[eng] Masculinity has become an extensively discussed topic since Raewyn Connell’s
publication of Masculinities in 1993. This paper will draw on the concept of
hegemonic masculinity, first discussed by Connell, to analyze the representation of
the protagonists in Peaky Blinders (2013-2022), a British crime drama television
series set in Birmingham in aftermath of the First World War. The paper will focus on
the subplot that narrates the socio-political struggles of women. For that reason, an indepth
analysis of Polly Shelby, the matriarch of the family, will be carried out. Her
role as a competing force to the protagonist will be explored to eventually evidence
the progress of women’s liberation that took place at the turn of the century. This
paper argues that she successfully mimics some of the traits associated with
hegemonic masculinity and adopts them to gain agency and public space.