‘A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do?’: The Criticism of Hegemonic Masculinity in Judges 19.1–20.7 *

Abstract

This article contributes to the growing conversation surrounding masculinity in the Hebrew Bible by examining the Levite's performance of masculinity in Judg. 19.1–20.7. It critiques the dominant conception of ideal, or hegemonic, masculinity within the Hebrew Bible in two stages. First, it portrays the Levite's attempts to navigate the competing demands for the behavior of a hegemonic male as ultimately leading to the tragic, outrageous death of the pilegesh. Second, it depicts the Levite's subsequent successful performance of hegemonic masculinity as causing the tragic, outrageous events following the Levite's departure from the narrative. Thus, Judg. 19.1–20.7 joins other biblical texts in attempting to renegotiate the conception of hegemonic masculinity in the Hebrew Bible.