Essay On Masculinities

The Oxford English Dictionary (year) defines the term ‘masculinity’ as “possession of qualities traditionally associated with men”. Some of these ‘qualities’ include dominance, strength, chivalry, aggressive behaviour, and having control over one’s emotions. It is a common perception that only female members of a society are subjected to follow certain codes of conduct – that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”(Cite). The same can be applied to the case of men. The notion of masculinity forces the male members to constantly behave in a socially acceptable manner.

The two concepts that fit best to explain the problem in this study are Hegemonic Masculinity and Behavioral Mimicry. Hegemonic Masculinity delineates the “real men” value in a patriarchal culture, dictated through masculine gender roles such as strength, aggresion, or dominance. Masculinity then becomes a preferable identity inside rock subculture, a nod to the hierarchial concept of identity as explained by Adams and Dickey (2000). This identity hierarchy results in women’s inferior position that further acts as a motivation for women to adhere to masculinity as their ideal role. Further, Behavioral Mimicry concept delineates the process to adapt to masculinity.

Gender role refers to those behaviors and attitudes that are considered to belong to one sex. Gender role is based on femininity and masculinity that differentiate women and men by giving men some roles and women which results to gender inequality. There some work in society that is regarded to belong to women such as cooking, taking care of children and other less important roles while men are given roles that makes them superior than women. Most of the gender roles associated with women makes them inferior and creates a room to be oppressed. Gender roles are constructed by society and attributed to women or men.

Analyzing Nora’s both enriching and alienating experience with exile further reveals the ideas Ibsen intended to convey. From a broad perspective, Torvald represents the traditional, patriarchal structure that makes men the head of the household and women subservient to men. His character also signifies such a society’s insecurity toward the threats of woman empowerment. Having the antagonist symbolize society at the time the play was written was Ibsen’s way of challenging such established social values including but not limited to the confining gender roles, evident in Nora and Torvald’s relationship. Moreover, the latter also portrays the importance of reputation, which was the last straw in Nora’s abandonment of her marriage.

In todays societies men normally have the control of dialogue regarding the group beliefs and practices. Okin states that “First, the sphere of personal, sexual, and reproductive life provides a central focus of most cultures, a dominant theme in cultural practices and rules” (Hinman, 2006). Okin feels that special group rights are anti-feminist because they support patriarchy, when patriarchy is already the dominant theme among cultures

Tannen used her genderlect theory to help bridge that gap by acknowledging and achieving an understanding of the language of each gender. Conversation between men and women can be described like cross-cultural communication. This is the basis of Tannen’s You Just Don’t Understand. In an effort to bridge that communication gap between genders, she examined the differences between how and why people communicate.

When a man showed flattery to a woman, he had to show it with a certain dignity and elegance. . A book called The Dignity of Manners for Men in the eighteenth century mentioned the behaviors the between men and women by stating, “ Revolutionary-era conduct writers did not think of the relationship between women and men the same way they thought of the relationships between class and age inferiors and superiors. Very little of their fairly plentiful advice to women about encounters with men conformed to the standard suggestions for proper behavior with superiors” (Hemphill 108). The statement proves that behavior between sexes, especially higher social classes meant a certain behavior was expected toward women from men in superior class. Manners were a major ordeal for men toward women and their overall demeanor within social environments.

Masculinity theory, in particular, hegemonic masculinity, highlights the supposed power men have over women, not just physically, but on a social level as well through various practices that accentuate masculinity and promote gender inequality (Jewkes et al., 2015). For example gender restricted access or the right for a man to renounce his role as father in black South African family settings (Lesch & Kelapile, 2016). Masculinity theory highlights the importance of heterosexuality as hegemony as the sexually influenced interactions between men as women are important (Jewkes et al., 2015). Hence why this research on fatherhood and masculinity not only looks at the relations between fathers and their children but the mothers of the children as well. In terms of intersectionality theory which, looks at the ways in which race, class and gender influence each other, this research examines the hegemonic masculinities formed as a result apartheid resulting in three separate hegemonic masculinities all highly influenced by race, cultural practices related to gender, which act as displays of sexuality and economic status (Lesch & Kelapile,

Amores perros is composed of three separate narratives, which is centred on men and their relationships. Each one explores love in relation to different types of masculinity, as well as being represented with traditional discourses of race, class, wealth and poverty. Machismo is disappearing slowly as it quizzes traditional gender roles, and thus, produced a crisis of masculinity in public spaces. This is evident in the film where the males are struggling to pursue

This has all created a gender stereotype. The media are a forceful source of gender stereotyping. In adverts women are portrayed as the unintelligent consumer, socially conscious of her purchases, dependant on men and sex objects whereas men are perceived as a figure of authority, handy men and intelligent decision makers. Advertisements try to persuade the public into believing this is how women and men are, want to be or should be.

He counters the concept of “separate spheres” which was a “social construction of gender”, where the idea of proper womanhood was used to constrict women, while proper manhood empowered men (Johnson Lewis). The obstacles that divided men and women were gender stereotypical roles, as women as subservient “soft, irrational, emotional, self-sacrificing and loving” and men as “tough, rational, self-advancing, competitive, and harsh” (O 'Malley). The typical feminine roles were thought of as the private sphere, and masculine ones were public. This male dominance is shown by the fact that the “contribution of women in the society was limited and solely controlled under patriarchal authority”; men dictated the terms of everyday life for women leading to limited roles for women in political, legal, and economic matters

Within Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Saving Private Ryan, we are given two different examples of what it means to possess masculine tendencies. Depending on whom you ask, the definition of what it is to be masculine can vary. From what we have learned from Bird’s article, “Welcome to the Men’s Club: Homosociality and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity”, is that in order to be masculine, one must be able to be detached and possess a sense of independence (125). As for the article written by Schrock & Schwalbe, “Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts”, we are presented with the idea of gender roles. The article goes on to discuss how men have to act a certain way in order to be perceived as masculine (278).

The author of this article is Robert Jensen. He is a journalist professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Jensen’s writing and teaching focus on interrogating power structures of race and gender. He also wrote and published The End of Masculinity; therefore this is a topic that he feels really strongly about. Jensen first published the article “The High Cost of Manliness” to argue for an end to the conception of manliness.

However, this creates tension between hegemonic ideals of masculinity. At the beginning of Reagan’s presidency, males were considered ‘soft’ and thus Reagan endeavoured to bring back ‘traditional’ values of masculinity and gender roles and as such became the ‘masculine archetype of the 1980s’ (Vogel, 2015, p. 464-473). This hegemonic masculinity is defined as a ‘…young, married, urban…employed, of good complexion, weight, and height…’ (Brod & Kaufman, 1994, p.124; Phillips, 2006, p.407)

Establishing male supremacy is the mindset of a misogynist. This is specifically important because gender is constantly changing; when femininity alters and masculinity changes to compensate, always fluctuating based on the other gender. Constantly changing genders cause confusion, but change also brings awareness to the issues it causes. Recognition of the subordination of women has compromised the dominance of males leading to new forms of masculinity. Since women have begun to explore the “domains” of men, misogynists change what it means to be masculine to compensate.