Origins of Departure: Agency and Typologies of Black Graduate Men’s Subversive Masculinities

This article uses hermeneutic phenomenology and in-depth interviews to explore how 17 Black graduate men develop and use agency to subvert (or undermine) hegemonic masculine thinking and being. Findings highlight the ways family members (e.g., mothers, fathers, and grandfathers) are influential in developing students’ manhood through agency. In addition, findings offer three typologies of subverting hegemonic masculinities: (a) rejection, (b) response, and (c) responsibility.