Altering Hegemonic Masculinity
My view on the idea that potentially libratory aspects of the road for masculinities in Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert may be suppressed by a return to the logic of hegemonic masculinity is different from that of Aitken and Lukinbeal. I understand how there are aspects of the film that return to the logic of hegemonic masculinity such as Mitzi having a son and Bernadette considering being with Bob altering her partner past away. I admit that hegemonic masculinity is present in the film; however, I do not think that it suppresses the libratory aspects, if anything I think they are strengthened.
An example of this would be when Felicia gets chased after by a group of men when they stop for a night in a small town. He gets attacked for dressing like a woman which for him is an act of liberation when on the road and this act would be suppressed if he had stopped dressing like a woman, but he continues to do so. I find this strengthens the liberatory act because he does not let the suppressive act prevent him from being who he is. I also find this to occur with Mitzi and his son, the act of having a son would be lead make to hegemonic masculinity by giving him a traditional male role, however, it turns out Mitzi's son accepts him for who he is as well. This allows Mitzi to be in a drag show and still have a son, who in the end is even at the drag show and involved in the light of the show, which seems to be the complete opposite of suppressive.
I think the hegemonic masculinity in the film is not meant to suppress the characters, but instead challenges who they are and makes each character more comfortable with what that is. I find this view to be similar to the model by Kirby that positions the gaze flexible boundaries that are changed by the occupants in the film that is presented in the article Disassociated Masculinities and Geographies of the Road by Aitken and Lukinbeal. Kirby states:
The gaze indicates the contours they are already possess, but also can be a medium for one side to effect changes in the shape of the other.
This is how I view Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it takes suppressive material that already exists in the form of hegemonic masculinity and takes the liberating acts further beyond just an act shapes each individual character.