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Social construction of masculinity
Societys view of masculinity
Social construction of masculinity
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Is there such a thing as precarious manhood?
We’re living in a society that expect men to be strong, bold, and protective. Men are not supposed to be vulnerable because vulnerability shows weakness. They are expected to be powerful, resilient and brave. A leader who rules by the exercise of threats, force, or violence, proving manhood means as unfeminine as possible. Manhood is described as a fragile state that needs to be earned and which can be easily lost or taken away. That is why boys are forced to develop a sense of shame over any kind of feminine act; one of the stereotype between gender starts at an early age, growing up boys are supposed to wear blue and girls wear pink.
What defines a “real man” in today’s society? Masculinity sets an imposing standard for men in our modern society to follow. Men are being accused of being “too soft” and their status as men seems more fragile than ever. Recently, I have read an article by Average2Alpha that state twenty-one things that modern men need to stop doing. The title of the article states what “men” should stop doing but the request was generally for both gender. The statements follow as such:
Stop complaining. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop worrying about your clothes. Stop letting your fear inhibit your
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A real man is kind and compassionate. He is hard-working and honest. He has self-control and respect when he speaks to anyone. He is willing to be corrected and counseled. He is faithful, reliable, able to forgive. A real man is humble, generous and peacemaker. These are some of the qualities of a good man. Being vulnerable doesn’t make a man less manly. Man are human beings they have feelings as well and it is acceptable for them to express their
When someone is thinking of a man, what do they think? Strong? Brave? That’s what most people think; in reality that is a very false image. In “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code,” Michael Kimmel, talks about what it means to be a man and what it takes to be a man in today’s world. Men are pressured into what they “should” be. If they don’t follow certain unwritten rules, which include: not asking for directions, not giving up, not showing fear, or any signs of emotional weakness, such as tears; they are considered less than a man, a wimp. A real man must be aggressive and brave, he must defend his territory: status, family, possessions. Men blindly follow the Guy Code, they believe in order to fit in, they must comply and be part of the pack.
Growing up there were these unspoken “rules” that young boys had to live by and have to continue to live by these “rules” as we go about our lives. Growing up if you were to break one of these “rules” it would most likely draw negative attention to yourself and you could quite possibly have some harsh consequences to face in the near future. To be honest, I’m not all that sure how these “rules” came to be or how they get passed down from generation to generation but they’re very much apart of our society so a vast majority of men know of these “rules” and abide by them very closely.
Tony Porter, author, educator and activist, makes a call to men all over, and refers to the “Man Box” and all the negative gender socialization messages they learn at a young age, while reflecting back to his personal experiences from his own life. In reference to the ‘Man Box,” he points out the unspoken rules of what makes a man, and those rules are what he calls “straight up twisted.” Some of those are: do not be “like a woman” or “like a gay man,”” you have to be heterosexual, view women as property/objects, and you cannot cry or openly express emotions with the exception of anger. This “Man Box,” does not allow a man to step out of it without risking their masculinity, and to many men, that is the worst thing you can ever do. This all
The essay explains how society judge men because they have to be strong and never show emotions nor weakness when they are having problems. According to Kimmel, “No Sissy Stuff! Being a man means not being a sissy, not being perceived as weak, effeminate, or gay. Masculinity is the relentless repudiation of the feminine.” (Kimmel) In 1976 men were taught to man up in everything they had to deal with in life.
Written by Richard Wright, The Man Who Was Almost a Man takes places in the 1960s. The text shows the economic differences between two social classes. The story revolves around Dave Saunders, a seventeen-year-old teenager, who wants the world, or in this case, the base, to recognize his manhood. Under Marxist lens of interpretation, the readers can see the consequences of commodity fetishism, and the effects of alienation.
Masculinity in itself is very diverse and varies according to each culture and each person. In China, masculinity has traditionally been very different than Western masculinity. Where Western masculinity is known for being very macho and tough, Chinese masculinity has consistently been much more feminine when compared to the Western’s. Chinese masculinity traditionally has always had a very soft aspect to it, however as China continues to change as a nation, it is slowly beginning to alter their normal definition of what it means to ‘be a man’.
