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the social consturction of masculinity
masculinity and stereotypes in movies
the social consturction of masculinity
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Complex Masculinities: The Superhero in Modern American Movies attempts to encapsulate the essential elements that make masculinities complex by means of mass media. The question of where and why superheroes have held such a salient position in the last decade is aroused when it is media who is the deciding factor in institutionalizing masculinity. When looking at the surface of a superhero movie, dominant hegemonic characteristics are the epitome of the superhero and reflect the roles and values society holds of a “real man”. But, further insight as to why superheroes are constructed as they are, reflect society’s insecurities of real issues the public deals with; the post 9/11 world is relieved when faced with an unrealistic masculine superhero that repeatedly does good. The underlying idea is that media constructs and deconstructs masculinity to fit the needs of society who imbeds these ideas into the norms and roles of what it means to be a man. This article proves to accurately argue this position yet, leaves out that fact that this only points to one side of masculinity and others have their own ideas and interpretations of superhero movies. A greater emphasis on a conflict theorist perspective could aid this article in providing how superhero movies reflect the ideologies of the dominant class and how their interests are being promoted within the superhero figure. The central question as to what makes masculinity a complex ideology is explained through a means of a superhero. To better understand masculinity, it must be broken down into its origins. The main point the author emphasizes is that masculinity is something that is constructed and created, rooted from society's cultural beliefs. It is never static, in other word... ... middle of paper ... ...uperhero movies are increasingly put out to explain underlying issues, yet sway us to prefer a specific type of gendered body. Standards of masculinity are constantly being redefining to an increasingly improved version of itself and often push society’s expectations and standards as each generation renews itself. What is “ideal” in superheroes is often unrealistic but, society will keep accepting that as normal and continually want better. Almost all superhero movies fail to challenge the heterosexual masculinity which is expressed in the heroic characters. The superhero is always the same white, confident, muscular male whom exudes power and sex-appeal to suit audiences and make money for the production. Though the superhero is complex in which he struggles with his identity, emotions and complicated love life, he still captures a one sided view of masculinity.
Over time, the United States has experienced dramatic social and cultural changes. As the culture of the United States has transformed, so have the members of the American society. Film, as with all other forms of cultural expression, oftentimes reflects and provides commentary on the society in which it is produced. David Fincher’s 1999 film Fight Club examines the effects of postmodernity on masculinity. To examine and explicate these effects, the film presents an unnamed narrator, an everyman, whose alter-ego—in the dissociative sense—is Tyler Durden. Durden represents the narrators—thus every man’s—deep-seated desire to break free from the mind-numbing, emasculating world that is postmodern, post-industrial America.
The movie that I chose to research was The Incredibles. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie because I thought it gave a really wholesome view of family. I was very pleased with how much Mr. Incredible grew as a person throughout the story. I appreciated how it was full of action, anticipation, and excitement. By the end of the story, I didn't feel that there were any loose ends that needed to be tied up which left me satisfied. Overall, I agree with the point the author of this article was trying to make. I agree that the way men are portrayed in these three films, particularly The Incredibles, has changed since the "princess film era". (Gillam.) In The Incredibles, we see the journey he takes from being full of himself to realizing that he needs his family and friends. (Gillam.)
In the classical Western and Noir films, narrative is driven by the action of a male protagonist towards a clearly defined, relatable goal. Any lack of motivation or action on the part of the protagonist problematizes the classical association between masculinity and action. Due to inherent genre expectations, this crisis of action is equivalent to a crisis of masculinity. Because these genres are structured around male action, the crises of action and masculinity impose a crisis of genre. In the absence of traditional narrative elements and character tropes, these films can only identify as members of their genres through saturation with otherwise empty genre symbols. The equivalency between the crises of genre and masculinity frames this symbol saturation as a sort of compensatory masculine posturing.
