Hierarchy of Masculinities in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of

Thrones

Nahdia Aurelia Aurita

and Miftahul Huda

Department of English Letters, Faculty of Humanities, UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia

Keywords: Hegemonic Masculinities, Hierarchy of Masculinities, Marginalized Masculinities, Multiple Masculinities,

Subordinated Masculinities.

Abstract: Masculinity studies, is still a very new approach toward literature. Masculinity tends to be overlooked

because of men’s domination in almost every aspect of society. This causes masculinity to be taken for

granted and the prevalence of unspoken notions of manliness as the norm. Therefore, this study attempts to

put the focus only on men and their masculinity, specifically, the hierarchy of masculinities in George R.R.

Martin’s A Game of Thrones. The writers use Connell’s theory of multiple masculinities and hierarchy of

masculinities. The data of this study are collected by doing close reading in order to discover male

characters, their characterization, traits, heredity, their performance of masculinity, their relationship with

their family and peers, and how they are being treated in society. Those data then, are highlighted. The

process of analysis includes discovering whether male characters’ performance of masculinity influences

their relationship with their families and peers. The result of this study shows that there are three

classifications of masculinities in the Seven Kingdoms. The first is hegemonic masculinities; men who

perform hegemonic masculinities receive benefits and privileges from the society despite their wrongdoings.

The second is marginalized masculinities, which are the masculinities of the characters that perform

hegemonic masculinities, yet do not gain benefit from it because of their social class or disabilities. The last

is subordinated masculinities. Those whose performance of masculinities are being subordinated are those

who display traits that are opposite from the hegemonic ideals.

1 INTRODUCTION

Men’s studies is still a new approach in

sociology, and it is an even newer approach toward

literature. Considering that it is unlike women’s

studies and feminist theory that has a really

appealing demand, since women have been

oppressed, subordinated, and privatized to the point

that they have been driven to the outside area of

public discourse, men’s studies lacks that sort of

appeal (Hobbs, 2013)

However, it needs to be noted that men’s studies

is just as important as women’s studies. According

to Brod, the reason why men’s studies is actually

very important for men is that“While women have

been obscured from our vision by being too much in

the background, men have been obscured from our

vision by being too much in the foreground” (Brod,

2015). As a result, masculinity is being taken for

granted and there is an acceptance of unspoken

conception of manliness as the ‘norm’ and ‘natural’

(Connell, 2003).

Thus, it is very important that men become a part

of the gender debate, not simply for equality, but

because assumption of masculinity is very

damaging.

Although now literatures about men and

masculinity are vast and enormous, however, there is

a tendency to use the men-and-(fill in the blank, e.g.:

women) among the scholars, this makes the study

itself very limiting, because the study does not put

the focus on men, but rather, on comparing men with

something else to make a point. Therefore, this study

intends to avoid the men-and- pattern and focus

solely on men in a literary work.

The conception of masculinity itself continues to

shift through the years. The sex-role theory defined

masculinity as personality traits that are male-

appropriate and male-specific and were conveyed

behaviorally. Both female and male sex-role theory

implies that there is only one single identity pattern

614

Aurita, N. and Huda, M.

Hierarchy of Masculinities in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.

DOI: 10.5220/0009913206140621

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 614-621

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

for each sex. However, this definition has been

criticized and debunked by many researchers

(Deaux, 1984).

The reason the sex-role theory is widely

criticized is because the theory implies that gender

signifies ‘two fixed, static and mutually exclusive

role containers’ (Kimmel, 1986) and also for

presuming that men and women have natural

psychological needs for ‘gender-stereotypic traits’

(Pleck, 1987). The sex role theory also promotes the

idea that there is only a singular male or female

personality, this idea hinders the countless forms of

masculinity and femininity that men and women do

and can demonstrate (Connell, 2005). Schock &

Schwalbe also debunked the sex role theory in their

study that was published in 2009. They explain that

gender is in fact, not attribute of individual (Schock

& Schwalbe, 2009).

According to Connell, “masculinity is not an

inborn natural condition; it is a gender identity that

is collective, fluid, and socially constructed.”

(Connell, 2003).

Masculinity is "something that one does, and he

does recurrently in interaction with others" (West

and Zimmerman, 1987). Moreover, in 1990s, Butler

proposes to consider gender as performative, which

means that gender is not what one is, but rather,

what one does (Butler, 1990). Culler further

elaborates that “A man is not what one is but

something one does, a condition one enacts”

(Culler, 1997). Thus, gender is demonstrated or

achieved and is better comprehended as a verb rather

than a noun (Crawford, 1995).

