Hegemony
In the 19th century, hegemony came to denote the "Social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu". Later, it could be used to mean "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society". Also, it could be used for the geopolitical and the cultural predominance of one country over others, from which was derived "hegemonism", as in the idea that the Great Powers meant to establish European hegemony over Asia and Africa.
Hegemonic masculinity
The concept of hegemonic masculinity was first proposed in field reports from a study of social inequality in Australian high schools; in a related conceptual discussion of the making of masculinities and the experiences of men's bodies; and in a debate over the role of men in Australian labour politics. These beginnings were organized into an article which critiqued the "male sex role" literature and proposed a model of multiple masculinities and power relations. This model was integrated into a systematic sociological theory of gender. The resulting six pages in "Gender and Power" by R. W. Connell on "hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity" became the most cited source for the concept of hegemonic masculinity. This concept draws its theoretical roots from the Gramscian term "hegemony" as it was used to understand the stabilization of class relations. The idea was then transferred to the problem of gender relations.