William Farrell’s “Men as Success Objects”
Identity is a subject commonly discussed within literature. In William Farrell’s essay entitled “Men as Success Objects” this subject is the object of much scrutiny. Farrell analyzes the role of gender in today’s society and states that male identity is in a condition where male insecurities about success, their appearance, and females have left most men in today’s society in dire straights. Compounded by prevailing ultra-feminist ideals, society has become saturated by the “men are jerks” mentality. This condition can be seen in various aspects of society such as commercials, television programs, even greeting cards (Farrell, 186). While some may not agree with his opinions on the state of male identity, Farrell uses a number of rhetorical strategies and literary devices such as an objective point of view, an intellectual tone, and appeals to both logos and ethos in order to effectively convey belief that men are treated as “success objects” in today’s society.
In discussing the subject of male identity, especially as compared to female identity, Farrell is very careful to remain very objective throughout his rhetoric. Part of his balanced approach to proving his argument, is the use of an objective point of view. Farrell’s deliberate objectivity can be seen in aspects of his piece such as his word choice, free of denotative language, his lack of any first hand anecdotes, a removal of any indication of his gender (except his name), and a strict third person style throughout his piece. All of these characteristics combine to make his argument effective to a large demographic of people, unlike many pieces on gender identity, whose audience is usually limited to at most a spe...
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...emotional appeal, Farrell improves his argument by making it objective, understandable, and relatable.
Debates over gender are always difficult to win. Each side has its own experience and it is impossible for the other side to completely understand the others perspective. In William Farrell’s essay “Men as Success Objects” the subject of male identity is discussed as objectively as a person of either gender could do. Through the use of an objective point of view, an intellectual tone, and appeals to both logos and ethos Farrell’s argument becomes both valid an effective. Through his use of rhetorical devices Farrell tells people what he knows and changes what they think.
Works Cited
Farrell, William. “Men as Success Objects.” Constructing Others Constructing Ourselves. Ed. Gruber, Sibylle et al. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. 2002. 185-88.
In the essay, “The High Cost of Manliness,” writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics, such as masculinity. Jensen realizes that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. He argues that there is no valid reason to have characteristics associated with being male. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.
She taught at universities both in Australia and the United States. Connell highly disagreed that the ideas about what established masculinity are ethically definite. In other words, masculinity is important to whom is referred to. For example, “if women are seen as weak, passive and emotional, then men are supposed to be strong, aggressive, and rational” (Seidman, 221). Additionally, masculinity is based on how people interact with each other in which correlates with their race, class, and sexuality. With this said, Connell said, “to recognize diversity in masculinity: relations of alliance, dominance and subordination… This is a gender politics within masculinity” (Seidman, 223). To point out Connell’s theorizing masculinity, she believes that diversity defines masculinity has its own relationships with authorities. In our text, Seidman gave a brief example of how the roles carry out to the social authority such as President, Senator, CEO, General, media executive, or surgeon. It is stated that while there are many senators, executives, or CEOs who are women, it is definite identify as masculinity because people think those high authorities is only for a male role. In our text, Connell has mentioned that “every society has a dominant or a “hegemonic” type of masculinity” (223). This means that she believes men has the power or control type of their masculinity in the
Clive Thompson’s article “He and She: What’s the Real Difference?” poses the controversial question that various millennials have been debating for years: “What the heck is gender, anyway?” (365). For a large number of people, gender exists as a social divide solely based on whether an individual is anatomically and biologically male or female; nevertheless, there are those who argue that gender involves more than what anatomy and biology offer. Regardless of the perspective, gender affects how one behaves both privately and publicly, appears in social and private settings, communicates with others, and above all, uses language for literary purposes. Thompson’s writing observes the experiment of Bar-Ilan University’s professor, Moshe Koppel.
Mosse, L George. The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity. New York: Macmillan publishers, 1996.
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
His stage presence was far superior to any other performer of rock and roll during that time era. One of the things that Hendrix was know for was being a left-handed guitar player, however, played a right-handed guitar that was strung for a lefty. This made the guitar react and sound completely different than a normal guitar would sound. He favored high volume and gain through overdriven amplifiers and was instrumental in utilizing guitar amplifier feedback. According to Holly George-Warren of the Rolling Stones, "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began." His advanced use and creativity of the guitar led to a wah-wah effect which would eventually chang the way rock and roll would be played forever. When he was performing on stage he would set his amplifiers on max, later known as the Hendrix setting. Another trademark of Hendrix was his unique ability to be one of a kind on stage and truly express himself. While playing he would perform stunts such as playing the guitar behind his back, under his legs, and even with his teeth. His performances were nonetheless unforgettable especially when he set his guitar on fire and afterward smashed it during the Monterey Pop Festival. An iconic picture of Jimmi Hendrix on his knees with his hands raised high and his guitar burning on the floor in front of him would symbolize rock and roll in the years to come. His magnificent and odd way of playing would be something the people loved and envied. Hendrix would set the bar for future rock and rollers with his outstanding and innovative performances on
...966 The Beatles began to get tired of touring, because they could not even hear their own voices and instruments due to all of the screaming fans. Paul McCartney agree with the rest of the band and decided to make their wishes come true by not touring. Paul McCartney had to make an effort to keep the group together due to the death of Brian Epstein. Paul McCartney succeeded to at making the Magical Mystery Tour movie and album. he had also tried to get the other members to agree to one more tour in 1969, and John Lennon said “ I think you’re mad.” Although they played the celebrated rooftop gig on top of the Apple offices, and it was filmed as part of the Let It Be project. Paul McCartney led the band throughout their last album called Abbey Road, and it was released after Let It Be in 1969. Paul was not happy about Phil Spectors creation with the album Let It Be.
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