Masculinity

Conceptions of masculinity vary depending on the socio-cultural contexts in which they emerge, influenced by social class, ethnicity, sexuality, and poverty (Connell, 2005: 833). While womanhood is attributed based on biological reasons, manhood is attributed according to social reasons: it is a “self that is imputed to an individual based on information given and given off in interaction” (Schrock & Schwalbe, 2009: 280). Accordingly, a person’s manhood must be consistently won through the approval of other men, depending on whether that person according to gender norms (Vandello et al., 2008: 1325). The concept of masculinity identifies the social pressures and expectations to which boys and men are subjected, although what it means to be masculine is continually evolving over time, accelerated by globalization and significantly shaped by developed countries (Connell, 2005: 829).
Hegemonic masculinity refers to the dominant form of masculinity, and is a measure by which men compare themselves and others. However, hegemonic masculinity risks oversimplification of the “situational complexity of contemporary Western societies” (Sobal, 2005: 151). Meanwhile, flexible masculinities “emphasize the negotiation and management of a dynamic and situational process, in which men may select from a variety of models of manhood that may be evaluated, invoked, and enacted” (Sobal, 2005: 151). Men are afforded multiple forms of masculinity that they can invoke depending on the situation, of which cooking is one platform, depending on what form of masculinity they wish to