Portrayal Hegemonic Masculinity and Male Fragility in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho Anja Bajc College

Masculinity and the idea of what it represents is merely a socially constructed concept and nothing more. The main character in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, Patrick Bateman, however, sure has a certain view of what it should look like and what characteristics should a ‘real’ man possess. His interpretations of true masculinity can be aligned with those of hegemonic masculinity. Patrick Bateman does everything in his power to be the embodiment of hegemonic masculinity and reacts poorly in situations where people challenge it.

Hegemonic masculinity includes a variety of specific tactics mostly for the subjugation of women and exerting power over them. According to Donaldson, oppression is not only limited to women, hegemonic masculinity “often excludes working-class, gay and black-men” (qtd. in Howson 3). It is a hierarchy where a heterosexual white manliness “implies a collective, a unified grouping” (Robinson 28) occupying the highest position, whilst to them everyone else – racialized others, homosexuals, homeless – are second-class citizens. Superiority is not only about asserting dominance over these ‘inferior’ groups of the population; there is also a competition between the members of the highest group – who is...