Manhood and the other: sexuality and sociability in stephen king’s fiction

Diego Moraes Malachias Silva Santos

doi:10.17851/1982-0739.23.3.59-84

Autores

Diego Moraes Malachias Silva Santos Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17851/1982-0739.23.3.59-84

Palavras-chave:

masculinity, Stephen King, sexuality

Resumo

This article examines the relation between traditional masculinity, femininities, and untraditional masculinities in Stephen King’s
novels, exploring the influence manhood and social relations have on each other. Section one, which deals with male/male social and sexual interactions, explores sexuality as an indicator of morality in King’s fiction, homophobia as a possible mask for repressed homosexuality, and male homosociality being defined via ostracism. Section two centers on male/female relationships. Through a myriad of devices, King’s male characters exclude the feminine to reassert an allegedly emasculated manhood. Often, however, their assessment reveals more about the frailty of traditional masculinity than it exposes truly patronizing women. Gendered social interactions in King’s works reveal unstable masculinities that seem beyond hope, as male characters refuse to acknowledge their problems.

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Biografia do Autor

Diego Moraes Malachias Silva Santos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Bachelor of Letters in Literatures in English (UFMG), MA in Literary Studies (UFMG), PhD in Literary Studies in progress (UFMG). Research supported by MA and PhD scholarships from the CAPES. This article is a revised version of the third chapter from my MA thesis, Masculinity as an Open Wound in Stephen King’s Fiction.

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