Furthermore, the way males “do

masculinity” is different; there is no one universal

masculinity, and therefore, the term is usually

formulated as masculinities. However, there are

social organizations in form of hierarchy between

masculinities: some types of masculinities are more

valued and culturally dominant than others. This

type of masculinities is highly regarded and

culturally exalted, and referred to as the hegemonic

masculinity, while others are marginalized or

subordinated (Connell, 2003).

Although the hierarchy among men exist, yet it

somehow managed to go mostly unnoticed and/or

neglected. This might be caused by the observation

on men, be it in real life or in literature, are not done

extensively. Filene states that both history and

criticism have been concerned on what men have

achieved instead on how they have lived (Filene,

1987). Therefore, the issue of hierarchy and social

organization of men is necessary to be studied

thoroughly. Below are the elaborations regarding the

hierarchy of masculinities.

1.1. Hegemonic Masculinities

Hegemonic in “hegemonic masculinity” originates

from Gramsci’s cultural hegemony that analyzes

power relations amongst society’s social classes.

This theory was used to describe and analyze how

social classes come to dominate society.

Particularly, he used this theory to analyze how the

bourgeoisie, the wealthy, and the ruling classes

come to dominate in a capitalist society. Gramsci’s

development, however, was to acknowledge that

such power and such control come not only through

the physical power, but also through cultural

domination (Gramsci, 1971).

As an example, many media outlets, and

newspapers are owned by the incredibly wealthy

people and they have the tendency to support

political parties, policies, or programs which

legitimize the existence of vast wealth inequality.

However, these papers and media outlets do not

present this as one side of the many sided

arguments, instead, they present it as a simple

commonsensical worldview. Then, gradually, the

idea that some should be incredibly wealthy while

the others struggle embed itself in society. To the

point where those who were actively harmed by this

kind of idea will actively support it.

Cultural hegemony then, is something that is

not clear to see, but hide itself within and beneath

cultural texts. It is essentially the idea of dominant

group using culture in order to legitimize their

dominance. It is the idea that power can be exercised

and reinforced as much through cultural texts as

through physical force. Hegemony, is the

fundamental idea that power is not just exercised

through physical force, but also reinforced through

the stories that we tell and the images that we create

(Gramsci, 1971).

That is the idea of hegemony that is used by

Connell in her theory of hegemonic masculinity. In

Gender and Power, she explains the term as:

In the concept of hegemonic masculinity,

‘‘hegemony’’ means […] a social ascendancy

achieved in a play of social forces that extends

beyond contests of brute power into the organization

of private life and cultural processes. Ascendancy of

one group of men over another achieved at the point

of a gun, or by the threat of unemployment, is not

hegemony. Ascendancy which is embedded in

religious doctrine and practice, mass media content,

Hierarchy of Masculinities in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones

615

wage structures, the design of housing,

welfare⁄taxation policies and so forth, is. (184)

It is fundamentally dominant positions that

are taken through relative consensus instead of

regular force, even if reinforced by force. The

consensus is built amongst those that benefit from

the endorsement of masculinity, along with many of

those that are oppressed by it, particularly women.

Thus, hegemonic in “hegemonic masculinity” refers

to cultural dynamics in which a certain social group

claims and also sustains a dominant and leading

positions within a social hierarchy (Connell, 2005).

Theoretically, hegemonic masculinity intends

to explain why and how men maintain their

dominant social roles over women and also other

gender identities, that are seen as “feminine” in a

particular society. Within the current review,

hegemonic masculinity is defined as:\

a set of values, established by men in power

that functions to include and exclude, and to

organized society in gender unequal ways. It

combines several features: a hierarchy of

masculinities, differential access among men to

power (over women and other men), and the

interplay between men’s identity, men’s ideals,

interactions, power, and patriarchy (Morell, 2012)

Connell emphasizes that alternative

masculinities still exist, but subordinated by the

‘hegemonic strain’ (Hobbs, 2013); hegemonic

masculinities is indeed depends on the existence of

the ‘weaker’ counterparts for validation.

