ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a key site for the development and performance of rural masculinities – the rural hunting subculture – that has yet to be associated with woman abuse. New theoretical and empirical work on the connection between rural woman abuse and hunting borrows from male peer support theory because male bonding is an integral component of rural hunting subculture socialization. Most ethnographic studies of male culture highlight an elevation of demonstrations of masculinity in the form of exaggerated story-telling that revolves around sex, domination, and control over others, especially females. Hunting in the United States exists within the larger culture of gun ownership, supported by legal history and lobbying organizations that serve to reinforce the historical, social, and cultural relationship between guns, masculinities, and violence. Frequent drinking with male friends has been linked to the development of a type of masculinity that serves to objectify women, endorsing male behavior that may lead to physical and sexual violence against women.
