Sociological Construction Of Masculinity In The Media

My final paper topic is an exploration of the relationship between sociological constructions of masculinity and the way masculinity is portrayed in the media, specifically in film. What are the ways masculinity is performed in film, and how does this influence various masculine identities? How do movies affect what masculine ideals are held up in society? In order to study how masculinity is crafted onscreen, it is important to first define how it is created in real world situations. In sociological theory, it is argued that masculinity is a dynamic, active construction that occurs in social contexts. Several theories, such as multiple masculinities, hegemonic masculinity, and active construction are all present within many sociological works.

He states, “[masculinities] are accomplished in everyday conduct or organizational life, as patterns of social practice” (2001, p.18). Masculinity is not a settled identity, but rather a continuous effort on the behalf of the individuals. Continuing this idea of masculinity interacting with an individual’s gender identity, the descriptor internal complexity is how Connell incorporates an individual emotions, logic, and desires into their shaping of their gender identity (20010. Finally, as his sixth theme Connell uses the term dynamics to explain how gender is composed in relation to history, and how there will always be some form of contestation and change within any existing form of masculinity

This variety has been studied since the 1980s, where a sociological shift from studying the male sex, to studying how men “enact” masculine identities occured (2009). Schrock and Schwalbe (2009) work to examine how literature studying these diverse masculinities, in order to “interpret the literature in terms of what it tells us about how males learn to perform manhood acts, about how and why such acts vary, and about how manhood acts reproduce gender inequality” (p. 277). They want to examine both how other genders are subordinated to men, and how some men are subordinated to others. Furthermore, they argue that it is not enough to simply be “male” in order to participate in these social interactions, but that rather a particular masculine identity must be crafted. They explain, “this requires mastering a set of conventional signifying practices through which the identity "man" is established and upheld in interaction” (2009, p. 279). This shows that masculine identities are continually in flux, and are very much reliant upon the context in which they are