Achieving masculinity through sexual predation: the case of hogging

Abstract

Hegemonic masculinity in the contemporary United States involves control, domination, competition, aggression, and the devaluing of women. Hogging, a practice whereby men seek out women they deem unattractive or fat for sexual purposes, has been largely overlooked by scholars. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to explore hogging from a sociology of masculinities perspective. Interviews and content analyses were conducted to learn about why men hog and what they are able to achieve from this behavior. These data indicate that most men who participate in this behavior are concerned with how hogging affects their relationships with their male peers. Men who hog achieve status in their peer groups by gaining sexual access to women they see as 'easy'. Even men who do not engage in sexual activity gain from the sexual encounters of their peers, by either participating in 'bets' or being entertained by the stories their peers tell them about hogging. Hogging, then, is less about the encounters with women and more about homosociality.

Bystander Programs: Accommodating or Derailing Sexism?

“…In other cases, the targets of men’s sexual pursuits are overweight women perceived as vulnerable, a phenomenon called “hogging” or “whaling”. This has been deemed a homosocial competition reflecting men’s attempts to bond with and impress their peers achieved with tales of their conquests or betting about the size of the women they can attract [ 53 ]. This type of behavior is of particular concern for those interested in bystander programs, as women who are deemed less worthy are also less apt to have others intervene on their behalf [ 54 ].…”

Power and gender negotiations during interviews with men about sex and sexually degrading practices

“…Regardless of the severity of the act, we have argued elsewhere that it is a misogynistic practice similar to other types of victimization of women (i.e. intimate partner violence and rape) because power and control over women are key components of hogging (Gailey and Prohaska, 2006;Prohaska and Gailey, 2010). When we decided to interview men about hogging we understood that it was going to be a challenging project because we both view hogging as an offensive practice.…”

Help Me Get Fat! Feederism as Communal Deviance on the Internet

“…Although many of Goode and Preissler's (1983) ''fat admirers'' (FAs), men who claimed to be sexually attracted to fat women, were closeted because of the stigma attached to attraction towards fat women, the women that FAs were seeking out described these men as exploiters and losers, rather than as men with whom they would desire to begin relationships. Exploitation of fat women is a similar theme in Prohaska and Gailey's (2010) research on hogging, a behavior where men seek out women they label fat or unattractive for sexual pleasure. The authors could not decipher whether their interview subjects were hogging or just afraid to admit to peers their preferences for larger women, which could lead to being ostracized by male peers.…”