However, Connell never specified the

attributes which constitute hegemonic masculinity

how it may look like, but in her work The Men and

The Boys, Connell indicated how hegemonic

masculinity may be identified; she states ‘[t]o say

that a particular form of masculinity is hegemonic

means that it is culturally exalted […]. To be

culturally exalted, the pattern of masculinity must

have exemplars who are celebrated as heroes’ [2].

Thus, the possessors of hegemonic masculinity are

not always those who are the most powerful. They

can be exemplars, for example movie actors, football

players, and even fantasy figures such as characters

in movies.

1.2. Subordinated Masculinities

Males who are perceived as having a subordinated

masculinity show quality that are opposite to those

that are valued in hegemonic masculinity such as

physical weakness and exhibition of emotions like

sadness (Connell, 2005). Gay men are the example

of men who exhibit a subordinated masculinity. In

patriarchal ideology, gayness is the “repository of

whatever symbolically expelled form hegemonic

masculinity” (Connell, 2005). Thus, in hegemonic

masculinity’s point of view, gayness is easily

incorporated to femininity (Connell, 2005).

1.3. Marginalized Masculinities

Marginalized masculinities is a form of masculinity

where men do not have access to the hegemonic

masculinity caused by certain characteristics that

they have such as their races, classes, and abilities

(Connell, 2005). Connell uses marginalization in

order to characterize the relationships among men

that result as class and race intersect with gender.

However, these men still subscribe to the norms that

are emphasized in hegemonic masculinity, such as

aggression, suppression of emotions like sadness,

and physical strength (Connell, 2005). Men f color

or disabled men are the examples of the

marginalized masculinities (Connell, 2005).

Young boys can also be said to be part of the

marginalized male identity. This is because boys are

prohibited by their age to fully exercise their

masculinity. Since unlike girlhood, which women

integrate into their identities as they grow older, in

most cultures, the abandonment of boyhood is one

of the requirements to attain manhood. Thus, it is a

necessity for men to renounce boyhood so as to

accomplish manhood (Thyssen, 2013).

1.4. Complicit Masculinities

Complicit masculinity is the kind of masculinity

when a man does not fit into all the characteristics of

hegemonic masculinity yet does not do anything to

challenge it. Because he does not challenge the

gender system in his society, he receives some

benefit from being a man. Complicit masculinity

possibly admires the quality of hegemonic

masculinity and maybe even strive for them

(Connell, 2005). However, this study will not

discuss complicit masculinities because although the

number of men who practice hegemonic

masculinities are quite small, however the number of

men who gain from the overall hegemony, and thus

categorized as complicit masculinities within the

hierarchy, are incredibly large.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

The approach used in this study is masculinity

studies, which is an interdisciplinary field dedicated

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to the topic of men, masculinity, feminism, and

gender (Allan, 2016).

Furthermore, this study uses Connell’s theory of

masculinities in order to analyze the ways which

gender are performed by male characters.

The data in this study are taken from the novel A

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. The

version used is the novel published by Bantam

Booksin in 2017.

Then, the data are collected by doing close

reading. The first reading provides an overview of

the plot, setting, and also characters. The second

reading is to highlight information regarding male

characters, their characterization, traits, heredity,

performance of masculinity, and their relationship

with their families and peers. The writers also take

notes on how these male characters are being treated

by society in general.

In order to answer how the hierarchical

classification in the novel, the data will be traced

using using the following steps. The first step is to

trace all the highlighted data which are characters,

their traits, heredity, and performance of

masculinities.

The next step is to discover whether their

performance of masculinities influences their

relationship with family and peers, if so, then the

writers will try to find out how and why. The writers

also analyze how those characters are being treated

by society in general and then try to discover

whether such treatments are caused by their

performance of masculinities or not.

Afterward, the writers try to discover and

explain how those characters fit into Connell’s

hierarchical classification of masculinities.

3 DISCUSSION

3.1. Hegemonic Masculinities

Connell notes that the hierarchy of masculinities

develops through social practice. Within a particular

society, one form of masculinity is bound to be more

dominant than the others (Connell & Messerschmidt,

2005). These dominant masculinities are hegemonic

through the collective social practice of that

particular society, and these traits that are

hegemonic are exercised and reinforced through

cultural texts.

As an example, within A Game of Thrones,

the songs sung by the people, the stories told to

children and the expectation of parents toward their

sons, and also peer cultures together influence the

occurrence of certain dominant masculinities that are

valued and highly regarded over others. The closer a

man’s masculine embodiment aligns with the forms

that are most regarded and valued, it is easier to gain

certain privilege from that society.

