Beyond Intersectionality and Masculinity As Proper Objects? the Case of Hip-Hop in Sweden

In the last 25 years, sociological gender research has seen the development of two important research fields: intersectional scholarship, and the sociology of masculinity. Yet, there has been a lack of mutual engagement between these bodies of research. Intersectional theory and research has primarily focused on differences and power asymmetries between women, in terms of race, class, sexuality, and to some extent age and (dis)ability. The sociology of masculinity, on the other hand, has typically been more concerned with the critique of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ or the ‘hegemony of men’. This paper seeks to contribute to an emerging use of intersectional analyses focusing on men and masculinity. It draws together findings from a study of how the categories of race, class, gender and sexuality are constructed, negotiated and intersecting in the case of hip-hop in Sweden. The study is based on discourse analysis of a broad sample of rap lyrics from the last two decades. Based on this empirical research, this paper offers a series of reflections on the implications of intersectional analysis for the sociology of masculinity: Does the established notion of ‘masculinities’ in the plural imply that masculinity studies are always already intersectional? Or does an intersectional analysis challenge the very metaphor of plurality in accounting for multiple and intersecting inequalities? And to what extent does the ‘addition’ vs. ‘constitution’ dichotomy in intersectionality theory suffice in relation to masculinity? In raising such questions, I argue for moving beyond intersectionality and masculinity studies as separate projects or 'proper objects', to use Butler’s phrase.