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Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
Masculinity and feminism meaning
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A predominant topic in today’s society that is hardly discussed is masculinity. Over the course of three years at Ohio State, I have never attended an event that is masculinity related so I went to the “Movember at the Movies “on November 21,2016. Just a brief background on Movember, it’s offered as a part of the counseling and consultation services that are dedicated to discussing men’s mental health, masculinity, and issues. The movie choice was “I Love you man” starring Paul Rudd and Jason Sigel. Overall, the movie was hilarious. I would categorize it as a Romantic Comedy. Some might say this movie would still classify as a chic flick, but that’s precisely why Movember is playing the movie and having a discussion on the laws of masculinity. …show more content…
I’m not sure how your preference of friends defines masculinity, but that is a discussion for the latter part of this journal. In a brief synopsis of the movie, Peter Klaven the main character is looking for a best man to be in his wedding but realizes he doesn’t have any close guy friends. In efforts to find a best man he goes on a series of man dates. Peter then meets Sydney, they hang out, they end up becoming best friends, Peter goes on a journey of masculinity, and Sydney becomes his besman. Although “I Love You, Man” was a romantic comedy it contained a lot of underlined messages about masculinity, that I was not conscious of. My first question after watching the movie, was “what defines a man?” A man is your gender (male), not a social identity. Peter identified himself as male in the movie so he is a man. Now what is a manly man? Merriam Webster defines manly as “having or showing qualities (such as strength or courage) that are expected in a man”. Throughout the entire movie, including the introduction of Peters Character he exemplified strength or courage. Courage and strength are needed to step outside of societal norms and be in tune with your feminine side as a man. I personally don’t think that made him …show more content…
It was great to hear what men thought about the term “manly man”, and what it means to be masculine. Majority of the men spoke about the societal pressure to keep up the appearance of masculinity, and how it is not culturally appropriate to take part in certain activities because one may be classified as queer or feminine. My boyfriend attended the event with me. In public he acts tough and doesn’t like to be caught doing things that would be considered feminine. When we are by ourselves, we watch “Housewives of Atlanta”, talk about juicy gossip, and do all types of things that the public eye would consider soft. So, it was interesting to hear his take on the movie. My boyfriend grew up down south, with all girl cousins and a lot of female friends. Joining the army caused him to became more self-conscious about his masculinity in public, since the military is all about up keeping a masculine persona at all times. After the dialogue of the Movember event, I learned that men are just as self-conscious about their gender identity as a woman. As women and a society we need to cut them some slack, and allow them to express themselves in whatever way they deem necessary, without categorizing them as un-manly. This relates back to the discussion in class we had about heterosexual norms and privilege. In this case, gender privilege. I also learned that men need to cut themselves some slack
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.
All over the world Masculinity has many different cultural definitions. Depending where someone is from, and what they were brought up to believe, defines what the term “masculinity” entails. Different Social institutions all over the United States, such as the military, sports, clubs, and fraternities, have been constructing their interpretation of masculinity. One major social institution that is active in thousands of Universities across the United States is campus fraternities. Campus fraternities create their own sense of masculinity by generating certain requirements and characteristics a man must hold in order to represent them as a part of their fraternity.
For centuries, the ideal masculinity has been seen as the provider, the macho man, the cowboy and the emotional rock, but new representations of manliness in the media have been challenging this idea (Watson 2015, p. 270). Within these new depictions, there lies a hierarchy where one form of masculinity is more accepted than the rest (Kluch 2015). Macho masculinity has been seen as being dominant in the hierarchy for generations, however, in recent years, there have been an influx of new representations of masculinity that disrupt traditional hierarchal ideas. The masculinity of the twenty first century includes emotions, sensitivity, discipline, and intelligence. These new aspects of the hierarchy have been introduced by movies such as Brokeback Mountain, 22 Jump Street, The
...they can no longer be considered masculine even if they have all the other masculinity traits. Masculinity is a very touchy subject that requires a lot of attention. Many things that happen in the American society can be blamed by masculinity. It may take years to earn your masculinity, but only seconds to lose it.