Connell states that hegemonic masculinities

may be recognized by identifying which

masculinities that are culturally exalted. She further

elaborates that to be culturally exalted, the pattern of

masculinities need to be exemplar and celebrated as

heroes (Connell, 2003). In A Game of Thrones, the

masculinities of the knights, especially the knights

of the Kingsguard, are highly respected and they are

indeed being celebrated; people write songs and

stories about them. In those songs, the knights of

Kingsguard are described as those who are noble,

heroic, fearless, gallant, and true (AGoT, p.391).

Moreover, the knights are set to be the exemplars

and the standard for men. Young boys strive to be

like them when they grow up; the nine year old

Brandon Stark, one of the legitimate sons of Eddard

Stark, states that he ‘was going to be a knight

himself someday, one of the Kingsguard” (AGoT,

p.391). Brandon further elaborates why he wants to

be a Kingsguard: from the stories that are told to him

by the people, the knights of the Kingsguard are ‘the

finest swords in all the realm’ (AGoT, p.391). The

songs also state that ‘the knights never screamed nor

begged for mercy’ (AGoT, p.543), meaning that

knights are supposed to be brave and proud. That is

what boys strive to be when they grow up.

However, it needs to be kept in mind that the

consensus for hegemonic masculinities are built not

only by those who benefit from it, but also by those

who are oppressed because if it, especially women

(Connell, 2005). Men who perform hegemonic

masculinities are usually rewarded with admiration

from women. For an instance, one of the major

female characters, Sansa Stark, think that knights are

astonishing; they ‘took Sansa’s breath away; [...]

and the knights themselves, the knights most of all.

“It is better than the songs”(AGoT, p.239). She also

considers the knights as heroes who are ‘fabulous’

(AGoT, p.239). Sansa is only one among many

women who think highly of knights. Therefore, even

people who are not being benefitted by hegemonic

masculinities actually help to reinforce and promote

it.

One of the characters that perform hegemonic

masculinities is Jaime Lannister. Jaime’s

masculinities are hegemonic because his

masculinities align with the forms that are highly

regarded and valued: Brandon Stark states that ‘Ser

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617

Jaime Lannister looked more like the knights in the

stories’ (AGoT, p.77). The masculinities of men

from the songs and the stories are set to be the ideal

and the exemplar, and Jaime Lannister is the

embodiment of those masculinities. Jon Snow even

goes as far to describe him as what ‘a king should

look like’ (AGoT, p.51). Jaime is, as defined by

Connell, a ‘culturally idealized form of masculine

character’ (1987).

Furthermore, men are expected to be good at

using swords and a good rider. Since Jaime is part of

the Kingsguard, then his ability to use a sword

cannot be questioned, and he also ‘rode brilliantly’

(AGoT, p.259).

Additionally, Jaime Lannister is described as a

very headstrong and easily angered person. Tyrion

Lannister says that Jaime Lannister ‘never untied a

knot when he could slash it in two with his sword’

(AGoT, p.415), which means that he’d rather slay

people who had wronged him rather than make

amend with them. Moreover, when some people in

the council starts questioning which Lannister that

poison the previous Hand of the King, they do not

think that it is Jaime, because he is “[...] Too fond of

the sight of blood on that golden sword of his”

(AGoT, p.436). Physical strength and tendency for

aggression are some norms that are hegemonic in

most cultures according to Connell (2005).

Although he gained a bad reputation after

slaying the King that he had sworn to protect, which

is a a behavior that is very different from what a

Kingsguard is expected to be by the people (noble

and truthful), he never really faced the consequences

for it and he is still able to gain privilege from his

hegemonic masculinity. He even able to keep his

position as a member of the Kingsguards. Thus, it

can be concluded that strength and bravery are the

hegemonic masculinity. It does not matter if a

person is not truthful, as long as he has strength and

bravery, then he will still has the hegemonic

masculinities’ privilege.

Another character who performs hegemonic

masculinity is Ser Gregor Clegane. Ser Gregor

Clegane, also known as the mountain, is the head of

House Clegane and the knight of Clegane’s Keep.

He is the bannermen to House Lannister. Gregor

Clegane is described as an extremely tall man and

that is where his nickname ‘the mountain’ came

from (AGoT, p.313). Gregor is also known for his

brutality and prowess in battle.

