Throughout millenniums, people have tried to figure out the causation for human behaviors. Michael Kimmel and Dave Barry have written pieces focusing on this subject, particularly about men. In the excerpt “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” from Michael Kimmel’s book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, he wrote that men act they way they do due to other men’s judgements. In the introduction “Guys vs. Men” from Dave Barry’s humor book Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, he wrote that guys act they way they do because of strong internal drives and lack of deep thought. Although both Kimmel and Barry have similar views on the actions of men, they have different approaches to the reasoning behind their actions: Kimmel believes they are caused by fear of breaking societal norms, and Barry believes they are caused by guys’ internal drives. Both Kimmel and Barry listed set characteristics or rules of being a guy. Kimmel listed a set of rules that he called “Real Guy’s Top Ten List”. His list can …show more content…
Due to the negative societal feelings towards effeminate men, guys who break the rules of masculinity are socially punished. Kimmel interviewed a first-year college student who said that breaking these masculine gender roles would cause him to “lose everything.” Kimmel continues with a list of answers varying from getting physically attacked to ostracized to self-harm. Therefore, Kimmel characterized “The Guy Code” as very negative and hurtful. Barry wrote more about the negative effects of acting like a guy, rather than the effects of the rules of being a guy like Kimmel did. In Barry’s anecdotes, he was left with an unnecessary and expensive computer and a hamstring injury. He also said that guys’ lack of “rigid and well-defined moral code” caused them to cheat on their partners, therefore causing a lot of emotional pain. Kimmel and Barry pointed out several effects on women as
Have you ever wonder what is different between guy and man? If yes, you should read the article “Guy vs. Men” of Dave Barry. In this article, Barry mention several trails that could help you determine whether a person is a guy or a man. After reading this article, I do not agree with Barry about how he determine a guy or a man. For example, we could not determine the male characters in the novel “The Great Gatsby” are a guy or a man just because of how they act in a specific situation because there will always have other time that they will act differently. As same as a real life person, when a person act like a guy in a specific situation does not mean that they will also act like a guy in all other situation. In my opinion, Tom, Gatsby,
Whether this be through morals, choices, beliefs, or personality. Holloway argues that it is through toxic/abrupt masculinity that boys are constantly caught in the crossfires between fight or flight. Masculinity becomes toxic when it becomes obsessive and disruptive. When society gets to the point where they cannot even focus or be themselves because of the fact that the only thing they care about is being the perfect man. The idea of striving to become this perfect man is an example of flight in society. Men are being forced to attempt to fit into these ideals and “prove, and re prove that they are men” in order to avoid the feeling of not fitting in with the rest of the group (Holloway). Holloway continues to discuss how throughout their lives men are constantly seen as emotionally tougher which causes them to grow up believing that if they show emotions they are weaker and are not allowed to be a part of the pack. Therefore instead of fighting this ideal and deciding to stand up for who they are, it is easier to conform and attempt to fit in because if they show discontent then they are shown as weak and unable to handle the “social constructions of masculinity” forcing them to become a social pariah and damage their spiritual
Society has taught its people that men are supposed to have certain and different characteristics than women and vice versa. What is difficult to understand is why society split the uncomplicated human characteristics in to two categories. Jensen brings up two important questions in this text pertaining to the separation of characteristics, “What makes these distinctly masculine characteristics? Are they not simply human characteristics?” These questions are really important to discuss because whether an individual is male or female they are still a human and all humans have access to the same set of characteristics. Males and females can express masculinity and they can both express emotions because they are each human. Jensen’s main point about characteristics is that any characteristic can apply to males or females because characteristics are not sex based, they are human
Relating guys to dogs, only “ less hairy, and usually taller”, Barry describes that they simply can not follow any set of moral rules. That guys are aware of what they are expected to do but simply can not stay focused long enough to comply. Going one step farther than most would dare by connecting man’s immorality to a situation that directly involves their counterpart. Barry creates a scenario where the only possible way men could be faithful to their spouse is if men are “eaten by their mates immediately following copulation”. Any other possibility will be the inevitable breach of faithfulness. He wraps up his manslaughter to shows the reader the bright side of this dilemma. Guys do not breach morality on purpose, no they are just simply too incoherent to be able to follow the imposed rules. But the carnage does not stop there. Barry slips in the women 's side of this by acknowledging that all of the moral codes that society judges right and wrong, all the standards by which he was using to slander the male name, was created by women solely to keep men in
... E Glenn, and Nancy B Sherrod. The psychology of men and masculinity:Research status and future directions. New York: John Wiley and sons, 2001.
The Bro Code breaks down the establishment and encouragement of sexism into four “steps” that society uses to form sexist men (Keith). These steps are: “1. Train Men to Womanize, 2. Immerse Men in Porn, 3. Make Rape Jokes 4. Obey the Masculinity Cops”(Keith). Thomas Keith begins by addressing the fact that he grew up in this “bro culture” and that men today are continually taught to have the same mentality that Keith had when he was younger. However, he claims that “bro culture” has changed and has become a more “dangerous sexist” (Keith). Our culture continually promotes this behavior through music, television and media, all which tell men that in order to be successful and true men they must be rich, strong and surrounded by women.
