Hegemony and Masculinity

I think that the very essence of what we determine to be masculinity is derived from hegemony. For example, we expect men to be strong and physically dominant and therefore the term masculinity is inherently related to hegemony or leadership. In class, we talk a lot about women subjecting themselves to gender stereotypes such as developing eating disorders in order to achieve a body resembling those of movie stars and other celebrities but it is also important to note that men succumb to the same type of expectations. For example, men are exposed to images of what a perfect male body should be (from back in the 16^th century with the Statue of David to modern images of body builders) which can affect their psyches just as they can affect women seeing the skinny, tall models. That being said, I feel as if the terms “masculinity” and “femininity” don’t necessarily coincide with sex and that they actually relate to the societal pressures placed on the different genders.