When he was young, Gregor shoved his

brother’s face down in a burning coals because his

brother played with his discarded toy. He was

strong, even at a very young age, so it took three

grown men to drag him off of his brother, that is

how strong Gregor was (AGoT, p.303). However,

Gregor never really received any kind of punishment

for that. His father even lied to other people about

the cause of his brother scar in order to protect

Gregor. Four years after that, he was knighted by

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (AGoT, p.303).

Because of his conformity to the hegemonic

ideals, Gregor obtains a lot of privilege; he never

received any kind of punishment for being cruel to

his brother, he was even rumored to be a kinslayer,

people said that he killed his father, his sister and

even his first two wives (AGoT, p.303). After all of

that, he still being knighted, and even become one of

the bannermen of the Lannister House.

Sansa Stark even says that Gregor Clegane “[...]

was no true knight,” (AGoT, p.303). However, it

seems that it does not really matter because people

of the Seven Kingdoms prefer cruelty and

aggressiveness rather than cowardice.

3.2. Marginalized Masculinities

Connell describes marginalized masculinities as the

masculinities of men who do not have access to the

privilege of hegemonic masculinity because of their

races, social classes, and abilities. However, they

still subscribe to the hegemonic ideals. Below are

some of the characters that conforms to the

hegemonic ideals, but they do not have access to the

privilege that come with it and thus, classified as the

marginalized masculinities (Connell, 2005).

One of the characters that fits into this category

is Jon Snow. Jon Snow is the bastard son of The

Lord of Winterfell, Lord Eddard Stark. Bastard is

used to refer to anyone whose born out of wedlock.

Simply speaking, Jon Snow is the illegitimate son of

Lord Eddard Stark. Thus, instead of Stark, his last

name is Snow, “the name that custom decreed to be

given to all those in the north unlucky enough to be

born with no name of their own” (AGoT, p.19).

Jon Snow conforms to the hegemonic ideal of

masculinity. He is very well practiced at using

swords and riding horses, the abilities that are

expected of men in the Seven Kingdoms. At the very

beginning of the novel, Jon says to his uncle, Benjen

Stark, that “Robb is a stronger lance than I am, but

I’m the better sword, and Hullen says I sit a horse as

well as anyone in the castle,” and his uncle says that

it is a “notable achievement” (AGoT, p.53), because

it really is; men are expected to be good at wielding

swords and riding horses. Men who are able to do

that are praised and those who don’t are shunned. He

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also displays traits such as bravery and

stubbronness.

However, unlike Jaime Lannister and Gregor

Clegane who receive benefit from performing

hegemonic masculinities, Jon Snow cannot receive

the same thing simply because of his social class. As

an example, when King Robert Baratheon appoints

Eddard Stark as the Hand of The King, and thus,

forces Eddard to move to the King’s Landing and

leave Winterfell, Eddard wants Jon to stay at

Winterfell, because in King’s Landing, the capital

city of the Seven Kingdoms, there is no place for

bastard (AGoT, p.66).

Furthermore, men wear their house sigil in their

surcoats for when they fight in a battle, but bastards

don’t. Arya Stark, one of Jon’s half- sister asks him

this:

“Besides, if a girl can’t fight, why should she

have a coat of arms?”

Jon shrugged. “Girls get the arms but not the

swords.

Bastards get the swords but not the arms. I did

not make the rules, little sister” (AGoT, p.73)

Even women who are not supposed to join a

battle have their own sigil, but an illegitimate child

of a lord don’t.

Jon Snow also thinks that:

Robb would someday inherit Winterfell,

would command great armies as the

Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon

would be Robb’s bannermen and rule

holdfast in his name. His sisters Arya and

Sansa would marry the heirs of other great

houses and go south as mistress of castles

of their own. But what place could a

bastard hope to earn? (AGoT, p.55).

He knows that because his status as bastard,

he will never amount to anything. He does not have

a place in Winterfell. Thus, this became one of the

reasons why he insists on joining the Night’s Watch,

the military order that guards the Wall, most of the

recruits are social outcasts, because “even a bastard

may rise high in the Night’s Watch” (AGoT, p.66-

67). Another reason why he wants to join the

Night’s Watch is because he wants to be considered

honorable and also to prove that he can do good.

Compared to men who conform to the hegemonic

ideals and receive benefit from it, Jon Snow is more

noble.

