Who Is Glengarry Glen Ross Critique Traditional Masculinity?

While there are those that argue Glengarry Glen Ross critiques traditional masculinity, I contend that the film celebrates traditional masculinity because the male characters, particularly Blake, reinforce self reliance and exhibit a disdain for homosexuality. To begin, some argue that Glengarry Glen Ross critiques traditional masculinity because it challenges the norm of winning associated with Mahalik’s Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory. At the end of the film, the audience expects that if not all, a majority of the male characters would have gained something whether that be social power or capital gain. However, the film closes on a room of defeated men that have all have lost something. For example, Ricky Roma loses his incredible sales streak which would have earned him the Cadillac. Additionally, John Williamson loses his lucrative prime leads as well as his trust and confidence in his co workers. Finally, without a doubt, Shelley “The Machine” Levene loses the most. Levene discovers that he just made a deal with two bankrupt, delusional people thus making his deal a complete fold. On top of this, in

For instance, in the opening monologue, Blake proclaims his success because he masters self reliance. He has balls, takes initiative, and delivers. For example, Blake’s material wealth and possessions prove that society celebrates and rewards his constructed masculinity of winning and self reliance. To represent this idea, he says that “if you wanna be a good father go home and play with your kids, fuck you! If you wanna work here, you gotta go and close.” In other words, to be successful and prove one’s masculinity means disregarding the care for children and a partner and instead committing personal financial success. In short, emphasis on self reliance reinscribes traditional masculinity and thus, celebrates traditional