This paper draws on the narratives of 46 young men from the NW of England to explore the interrelationship between social exclusion, masculinities and sexual risk. Using hegemonic masculinities theory as a framework the paper explores how social exclusion impacts on the construction and performance of masculinities such that those young men who are unable to access the broader tenets of hegemonic masculinities construct marginalised masculinities over reliant on sex and sexual performance. These sexualised masculinities are seen to value sexual risk taking and position young women as subordinate and vulnerable. A framework for understanding how young men conceptualise and respond to risk in this context is presented alongside discussion of the implications for policy and practice.