3.3. Subordinated Masculinities

Males who are identified as having subordinated

masculinties are those that shows quality that are far

from the hegemonic ideals. If within the hierarchy

that is embedded in gender being female is rated as

the lowest, then males who display subordinated

masculinities are placed alongside women in that

hierarchy. Below are some males with subordinated

masculinities.

Samwell Tarly, or Sam, is a member of the

House Tarly and the first son of Lord Randyll Tarly.

He is also a recruit of the Night’s Watch. Sam is

very fat, and “By the look of him, he must have

weighed twenty stone” (AGoT, p.258). He has pale

eyes that always move nervously in his “great round

moon of a face” (AGoT, p.258). When Sam is

dressed for a battle, he looks like “overcooked

sausage about to burst its skin” (AGoT, p.260).

Sam embodies the subordinated masculinties

because he shows quality that are opposite to those

that are prized in hegemonic masculinities (Connell,

2005). The brothers of the Night’s Watch bullies

him at first because of that. He is being called a pig,

a craven, and hit him during sword practice. Sword

practice with Sam never lasts long; “The fight lasted

less than a minute before the fat boy was on the

ground, his whole body shaking as blood leaked

through his shattered helm and between his plump

fingers. “I yield,” he shrilled. “No more, I yield,

don’t hit me” (AGoT, p.260). While knights in the

songs that are the embodiment of the hegemonic

masculinities ‘never screamed nor begged for

mercy’ (AGoT, p.543), within a minute of

swordfight, he already trembled in fear and beg for

mercy.

It is obvious that Samwell Tarly is not the

bravest man, he himself knows this, “[...] I fear I’m

a coward. My lord father always said so,” (AGoT,

p.263). When he says that, it surprises all the men of

the Night’s Watch, because, as Jon thinks to himself,

“What sort of man would proclaim himself a

coward?” (AGoT, p.263). Men like Jon, who

conforms to the hegemonic ideals and even Bran,

who is years younger Sam, avoids exhibiting

emotions such as sadness because it is perceived as a

sign of weakness. Sam on the other hand, just says

out loud that he is a coward in front of dozens of

people while crying. Samwell Tally also hates

hunting, he hates high places, although the Wall is

the highest place in the Kingdom.

Samwell Tarly actually comes from a family of

honor, his house is the bannermen to the Warden of

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the South, Mace Tyrell. He was actually born to

inherit a strong keep and rich lands. However, as he

grows older, he becomes less and less like his

father’s expectation (AGoT, p.267), and thus, he

cannot claim his inheritance because of that.

He grew up to be soft, fat, and awkward.

Instead of fighting using swords like most men, Sam

loves listening to musics and sometimes he makes

his own songs too, he likes wearing soft velvet, and

instead playing in the yard, Sam chooses to play in

the kitchen. The things that excite him are not the

thought of going on a battlefield, rather, reading

books and dancing (AGoT, p.268).

Although a lot of master-at-arms had taught him,

but none had succeeded. While training, he was

“cursed and caned, slapped and starved” (AGoT,

p.268). “One man had him sleep in his chainmail to

make him more martial. Another dressed him in his

mother’s clothing and paraded him through the

bailey to shame him into valor” (AGoT, p.268).

However, this did not change him, instead, he

became fatter and more frightened. At one point,

Lord Ranyll’s disappointment turned into anger.

Later, Sam has a younger brother, that is “fierce,

robust child more to his [Randyll’s] liking” (AgoT,

p.268), and since then Lord Randyll has been

ignoring him. This ultimately means that his brother

conform to the hegemonic ideals in ways that Sam

are not.

In his fifteenth birthday, his father tells him that

he wants Dickon, his little brother, to be his heir

instead. Then Randyll told Sam that he wanted Sam

to go to the Night’s Watch, and thus, abandon all of

his claims of inheritance. His father even says that if

he were to deny his father’s order, then Randyll

would kill him (AgoT, p.269).

Sam does not act the way men are supposed to

act. People like Sam are often referred to as cravens.

As one of the brothers of the Night’s Watch points

out, “nobody likes cravens” (AgoT, p.263). They are

the lowest in the hierarchy and they are being put in

the same level as women and eunuchs in order to

degrade them. Samwell Tarly is being denied from

his rights of inheritance because of this very reason.

Samwell Tarly might not be the best swordsman,

nor the bravest. He is weak, and a coward. What he

likes to do is different from what his father and the

people around him believe what men should like.

