Men Shape Their Sexual Relations with Women Men and Masculinities, 10 (3), 339-359 DOI: 10.1177/1097184X06287761