Hegemony in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group. Analyzing this definition, according to Collins, the ideological influences exerted by a dominant group would be wealthy white men placed at the top of the tiered structure. The multi-level structure can be better understood when talking about hegemonic masculinity and hegemonic femininity, but to be able to connect these ideas, the history of hegemony must be explained. Hegemony comes from the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci. According to Gramsci, hegemony is linked to ideological domination. Ideological domination does not mean physical power, but the domination of ideas. Gramsci was troubled by the way the upper class infiltrated the minds of the lower classes, forcing their way into their minds to believe in their ideas. For example, Collins develops this ideology by expressing how white Americans exercised social control over black people beyond the plantations. Even if a black man is no longer enslaved, his plantation mentality is still controlled. Gramsci states that we have been conditioned by our language to think and feel particular ways of thinking that serve the purposes of those who implemented those ideologies by transforming them into the “dominant ideology.” This means that since slavery, black slaves, both men and women, have been conditioned to think that the purpose of their existence is to be slaves, because the only way to control the social order in capitalist society is through strength and inferiority. Through such conditions and ideologies, it is believed that it allows black men and women to blame each other for problems. This in turn allows for a more coherent understanding of hegemony and will further explain Collins' central argument about this hegemonic ideology and the functions of hegemony.