ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a wider ethnographic study of constructions of self in the mediatedworld of men'sprisons, explores "manliness" as the prison coping strategy par excellence. That masculinity is likely to become more extreme in men's prisons is unsurprising, but the origins and nature of the "hypermasculine" culture and the precise means by which hierarchies of domination are created and maintained have yet to be thoroughly explored. All forms of masculinity inevitably involve a certain degree of putting on a "manly front," and it therefore seems reasonable to consider the outward manifestation of all masculinities as presentation or performance. Hegemonic masculinity in prisons, then, is clearly as bound up with aggression and violence as it is on the outside. That is not to say that the most violent men are the most powerful inside; indeed, the volatile offender is more likely to be marginalized than respected.
