Guyland
By Jeters42 | Studymode.com
Jens Jeters
3/12/12
Ms. Paez
Soci 101 M/W
“Guyland”
Michael Kimmel investigates “Guyland” where young boys socially interact as “guys”. Michael shows how these young men are stuck between youth and adulthood. As a sociologist at State University of New York of Stony Brook, Michael has perfected his specialty in gender studies. Born in 1951, Michael has published dozens of gender articles and books known in the sociology community. As a spokesperson for the “National Organization for Men Against Sexim (NOMAS), he has lectured over 200 colleges and universities” (stony brook). Guyland was published in 2008 and I will discuss the main points of “who these guys are”, “the babes in Guyland” then conclude why guys socially interact this way.
Exactly who are these boy’s representing Guyland? “Males between 16 and 26 that number
…show more content…
In that period of extended adolescence, young men tend to avoid the tasks of growing up or even starting their life-long career’s. Hoffman believes that the expression “boys will be boys” is outdated and an unsafe way to deal with the social interaction of these young boys today. There has to come a point where “we must intervene if we want our boys to become men and not just ‘guys’” (Hoffman). The title can be misleading, and thought to be more focused on the college campus culture. Not so much of the 16 to 26 age gap with all white males- accordingly to …show more content…
Of all the fundamental factors girls, kids, jobs, and teachers that the guys could not have been hassled by. With Kimmel conveying hundreds of interviews across the country, lecturing at hundreds of colleges, he is satisfied with the social gender book,
Kimmel, Michael. “Men Will Be Boys.” The New York Post. 7 Sept. 2008. Rpt. in Writing Communities & Identities. Ed. Cynthia Debes et al. 6th ed. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2009. 56-64.
Why do so many guys seem stuck between adolescence and adulthood? Guys might not completely buy into the negative parts of their atmosphere, but because it’s the group norm, they act accordingly. So if the reverse can be done, I think that can be a redeeming aspect of Guyland. In describing the young male adult culture, the author talks about there being some redeeming qualities. They’ve seen mistakes their parents have made, and they’re trying to account for that. There certainly is a negative aspect of guys not growing up in college or post-college. But there is the positive aspect: we are taking more time to think about what we want to do, and make sure that what we are doing is something we want, something we can do well. In their late
Masculinity was not always the competitive situation as we know it today. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there are two types of men co-existed. They are Heroic Artisans describes as the working class included farmers and craftsmen, and Genteel Patriarchs described as refined included land owners. The heroic Artisans and Genteel Patriarchs could live in society together because their gender roles complimented each other. Kimmel believes that these gender roles became overpowered by Capitalists, what he calls “Marketplace Manhood”. This theory is the belief that capitalism drives gender identity with wealth, power, status and the ability to conquer all that he comes across “proves” a man’s worth and therefore his masculinity.
Risman (1988:14) notes that “early childhood socialization is an influential determinant of later behavior, and research has focused on how societies create feminine women and masculine men.” Rather than focusing on gender as natural and fixed, Risman (1998) suggests instead that gender can be viewed at three levels: individual, interactional, and institutional. Instead of viewing the differences between men and women outlined in “If I Were A Boy” as natural and fixed, sociologists would instead look to socialization and societal norms to explain why men and women appear dissimilar. Additionally, many sociologists view gender as being continuously created; Risman (1988:10) notes “the pervasive differences between male[s] and female[s]…are continuously created by the gendered structures in which we all live.” Sociologists, who would instead view these perceived differences as a product of our society, would heavily dispute the gender essentialist perspective taken in “If I Were A Boy”.
