1 Introduction One of the challenges of patriarchy, and systems of power and oppression more generally, is that they are, as Peggy McIntosh put it so succinctly, often invisible to ourselves (McIntosh 1989). Not only are our own privileges often invisible to ourselves, but often so are our relations, interactions, and the role that these play in our individual lives. It was not until I had graduated from college that I started to think not just about my actions in relation to power and oppression, but to think about the ways that my relations with others – and often other men – impacted on me so heavily. What I noticed was the fact that my relations with others were more often than not reflective of a highly individualised and almost crass version of independence. I found I had distanced myself to a great degree from family and friends, and that I had grown accustomed to a life lived without fully committing to my relationships. Having discovered this I began to redress some of the glaring silences that I had created in my life, and to further understand the role that relationships played in the creation of masculinities, a system of oppression and power, and the silences that exist to perpetuate each of these. Much of the following discussion has stemmed from a personal and academic desire to gain an understanding of men’s homosocial relations. Some of the information presented derives from my doctoral thesis which focuses on American men in a university setting and the role that their relations with other men play in their lives. So in that sense the work is both a reflective act, as well as a personal effort at comprehending the role that these relationships play in men’s lives, and the way that these relationships traverse and overlap the intersectional identities that we each carry into each of these interactions. This article therefore builds upon personal reflexive practice, as well as a theoretical position which sees men’s homosocial relations as spaces where the creation of masculinities occurs, and at the same time as places of fear, power and intimacy. These relations are paradoxical interactions that instil oppressive behaviours – along gender, class, race, and other lines of oppression – as well as relations that can leave individual men struggling as pieces in a system of patriarchy that subjugates each individual and their interactions. 2 Setting up the discussion It is crucial, in understanding and examining the notion of ‘patriarchy’ and the systemic exchange as it exists in individuals’ lives to see and comprehend the varied interlocking and overlapping transpositions of power that are constantly occurring: each, in their own way, 104 Towards an Intersectional Approach to Patriarchy: Male Homosociality in an American Context Frank G. Karioris* Abstract This article seeks to begin an exploration of the ways that male homosociality can be investigated and talked about using a multidimensional and intersectional lens. In doing this, it puts to the fore an understanding and discussion of patriarchy, while simultaneously situating the discussion amidst current American visions of masculinity. The article aims to provide a further starting point for theorising about men’s homosocial relations and the various factors which impact on the nature of these relations and the role that these relations can play in perpetuating or undermining larger social structures which further inequalities. To do this it briefly looks at various elements of these relations, specifically related to power, silence and intimacy. IDS Bulletin Volume 45 Number 1 January 2014 © 2014 The Author. IDS Bulletin © 2014 Institute of Development Studies Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA