“Improvising” Gender Through Artistic Profession: Hybrid (Hegemonic) Masculinities of Japanese Classical Musicians

Despite the growing recognition of gendered approaches to artistic and creative work, research exploring how men perform their gender through artistic work, or how work in the arts intersects with masculinity, remains limited. This article aims to fill this gap. Drawing on biographical interviews with Japanese classical musicians, it explores how men construct their gender identity through work in a feminized environment, navigating the oppressions of the father-provider model of masculinity prevalent in Japanese society. I show that by embodying behaviors and attitudes coded as feminine and unmanly, Japanese musicians hybridize their masculinities. Man and masculinity scholars have found that while the hybridization of masculinity is a manifestation of social change in gender relations, it tends to obscure existing inequalities and reproduce systems of power and dominance. This article examines whether hybrid masculinities also entail a reworking of gender, thereby promoting a more equitable gender order. To account for the potential change in the system of inequalities, I bring the concept of hybrid masculinity into conversation with a performative theory of (re)doing gender. I show that while the enactments of hybrid (hegemonic) masculinities among Japanese musicians often result in the restoration of the system of dominance, some performances can be interpreted as anticipating change, especially in the realm of reproduction. I argue that in order to make sense of the hybridization of masculinities, we should also consider the socio-cultural context in which they are situated.