Dave Barry’s essay “Guys vs. Men” presents that the term “Man” grants more negative qualities in males, unlike the term “Guy”, which, allows guys to be free to indulge in stereotypical characteristics. Barry arouses readers by using amusing comparisons, similarities, and engaging punch lines to support his view on the distinct differences between guys and men. Barry argues the idea that man is a term that comes with responsibility, and has unwritten expectations for guys. Additionally, in correspondence he suggests the possibility that there are other ways to view males as just a “guy,” rather than being characterized as masculine. Therefore, Barry uses gender-based generalizations to capture the purpose of the passage
Embracing masculinity is not just an act to show power and gain respect, it is also a way
The myth and reality of the cowboy shaped today’s definition of masculinity because they have this high and strong stature they need to uphold. Masculinity is having the traditional acts as a man, such as being strong and secure. In today’s word man and women have two different mindsets. Even though we are all humans, our gender defines the way we should act due to how society makes it. The myth has affected males physically, emotionally and mentally. The idea is that they are supposed to act accordingly. In reality, everyone wants to grow up differently, so why would they be forced to act/be a certain way. Masculine’s definition is stereotypically twisted.
“Be a man”, is on of the most destructive phrases to tell boys and men. The Mask You Live In explains the struggles boys and men have growing up in a patriarchal society. I chose to watch this to understand how men feel oppressed. All year, I became aware of females and their struggles in the patriarchy. It is interesting to see that men are affected too. The documentary should have had more personal stories because it allows the audience to connect with and have empathy for men. On the other hand, the movie thoroughly demonstrated the inner conflict boys and men face in society. Men feel they must be strong and dominate. They feel they need to hide emotion and empathy in order to fit in. They must be manly in order to
Early feminist studies of gender often depicted the expression of masculinity as solely meant to subordinate women. Upon further research and understanding of gender and its role in society, gender theorists have realized that masculinity is not only a patriarchal regulation against women, but that it also has negative effects against men. Masculinity has different characteristics in different cultures, but masculinity in general presents a hierarchy of traits, with femininity as the lowest, least desirable trait. In American culture, masculinity is defined within multiple structures, such as race, class, and sexuality, where a man’s masculinity can be lessened by his traits as well as these identities. Often, normative expressions of masculinity
The things that make a man “manly” have changed greatly in the past couple of decades. The show Two and a Half Men represents this perfectly by showing the alternative portrayals of modern masculinity. They performances of hegemonic sub ordinance masculinity on Two and a Half Men reconstruct and reinforce the dominance of hegemonic masculinity within our society as the only acceptable performance of manhood. It has been said that for men the breadwinner ethic is the only acceptable state for an adult male do be in, and failure of this makes you not “fully male”. This statement is inferring that if you are a stay at home father or not the one with the highest paycheck you have ultimately failed at being a male, which is completely unacceptable. To continue, feminized masculinity is known as a “soft man”, and shows traits that are not usually tied to masculinity such as housework and emotional literacy. When males show traits such as these they are typically assimilated to a gay identity. Most heterosexual males do not want to be seen as a feminine, gay identity so they stay clear of anything that would infer that, further implementing these ideals of masculine traits and roles. This is shown in Two and a Half Men when Alan has more “feminine” traits like showing emotion by mourning his divorce, and doing the housework. Alan’s representation of
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
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
‘Lad flicks’ or ‘lad movies’ is a type of film genre that emerged in the late 1990s. They are defined as a “‘hybrid of “buddy movies”, romantic comedies and “chick flicks”, which centre on the trials and tribulations of a young man as he grows up to become a ‘real man’. ‘Lad flicks’ respond in part to the much-debated ‘crisis in masculinity’” (Benjamin A. Brabon 116). This genre of film explored what it meant to be a ‘real man’ in the twentieth century and in order to do so, they would have to grow up and leave their juvenile ways behind to enter the heterosexual world. Gender relations in ‘lad flicks’ portray masculinity as a troubled, anxious cultural category hiding behind a humorous façade and also rely greatly on a knowing gaze and irony. The two ‘lad flicks’ that will be analyzed are The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow 2005) and Role Models (David Wain 2008).
behaviors, and social conditions that we call masculinities are “hard-wired” into males through biology (see Thorhill & Palmer, 2000) and/or the heritability of human psyche (see Jung, 1959/1989; Bly, 1990). They view masculinity as static, transhistorical, cross-cultural, and cross-situational. From this perspective, gender change is either impossible, or it involves the use of powerful force to constrain what is seen as “naturally” male. (Masculine Self pg. 19)
Masculinity and femininity are concepts that are difficult to define. One problem is trying to keep them separate from the concepts of male and female, which is not easy. The lines between these concepts is blurred for many of us, because we are raised associating femininity with females and masculinity with males. Femininity and masculinity are in many ways societal constructs and many of us will find that we define them the way that society would. When I think of the concept of masculinity some of the properties that come to mind are strength, aggressive, assertive, athletic, and nonverbal. Some of the properties of femininity are emotional, soft, caring, empathetic, and verbal. These are properties that came to mind automatically, without much consideration or thought. They are the properties that I was taught to use when defining femininity and masculinity.