Thus, he is shunned, abused, mocked, and being

denied from his right because of that. The overall

dominance of masculinities over femininities is

reinforced by the dominance some forms of

masculinities over other forms that have the most

resemblance with femininities.

However, because of his love for books, he is

one of the smartest. He “read every book in his

father's library” (AgoT, p.451). Society needs all

types of people to function properly. The world in A

Game of Thrones might need a knight to fight, but

they also need people like Sam to use their literacy,

intelligence, and vast knowledge. If All men were to

fight on a battlefield, then who will be the strategist?

Or the one to heal those that are wounded during the

battle? And who will be the Maester? Samwell

Tarly might be “[f]at and awkward and frightened

he might be, Samwell Tarly was no fool’” (AgoT,

p.271).

The other character who performs subordinated

masculinities is Varys. Lord Varys, who is also

known as ‘the spider’ is the master of whisperers on

the small council, a small group of advisers that

advise the King of the Seven Kingdoms. His

masculinity is being subordinated because it does

not align with the forms that are most valued

(Connell, 2005).

He is described as a man who is plump,

perfumed, powdered, and as hairless as an egg with

skin that is soft and moist (AGoT, p.173). While

women say that his breath smells like lilac, men say

that he “smells as foul and sweet as flowers on

grave” (AGoT, p.191). He also wears gown and

slippers that are usually being worn by women [10].

It can be concluded from that description that Varys

is an effeminate man, which is the example for

subordinated masculinities that is given by Connell

(2005).

Although Varys is part of the small council,

people do not really respect him. Some even refer to

him as ‘Lord’ with disdain because he is “lord of

nothing but spiderweb, the master of none but his

whisperers” (AGoT, p.173). He is actively

dishonored, people always mock and make fun of

him, calling him too sensitive, etc. Moreover,

although he is very useful to the king, Varys states

that it shames the king to use Varys because “such a

manly man has little love for sneaks and spies and

eunuchs” (AGAgotoT, p.321). For someone like the

king, having spies is very shameful, thus, he uses

Varys to do the works that ‘better’ men are too

ashamed to do. He is what he is, he does not

conform to the hegemonic ideals, he behaves in a

very feminine way. He is very far from the

expectation of what a man ought to be.

However, it is very remarkable that although he

has been looked down upon all his life, and gain no

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privilege whatsoever because he is an eunuch, he

still manages to be one of the members of the

council because of his wit. Littlefinger, one of the

characters notes that Varys has informants

everywhere and “[n]othing happens in this city

without Varys knowing. Oftentimes, he knows about

it before it happens” (AGoT, p.172). Catelyn also

points out that he “has ways of learning things that

no man could know” (AGoT, p.200).

Varys is actually a very powerful man because

of the knowledge and information that he possesses.

However, because the hegemonic masculinities are

taken for granted and being naturalized ways of how

males ought to be, thus, Varys’ is regarded as

‘feminine’, abnormal, deviant, and even failed

masculinity.

4 CONCLUSIONS

There are three classifications of masculinities in

this novel. The first is hegemonic masculinities,

which become the foundation of this research since

other masculinities existing alongside with it, and

then marginalized and subordinated masculinities.

The masculinity that are hegemonic in the

Seven Kingdoms are the masculinity of knights,

especially knights of the Kingsguard. Their

masculinities are praised and promoted both in

social life and cultural texts such as songs and

stories. Those who perform hegemonic masculinities

also receive admiration from women who are

actually being subordinated by the existence of

hegemonic masculinities. These masculinities also

set to be the exemplars and the standard. Their

masculinities include, bravery, brute strength, ability

to use swords and ride horse, aggressiveness, and the

tendency to not show any kind of emotion.

Following hegemonic masculinities, there is

marginalized masculinities. Men whose

masculinities are marginalized are those who

perform masculinities that are hegemonic yet gain

very little or no privilege at all. This may be caused

by their races, social classes, ability, or disability.

Jon Snow is an example of a man who performs

marginalized masculinities.

Lastly, there is subordinated masculinities. Men

who are classified into subordinated masculinities

are those who display quality that contrasting from

the hegemonic masculinities. These characters are

Samwell Tarly and Varys.

Thus, it can be concluded that various

masculinities exist, however, they are not equal.

Even though men are created equal, but any

hypothetical equality vanish quickly because the

definition of masculinities are not equally valued in

this society. One definition and stquaandard of

manhood continues to be the standard against other

forms of manhood. In this society, there is no

celebration of diversity of masculinities.

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