Hegemonic Masculinity and Gender Performance in Van Dusen’s Bridgerton: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

[eng] Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity has produced a huge impact on masculinity studies. This article closely examines hegemonic masculinity’s reproduction, as well as the intersectional conditions affecting the enactment of the very same category in Shonda Rhimes and Van Dusen’s Bridgerton. The conducted research accounts for the diverse gender traits and experiences conditioning each individual’s subjectivity. In this sense, this paper will analyze the character of Simon Bassett in order to illustrate gender performance’s ambivalence and complexity. It could be argued that Simon’s masculinity expression is conditioned by several overlapping factors such as class, race, and/or vital experiences. These factors determine Simon’s power, providing him a higher degree of agency than most male characters in the series. The combination of different categories leads him to reproduce some traits of hegemonic masculinity on the one hand, and reject other of its practices and discourses on the other. This suggests that Simon can only challenge hegemonic masculinity to a certain extent, since he cannot subvert every heteropatriarchal convention of Regency-era English society.