Thinking about gender relations, both in research and empirical investigation, through the concept of hegemonic masculinity, or even masculinities, is relatively new. Introduced into the field of academic and empirical gender research in the 1980s by the Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell, this concept has made it possible to consider, analyze and deconstruct relations of male-female domination and patriarchy from the male perspective. Hegemonic masculinity is defined by Connell in 1995 as "[not being] a fixed and unchanging personality type, but masculinity that is in a hegemonic position within a given structure of gender relations, a position that is always subject to challenge". She then goes on to define it as "that which guarantees (or is supposed to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women." It thus designates a configuration of - mainly masculine - gender practice that maintains the disparity of power(s) between women and men in a given time and place; the dominant form of representation of masculinity in a given time and place.