As with a great majority of men in the world today, it is easier for me to give hugs than to accept them. This is not my own doing, but rather centuries of men before myself being taught that the outward expression of emotion, in any facet, was a direct form of weakness. This has led to adverse affects in regards to a new generation of man that I find myself apart of now. This belief has forged a lack of sentiment within men, all in the name of “being a man.” Do not take it the wrong way, as if to say a lack of compassion is a bad thing, they teach young men. It is actually the contrary in a growing market economy. As we shift to a more global marketplace, empathy of any sort is the cog in the wheel that holds a man back in an attempt to fully obtain certain standards of living (or at least the ones the world has set). A lack of emotion can easily be perceived as a competitive advantage. “Emotions will get you killed,” is what they use to say in my neighborhood growing up. Passion became replaced by apathy in the hearts and minds of many of my cohorts coming up in an urban area. And this exact same message is being shared, perhaps in different ways, all throughout the world; as young men are continuously bombarded with this indication that somehow any feminine quality should be repressed. Society, through avenues of media and other propaganda, has formed a way of thinking for men that causes them, despite always having these feelings internally, to put on an act which inhibits them from openly expressing any type of femininity, especially in public.
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.”
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.
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.
In the Washington post the essay “Why Schools Are Failing Our Boys” relates to the study of the “boy problem” Fink’s concern is that boys have a harder time in school causing them to drop out or not to go on to college. I agree with Fink’s concern because of the mistreatment of genders and the pressure put on students as a whole. Based on class readings it has been illustrated that throughout history boys felt as though school made them feel less masculine. From what I have personally seen in school, boys are constantly being told to “man up”. I feel as though boys are expected to act a certain way and all students are expected to conform to a certain type of learning. Fink’s truthful experience through her son is an accurate model on how
In his article, “The Gender Gap at School,” David Brooks scrutinizes common gender roles and introduces the idea that biological factors may play a role in human development. He begins his essay by analyzing the three gender segregated sections in any airport, which include the restrooms, security pat-down areas, and the bookstore. He goes on to explain that the same separation occurs in the home. Brooks includes a study given to nine hundred men and women who were asked to name their favorite novel. The study determined that men preferred novels written by fellow men, whereas women favored books written woman.
Gender Roles and Stereotypes Explored in Judy Mann's The The Difference: Growing Up Female in America and Bernard Lefkowitz's Our Guys
Stephen Morton in his Gayatri Spivak promotes Simone de Beauvoir’s saying, therefore he point outs,
The topic of gender is always a heart-wrenching debacle, but when authors like Kilbourne and Kimmel displays the topics, it shows they are fully aware of the audience, matching it with the correct purpose and stance. They know which types of appeals are most appropriate for captivating the audience’s attention as well. All these elements combined together create an article that surely compels the reader to think twice about women in ads, or regular men, hiding their emotions.
As a child develops, their surroundings have a major influence on the rest of their lives; if boys are taught to “man up” or never to do something “like a girl”, they will become men in constant fear of not being masculine enough. Through elementary and middle school ages, boys are taught that a tough, violent, strong, in-control man is the ideal in society and they beat themselves up until they reach that ideal. They have to fit into the “man box” (Men and Masculinity) and if they do not fulfill the expectations, they could experience physical and verbal bullying from others. Not only are friends and family influencing the definition of masculine, but marketing and toys stretch the difference between a “boy’s toy” and a “girl’s toy”. Even as early as 2 years old, children learn to play and prefer their gender’s toys over the other gender’s (Putnam). When children grow up hearing gender stereotypes from everyone around them, especially those they love and trust like their parents, they begin to submit themselves and experience a loss of individuality trying to become society’s ideal. If everyone is becoming the same ideal, no one has a sense of self or uniqueness anymore and the culture suffers from
“The Flight from the Feminine” explained by Kimmel demands separation between mother and son as the son develops the “fear of castration.” This meant that if a young adolescent male allowed his mother to show affection or nurture him growing up, he was going to be the splitting image of his mother and become dependent on her which went against the hegemonic masculinity theory that his father so importantly suggested because men were independent dominant beings. This resulted in the development of sexism which Kimmel describes to be the “systematic devaluation of women- in the efforts of the boy to separate from mother” (13) Men would risk the belittlement of women behavior which would represent sexism, to maintain their masculinity and keep themselves included in the male social circle. Sedgwick proposes that another form of masculinity was through femininity and explains how women who express any signs of masculine characteristics run the risk of being less feminine and therefore “butch.” This expresses how masculinity ideals are as well expressed in womanhood or the lack of which argues the patriarchy influence on women’s feminine