While recent advances in theories of hybrid masculinities have shown new avenues for gender domination afforded to young men, they have left undertheorized the role of femininity in these negotiations of gender regimes. This article offers a relational framework for understanding how femininity is incorporated in the construction of hybrid masculinities and how hybrid femininity and masculinity, codefined, can uphold hegemonic gender relations. To illustrate this, I examine the ongoing renegotiation of gender ideals in dyadic romantic relationships occurring against the backdrop of demographic and socioeconomic changes in contemporary Japan. Drawing on forty-five in-depth interviews with young Japanese men and women, as well as ethnographic observations of contemporary “marriage-hunting” practices, I show how everyday actors make sense of the hybrid gender categories of “herbivorous men” and “carnivorous women.” My findings suggest that by linking these categories to economic transformations, the participants underplay men’s structural power and overemphasize women’s empowerment while maintaining the hierarchy inherent in gender hegemony. The participants also maintain the normative function of marriage, which is deemed more important for women. By showing how these hybrid categories are evaluated by both married and unmarried individuals, I draw analytic focus to the multiple levels of social structure against which they are produced.

中文翻译：

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食草男食肉女：在日本“寻婚”中做阳刚与阴柔

虽然混合男性气概理论的最新进展为年轻男性提供了性别支配的新途径，但他们对女性气质在这些性别制度谈判中的作用缺乏理论化。本文提供了一个关系框架，用于理解女性气质如何融入混合男性气质的构建中，以及混合女性气质和男性气质如何共同定义，可以维护霸权的性别关系。为了说明这一点，我研究了在当代日本人口和社会经济变化的背景下发生的二元浪漫关系中性别理想的持续重新谈判。根据对日本年轻男女的 45 次深度访谈，以及对当代“寻婚”实践的民族志观察，我展示了日常演员如何理解“草食性男人”和“肉食性女人”的混合性别类别。我的研究结果表明，通过将这些类别与经济转型联系起来，参与者低估了男性的结构性权力并过分强调了女性的赋权，同时保持了性别霸权固有的等级制度。参与者还维护了婚姻的规范功能，这对女性来说更为重要。通过展示已婚和未婚个人如何评估这些混合类别，我将分析焦点集中在产生它们的社会结构的多个层次上。参与者低估了男性的结构性权力，过分强调了女性的赋权，同时保持了性别霸权固有的等级制度。参与者还维护了婚姻的规范功能，这对女性来说更为重要。通过展示已婚和未婚个人如何评估这些混合类别，我将分析焦点集中在产生它们的社会结构的多个层次上。参与者低估了男性的结构性权力，过分强调了女性的赋权，同时保持了性别霸权固有的等级制度。参与者还维护了婚姻的规范功能，这对女性来说更为重要。通过展示已婚和未婚个人如何评估这些混合类别，我将分析焦点集中在产生它们的社会结构的多个层次上。