Feminist scholar Peggy Phelan (1993) famously said that “visibility is a trap” and argued for the immense power of the unmarked. Such a theory of the unmarked finds utmost relevance in the case of what R.W. Connell calls hegemonic masculinity, which often maintains its superiority by being the norm and thus abstract, untraceable. However, material bodily practices among marginalized groups of men often subvert such invisibility tactics, expose the nodes of hegemonic and normative masculinities, and articulate a language of resistance. For example, dance scholar Mark Broomfield (2024) observes that black gay male dancers in America use “straight acting” as a way of passing and surviving in a world where white heterosexual masculinity is the norm. Such embodied practices help the dancers evade racial and sexual surveillance but also reconfigure the hegemonic itself by showing it to be replicable and repurposable.

In keeping with NeMLA 2026’s theme of (Re-)Generation, this panel takes up an ethos of optimism and strives to reimagine the hegemonic by turning to disruptive and resisting masculinities. Primarily, we ask: How do men participate in disentangling masculinity from its hegemonic paradigm of aggression, oppression, and violence? How do embodied masculine practices and experiences complicate categorical readings of hegemonic, complicit, and marginalized masculinities? Are these resisting masculinities only available in local and regional contexts, or are they operative in global networks?

This panel invites 300-word abstracts from disciplines of literature, cinema, television, and more, by September 30, 2025. Submit via this link: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21784

Topics may include but are not limited to:

Masculinities in showbiz

Trans masculinities

Rural and urban masculinities

Immigrant masculinities

Masculinity and disability

Domestic men

Masculinities of social media

(Feel free to email hsarkar1@binghamton.edu for any questions.)