Michele Gill, Ph.D. the author of this article is currently an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Central Florida. Her interests are in educational psychology and education reform. Her thesis, published in 2012, focused on the representation of young male adults in contemporary fiction, and appears to be the forerunner of the article, “Best Mates: an exploration of male adolescent friendships in contemporary young adult fictions”.
Dr. Gill approaches the topic of young men entering adulthood through the eyes of several authors. Through novels such as Doing It (2003) by Melvin Burgess, Sad Boys by Glyn Parry in 1998, Indigo’s Star (2003) written by Hilary McKay, and The Crew authored by Bali Rai in 2003, Dr. Gill intersperses poignant pages from the books to share and support her views, along with research based on other social scientists studies such as Bradford Brown, Judy Chu, Anthony Gibbons, Victor Seidler and Peter Nardi, to name a few. She introduces us to the authors’ characters and using their words to define issues and challenges facing these young male friends reaching adulthood. The fictional characters in all these books are speaking of situations that are actually happening in “real-time” society, and it is probably only now that society is beginning to understand the long-term outcomes of the adult men today. Dr. Gill points out that the way the authors present this information to their readers is extremely important due to it being a potential influence on the social landscape of their masculine performance.
A novel that influenced many young men in 1967 and one that is a personal favorite of mine is The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton. The book’s main character is a 14-...
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...nicate, express his feelings and be comfortable relating to his peers in an honest way, male and female. In my opinion, it is important that young men are taught that it is okay to have disclosure, without becoming an “other”. In taking that one step further, in the very near future, being an “other” is going to be okay too.
Works Cited
Gill, M. (2012). (Doctoral dissertation). Newcastle upon Tyne: University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hinton, S. E. (1967). The outsiders. New York: Viking Press.
McKay, H. (2004). Indigo's star. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Parry, G. (1998). Sad boys. Sydney: Hodder Headline.
Rai, B. (2003). The crew. London: Corgi.
Seidler, V. J. (1989). Rediscovering masculinity: Reason, language, and sexuality. London: Routledge.
Seidler, V. J. (1992). Men, sex, and relationships: Writings from Achilles heel. London: Routledge.
Books: a group of blank white pages where authors record memories, reveal what they imagined, and take us along on a ride through their minds. These past few weeks, I had been reading two popular novels that did in fact take me on that journey: The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton, and Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson. In no uncertain terms, I did notice that these two books could be compared to one another. Although these are two separate books, written by two different authors with separate journeys, they actually have great similarities and differences in the characters and plot.
The Outsiders, an enthralling novel by S.E Hinton, is an excellent story about the hardships and triumphs experienced by the Greasers and the Socs two rival gangs. S.E Hinton tells a thrilling tale about the Socs and the Greasers that are two gangs and she characterize how they live. Ponyboy, his brother and his friends have to deal with the challenges relating to their environment. The three most important topics of The Outsiders are survival, social class and family support.
The novel Deliverance by James Dickey portrays the essence of middle-aged men experiencing the mid-life crisis through which they must prove to themselves and more importantly every one else that they still possess the strength, bravery, intelligence, and charm believed to be society's ideal of "masculinity." Dickey's four main characters undertake a risky adventure to satisfy their egotistical complexes and prove to the world that they are still the strong young men their wives married. Each character represents a different stereotype of the middle-aged man, and therefore experiences a different type of psychological and physical journey than their peers.
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.
After hearing a brief description of the story you might think that there aren’t many good things about they story. However, this is false, there are many good things in this book that makes it a good read. First being that it is a very intriguing book. This is good for teenage readers because often times they don’t willingly want to read, and this story will force the teenage or any reader to continue the book and continue reading the series. Secondly, this is a “good” book because it has a good balance of violence. This is a good thing because it provides readers with an exciting read. We hear and even see violence in our everyday life and I believe that it is something teenagers should be exposed to. This book gives children an insig...
