Male Acceptance, Transgressing Gender, and Women’s Roles in Society

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Male Acceptance, Transgressing Gender, and Women’s Roles in Society
Are men really always in power like everyone assumes or are there hidden situations that men take the back seat in? In recent years, the role of men has changed a lot. Women have earned more power, especially in areas that men take seriously. Men may be in higher positions in politics and jobs related or similar to that but women have important power also. Lately, some men have been changing things about themselves just to impress and win over women. Although some men may have been doing that, most men were doing it for other men. While people notice that women care about their appearances, it mostly goes unnoticed that the majority of men care just as much as women, if not more. Most people don’t notice it because it is more acceptable in society to want to make yourself look better, no matter who you’re doing it for.
In a passage taken from Michael Kimmel’s article “Manhood in America” he addresses these issues head on. Kimmel discusses how men had to prove they were still masculine. Kimmel states, “While one might think that men undergo this painful procedure to become “better” lovers or to please women more, the primary motivation is that men suffer from what one physician called “locker room syndrome” – the fear of being judged as inadequately masculine by other men” (274). This means that men are becoming more physically fit and caring about their physical appearances so that other men don’t think less of them. Kimmel says that some men have gone through plastic surgery, used male enhancements, and other ridiculous things just to impress men. Boys form “homosocial” bonds, which means that they just want to be accepted by other boys. In order to be respect...

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Kanter, Rosabeth . 1997 "Some effects of proportions on group life: skewed sex ratios and responses to token women"." American journal of sociology 82(5):965-990. Retrieved from on Apr 14, 2014
Chesters, Jenny . 2013 "Gender convergence in core housework hours." Journal of sociology 49(1):78-96. Retrieved from on Mar 29, 2014
Ridgeway, Cecilia L. 2013 "Why status matters for inequality." American sociological review 79(1):1-16. Retrieved from on Apr 4, 2014
Ridgeway, Cecilia L. 2009 "How easily does a social difference become a status distinction? Gender matters." American sociological review 74(1):44-62. Retrieved from on Apr 8, 2014
McCabe, Janice . 2013 "Making theory relevant: the gender attitude and belief inventory." Teaching sociology 41(3):282-293. Retrieved from on Apr 13, 2014

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