A masculine power in the conjugal sphere

Résumé 0

Based on a qualitative investigation (through interviews and observations) with inhabitants of the canton of Geneva in Switzerland, this article analyses the role played by music in the constitution of a “masculine power” and how social class and the relational structure of the household contribute to shaping this power. The analysis exposes the variables that shape the domestication of music according to gender and social class status and identifies three main dynamics that legitimate men’s practice of listening to music, and the latter’s primacy over that of their female partners: advocating a “passion” for music, the high intensity of the listening practice (in terms of volume, frequency and display) and claiming a technical expertise. The article then shows how the masculine practice of listening to music contributes to deploying a form of domination over the spatial and acoustic organization of the domestic sphere. The masculine appropriation of the domestic sphere through music appears to be more prevalent among the social elite and within heterosexual couples characterized by a steep social distance between partners to the benefit of men.