Embracing the Ambiguity of the Concept of Homosocial

Abstract

As of 2021, the concept of “homosociality” is often used in and outside of academia to critically refer to relationships between men and the behavioral codes and unspoken rules governing those relationships in a male-centered society. However, the modern use of the term could be criticized as “overexploited use” of the homosociality concept because its description by E. K. Sedgwick, who is often credited with coining the term, seems to convey nuances different from those stated above.

In this study, I posit that the ambiguity regarding the meaning of “homosocial,” resulting from its broad overuse, should be molded and controlled instead of eliminated, and I propose guidelines for it. More specifically, by examining the use of the term by Sedgwick and other advocates, it was found that ambiguity enhances the explanatory power of the concept of homosociality, and therefore, rigid formulation of the concept is rather undesirable. I then argue that it is useful to reshape Sedgwick’s homosociality concept according to the context of one’s own description by examining post-Sedgwick usage.