‘The Outsiders’ is written by S.E. Hinton. It is set in the 1960s in a
Have you ever felt judged or marginalized only because of the situation you were born in?Having to walk on the street wondering if you’re safe. Have you ever been the one that gets made fun of? The laughing stock? The uncool one? The one with the bad luck? In S.E Hinton's The Outsiders, the Greasers are all of those things. It’s a dark world they live in but they have no choice. Although the narrator, Ponyboy, may not lead the best life, he still tries to make the most of it. Heroism, social class and survival are some of the most transcendent themes demonstrated in S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders.
Throughout life individuals face many challenges testing their values and personality one situation at a time. In the evocative novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton themes of growing up and innocence are shown. Ponyboy is not your average 14 year old he is part of a gang known to many as the Greasers. He encounters many situations testing his values and beliefs. Having lost both his parents recently he and his brothers stick together like a true family but this relationship is tested when Darry hits Ponyboy. He also experiences the loss several close friends in a very short period of time. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy encounters many life changing experiences that prove he is a dynamic character.
... E Glenn, and Nancy B Sherrod. The psychology of men and masculinity:Research status and future directions. New York: John Wiley and sons, 2001.
An article entitled “How Boys Become Men,” written by Jon Katz was originally published in January, 1993 in Glamour, a magazine for young women. This article details the process of a boy growing into a man and mainly focus on the lesson boys learn that effect their adult lives. These lessons are about how to hold back emotions and never appeared sensitive. The author includes examples of his own experiences as a boy to convey to the reader the challenges of growing into a man. Through the various stories of young boys, the author is trying to prove that the men are insensitive because they had to learn to hide their feelings during the stage of growing up with other boys. The purpose of the author is to explain the women of the world, why men appear to be emotionalist and “macho.” The author’s main idea of this article is to explain why men are insensitive and to help women understand why men sometimes seem “remote” and “uncommunicative.”
The Outsiders is a novel by S.E Hinton, that follows a young boy named Ponyboy who grows up in a gang. Johnny, Sodapop and Darry help him find how he fits into the world and without them he would have a hard time finding his own identity. Without having a close group of friends he would have a tough way of life, especially with the Socs. Being in a group that you associate with, that have different values to yourself can lead you to disregard your own ethics and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time this can assist and reinforce your own values…
The Outsiders identified the 60’s, often there would be violence between groups and often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the tensions between the Socs and Greasers is violent, and this will lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book The Outsiders is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing The Outsiders in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout The Outsiders and they assume the problems will be solved with violence,
The Catcher in the Rye is not all horror of this sort. There is a wry humor in this sixteen-year-old's trying to live up to his height, to drink with men, to understand mature sex and why he is still a virgin at his age. His affection for children is spontaneous and delightful. There are few little girls in modern fiction as charming and lovable as his little sister, Phoebe. Altogether this is a book to be read thoughtfully and more than once. It is about an unusually sensitive and intelligent boy; but, then, are not all boys unusual and worthy of understanding? If they are bewildered at the complexity of modern life, unsure of themselves, shocked by the spectacle of perversity and evil around them - are not adults equally shocked by the knowledge that even children cannot escape this contact and awareness?
Ruddell, Caroline. "Virility and vulnerability, splitting and masculinity in Fight Club: a tale of contemporary male identity issues." Extrapolation 48.3 (2007): 493+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Required reading material in school often centers on female heroines. In the essay “Why Johnny Won’t Read,” authors Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky state, “Unfortunately, the textbooks and literature assigned in the elementary grades do not reflect the dispositions of male students…On the other hand, stories about adventurous and brave women abound.” The two authors are stating that there are hardly any male-oriented novels available from a young age, and so there is not much for boys to make self-connections with. The same essay provides several statistics to highlight the idea that girls read more than boys: “Between 1992 and 2002, among high school seniors, girls lost two points in reading scores and boys six points, leaving a 16-point differential in their averages…” Because reading is the sort of test that can be improved only by practice, it is evident that girls read more often than boys. ...