According to Kimmel, the earliest embodiments of American manhood were landowners, independent artisans, shopkeepers, and farmers. During the first decade of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution started to influence the way, American men thought of themselves. Manhood was now defined as through the man’s economic success. This was the origin of the “Self-Made Man” ideology and the new concept of manhood that was more exciting, and potentially more rewarding for men themselves. The image of the Self-Made Man has far reaching effects on the notion of masculinity in America. Thus, the emergence of the Self-Made Man put men under pressure. As Kimmel states,
Boys think that they must put on a persona that they are tough and no one can hurt them. I agree with the author that the boys are forced to hide their emotions and fears that’s why men become insensitive. Because the most important factor of how boys become tough men is how adults treat and teach them differently from girls. The boys start hearing messages that they need to be strong and tough from adults since they are just babies. I think this is the main problem that causes men to be insensitive and emotionalist. However, it is their parents, society, and everyone around them who affect the boys to become the men that they should be. If people treat boys same as how they treat the girls, I guess men will act the same way as
Several individuals within society typically follow social guidelines that they are unaware of performing. Social guidelines such as stopping at a red light or saying thank you when someone has done something for you. These social guidelines or norms give society a script to follow regarding their behavior and actions. Although norms are the acceptable actions and behaviors that society is taught to perform, there are occurrences where individuals stay away from those in which they are now enacting deviance. To act deviant is considered to break away or do something different of a social norm. There are several forms of deviance that occur frequently within society that violate social norms and hinder society’s overall function.
The topics that Joe Ehrmann uses as framework for his Building Men for Others program are quite intriguing and make you really question masculinity. The first topic, rejecting false masculinity, can be interpreted a few different ways. In the book, it states: “As young boys, we’re told to be men, or to act like men” soon followed with “we’ve got all these parents say ‘be a man’ to boys that have no concept of what that means. I completely agree with the statement of Joe Ehrmann and often question the definition of ‘being a man’. Many boys and men will reject the idea of a man being anything other than being big and strong or having power.
What does a person must do to be considered a man? While some say that he must be ambitious, opportunist and always striving to be better, others would disagree. They say that he must be just in his actions and always honest. The definition of manhood varies from person to person. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare suggests that the beliefs about what a man is differs from each person through the character's conversation and actions in the play.
Throughout history, time has created and shaped the ideal type of men, while society chooses what it means to be a real man..The ideal real men needed to be strong, provider of his family, decision maker, economically, educationally, physically, and politically dominant (Myers). The difference between the masculinity of the 20th century and the 21st has changed significantly. The ideal men status in 1900’s was rich, educated, powerful, and successful. In today’s perspectives, men needs to be strong, tall, handsome, capable, and unemotional. The contrast of these two centuries are mostly about men’s social status and appearances. Before, it was all about what a man is capable of doing and how powerful he could be compared to today’s ideal,
Sometimes I think that the trouble with men is that we aren't women. One almost never sees women fight. No, that's a guy thing, a manly thing that also raises disturbing questions about what it means to be a man these days. Becoming a man comes with realizing your responsibilities in life. Becoming a man comes when you take control of your responsibilities in life for yourself and for others. If you live at home, and accept money, food, or anything else from your parents - you have no earthly idea what it takes or means to become a man. On the day that you catch the clue that electricity costs a great deal of money, and that leaving the lights on when you leave the home becomes very expensive, then one may slightly show the slow turning into the corner to manhood. On the day that you can solve tour own problems without having to call someone for help or whining to your parents, you have become a man
The relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
Gender And Sexuality: Productive and Non Productive Aspects Gender carries a more social tone. It refers to socially constructed differences between the sexes and to the social relationships between women and men. These differences between the sexes are shaped over the history of social relations and change over time and across cultures. Gender identity depends on the circumstances in which women and men live and includes economic, cultural, historical, ideological, and religious factors. Gender relations also vary according to the economic and social conditions of the society and differ between social and ethnic groups. The definition of sexuality can encompass many things. This can mean the feelings we have about ourselves as sexual beings, the ways in which we choose to express these feelings with ourselves and others, and the physical capability each of us has to give and experience sexual pleasure. Sex is the total sum of physical characteristics that distinguish males and females from each other. The most distinctive difference in characteristics is that man and women have different reproductive organs. This is pretty obvious and so are other traits like facial hair, deep voices, and muscular builds. Current Scenario: If you are questioning your sexual orientation or gender identity, you probably have already figured out that society is telling you what it wants you to be. Families, religions, and different cultural and ethnic institutions communicate expectations to us, both in direct and indirect ways, about how to be. Often as children queer people get a sense that they don't fit with society's codes. It may not be completely clear to some individuals at first in what way they don't fit; instead they feel a vague sense o...