We are currently living in the Golden Age of Superheroes. They dominate our cultural life, and have become seemingly permanent fixtures in modern media. Since X-Men burst onto the screen fifteen years ago, we have witnessed the release of over forty superhero movies. By 2020 we will have seen the release of more than twenty-five more. Today, the much anticipated film Superman vs. Batman has come to theaters. Though a plethora of superhero movies have been released, it is to the dissatisfaction of many, having long been exhausted by the stories of the Hulk, Batman, and Spider-man. Although I must agree that it is quite easy to get bored with the constant action, and flashing colors of these films, if one looks deep enough into the story they will discover universal themes and metaphors. Though they may be fighting off alien invasions, these heroes are also battling with their personal challenges, challenges which we can
The authors title “What to do when you’re not the hero anymore” is directed at a group of people who aren’t the likely audience for this essay. Penny explains how since the recent movement in the media particularly white males have been raging with anger that their lead roles are being taking over. Prior to reading the essay it is common to have heard of female lead roles becoming a universal theme. While it is not so common to hear of how white men “have been expressing rage loudly and violently over the idea that they might find themselves identifying with characters who are not white men.” Penny
In the article ‘Masculinity In Movies’ the author Kenneth Mackinnon elucidates about masculinity, feminism and the technological advances that occur in masculinity in movies. He also talks about hard bodies and soft bodies and masculinity in tradition and culture. Apart from this the article also tells about the variety of movie genres, movies, film stars and mainly the tension between hyper-masculinity and feminism.
to evoke pride in every American still used today. Superheroes give an escape from reality that only an average human can only dream of different from the glamour portrayed by Golden Age movie stars;
Whatever we see in movies, television, video games, or any other source of entertainment, there will always be a male figure who symbolizes masculinity to the fullest extent. All that masculinity representing empowerment is what seems to appeal to men nowadays. In Michael Kimmel’s Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men the novel presents the irresistible desires that men seek in order to receive the approval of other men. An approval where men gain access to the concept of Guyland, where young men become masculine in order to fit in socially and to feel empowered. However, achieving absolute masculinity leans toward the use of violence that is presented in the media, presenting a message where violence is used for the purpose of
Hughes, Jamie A. "Who Watches the Watchmen?: Ideology and 'Real World' Superheroes." Journal of Popular Culture39.4 (2006): 546-557. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 25 Feb. 2010
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
The figure of the ‘new lad’ has been a feature of popular culture in the United Kingdom, United States, and elsewhere since the early 1990s. In the book, The Trouble with Men: Masculinities in European and Hollywood Cinema, the author relates to Nick Hornby’s, a screenwriter and English novelist, thoughts on lads. He states that there are two versions of the modern male that have anxieties between the two main constructions of contemporary masculinity: New man and New Lad (Phil Powrie 2004, pp.84). By the start of the twentieth century, the word ‘masculinity’ was always associated with the word ‘crisis’; this is now portrayed in ‘lad flicks’. Masculinity is the central object of contemporary ‘lad flicks’; they combine different genre elements to focus specifically on difficulties that face contemporary masculinity. The male characters in these films...
The new creations of each of the characterisations reflects the changing views of what society claims a hero should be. Since the 1960s, masculinity has been seen as a form of protection for the vulnerable, however, the shift of masculinity in British cinema has seen it become damaged. 'The Full Monty' from 1997 followed the disempowerment of masculinity through the decline of industry, where femininity rose, masculinity fell.
Sex and gender are attributes to our identity. Sex describes the physical and biological factors we are born with, for example male or female genitalia, as quoted from blackadder “A boy without a winkle is a girl” (Elton and Curtis 1998). Whether we have oestrogen or testosterone hormones also tells us if we are man or woman. Gender however is in relation to stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, and expectations of what characteristics men or women should portray. Anyone given the opportunity to describe men, they would say words like dominant, non emotional, macho, aggressive, and to be the provider and protector of his family. This essay sets out to examine if masculinity is socially constructed and to do this the theories of gender, media, historical societies and even sexuality will be analysed throughout.
Idealism shown in comic books is a fruit of human perceptions and values. Society provides the material on which our superheroes and their enemies are based. Our perceptions of ideal figures are what drive their characterization and impact how we respond to them...
Being a hero means that one can show courage when it comes to facing a problem. It is a person who helps others in many ways, such as a person in danger. In the modern era, the creation of superheroes have become popular when it comes to producing films. Viewers can choose their favorite heroes due to the idea that there a many of them. However, most fans argue which superheroes are better. Two of the most popular superheroes are DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Iron Man. Although Batman and Iron Man are loved by many viewers because of how they help people in danger, they still demonstrate imperfections which can cause viewers to dislike them. However, both superheroes share similarities and differences between themselves. Batman and Iron Man have