Aaron Devor’s essay “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” describes how despite popular belief, gender and sex are not directly related and how social norms affect individual’s choice of gender. Devor‘s main argument is that gender is not determined by genitalia, but instead by the individual's own choices. Michael Kimmel’s essay “Masculinity as Homophobia” claims that gender equality is a positive thing for males and that social norms force men to act a certain way. Kimmel’s main argument is that men are always having to protect their masculinity in order to prevent themselves from appearing weak. Both authors present compelling arguments for both gender equality and for how social norms influence individuals’ gender choice. However, the two authors approach the same topic in different ways. Kimmel takes a more laid-back approach to the topic by using simple words and a conversational tone that relates to the casual gender sociologist. Devor writes a more sophisticated essay using complex terms and a more formal tone that relates to the serious sociologist that research gender studies.
The concept of masculinity is considered as the qualities and characteristics of a man, typical what is appropriate to a man. In this article, A Community Psychology of Men and Masculinity: Historical and Conceptual Review, The author Eric S. Mankowski and Kenneth I. Maton, analyze four main themes: "Men as gendered beings, the privilege and damage of being a masculine man, men as a privileged group, and men’s power and subjective powerlessness. The second and fourth themes are described as
If a man possesses the masculinity that society claims he should have, he may still experience many emotional issues within himself. After a man has been taught that domination is the key, they may develop a sense of aggression. Aggression may also follow the fact they men hold all of their feelings into to protect themselves from the schemas. Men have been seen to use violence in their past to solve their issues. In the documentary, one of the prisoners in the group session spoke about how he was in jail because all of his emotions that had been bottled up become uncontrollable in one instance. If a boy or a man does not contain the masculinity expected, he may become bullied and out-casted. The continuation of discrimination toward a boy may cause suicidal thoughts. On top of being bullied for not being a powerful man, he may still be trying to hold in his emotions to prove that he
It would seem that the words “guys” and “men” would be defined in the same way, as they are thrown around in conversation in generally the same way. In fact, Google defines guy as “a man.” Writer, Dave Barry, puts a spin on these two words in his essay, Guys vs. Men. Guys vs. Men discusses the difference between a man--a masculine, aggressive male--versus a guy. Barry is essentially giving the term “men” all of the negative characteristics associated with males, while giving “guys” the cool and fun traits of males. Throughout his essay, Barry explains how a “guy” is different from a “man”. For example, for each subtitle he gives an anecdote about what guys like, do, or have, and how that is different from what men like, do, or have. Barry’s use of humor influences the tone of the piece by making it seem lighthearted and thus allows him to target women readers as his key audience while at the same time maintaining the interest of men readers.
In Kimmel’s essay “’Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” he argues that the influence of society on masculinity is equal to or greater than biological influences on masculinity. In the essay, Kimmel uses various surveys and interviews to validate his argument. He points to peers, coaches, and family members as the people most likely to influence the development of a man’s masculinity. When a man has his manliness questioned, he immediately makes the decision never to say or do whatever caused him to be called a wimp, or unmanly. Kimmel’s argument is somewhat effective because the readers get firsthand accounts from the interviewees but the author does not provide any statistics to support his argument.
Myers mentioned in his article that this generation of young discouraged, angry men feels abandoned with the today’s norms. Male movie stars and athletes have further influenced the masculine norms. In males perspective, liking a feminine color, doing feminine actions, listening to specified girl music is considered to be less manly. These have greatly affected the likes and dislikes of many men. The entertainment industry has created a big gap between what is masculine or feminine. This has caused a big separation and it's getting worse. Male are taught to be man of the house, strong, and powerful, but sometimes they’re belittled by society that they can’t do certain things and all the power is
...cks’ discussed above do portray masculinity as a troubled, anxious cultural category as they hide behind a humorous façade through their unglamorous jobs, male bonding, homophobic comments and insults, and the pressure to change and become a ‘real man’ in order to live up to their successful female interests.
In the views of Micheal Kimmel “hegemonic masculinity” is a socially constructed process where men are pressured by social norms of masculine ideals to perform behaviors of a “true man” and its influence on young male’s growth. It is the ideology that being a man with power and expressing control over women is a dominant factor of being a biological male. The structure of masculinity was developed within the 18th to 19th century, as men who owned property and provided for his family with strength related work environments was the perfect example of being a generic “American man.” Kimmel introduces Marketplace Manhood and its relation to American men. He states, “Marketplace Masculinity describes the normative definition of American masculinity.
The differences between women and men are not solely biological. Our society’s culture has established a set of unwritten cultural laws of how each gender should act, or in other words society has ascribed a stereotype. Men’s gender identity has been one of masculinity, and masculinity is defined as referring to a man or things described as manly. What does manly mean though? Is a male manly if he is “Mr. Fix-it”, or the jock, or if he sits on the couch on Sunday watching football? This latter statement is a stereotype of men, that has been around for decades, and is current as well, but starting with the 1960’s a man’s role started to change, despite the stereotype not changing to accommodate it. For the past 40 years one can see how men have taken on roles stereotypically ascribed to women, such roles including being the “stay-at-home mom”, which we can find an excellent example of in the 1980’s film “Mr.