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Identity Isomorphism: Role Schemas and White Masculinity Formation
Author(s) -
Hughey Matthew W.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/soin.12034
Subject(s) - white (mutation) , sociology , gender studies , identity (music) , politics , masculinity , ethnography , social psychology , psychology , aesthetics , political science , law , anthropology , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , gene
This article explores a counterintuitive intersection of class, gender, and race within two politically antagonistic white movements—white nationalists and white antiracists. Ethnographic field‐notes, in‐depth interviews, and content analysis provide comprehensive data and triangulation for how implicit perceptions of class and gender are intertwined with the social construction of an ideal white, male, middle‐class identity. While both organizations express antithetical political goals, they together reinforce broader discourses about whiteness and white supremacy. In so doing, these two organizations present an empirical and theoretical puzzle: How and why do two supposedly antithetical and divergent white male organizations simultaneously rationalize the inclusion and exclusion of women and the lower class from their ranks? Findings gesture toward tempering conceptual models of white male identity formation to further explore how cultural schemas are utilized toward the construction of both identity formation and interest protection.