Under the patriarchal society, inequalities in gender relations impact both men and women from social, emotional and material perspectives (Connell, 2001). The dominant belief that men are physically tougher causes them to dominate dangerous and toxic occupations in society with little attention addressed to the impact on their health status (Connell, 2005). Furthermore, the stereotype of hegemonic masculinity causes men’s sexuality to be more constrained by homophobia and a taboo of showing emotional signs of vulnerability and fear (Connell, 2005). However, the under-privilege of women suggests even greater inequalities between genders. Throughout history, women have always been supressed by men, especially when women were once viewed as being physically too delicate to participate in the public sphere.
Aside from misogymy, men are also expected to be: less talkative, less social, less expressive, brave, aggressive, physically built, strong, and many others. What is important from these values are how they are all the opposites from how women are supposed to act, thus giving a gender based role predictions. These gender differentiations are toxic in each of its underlying gender, however this paper is only going to discuss about how it affects the male side. All of these are stereotypes which are being imposed by society on us and strengthened as role differentiation gets into play in later parts of a boy’s life. The socialization of these values are not only being given directly from each of the boys’ parents, but also learned from interacting with their peers, and even bigger yet, medias.
According to Prof. Clatterbaugh and Dr. Whitehead, male behaviors and masculinity are not just a simple product of biological predispositions or genetic coding. All societies around the world have the cultural concept of gender, but some of them do not have the idea of masculinity. The modern usage of masculinity usually describes the behaviors that result from the
Social forces are common in cultures all around the world. Whether it is the compulsion of women to get married and have children or the thrust upon men to be adequate in supporting such families, there is clearly a boundary line that has been created between genders and what is expected of them. Judith Lorber’s “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology” claims that gender is socially constructed. This theory illuminates a study on recreational steroid usage by Matthew Petrocelli, Trish Oberweis, and Joseph Petrocelli, titled “Getting Huge Getting Ripped: A Qualitative Exploration of Recreational Steroid Use.” By using Lorber as a frame to analyze Petrocelli’s work, I have concluded that expectations embedded in bodybuilding result from
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.
I believe that women are a major catalyst for this increase in stereotypes of men. If women were to stop finding that certain men are attractive based on toughness or dominance and even career choice, there would be a decline in the number of men in distress. I feel that many men find it hard to change when different people want them to act different or even the same person wants them to act dominant but be able to cry. This is a major issue that we have come by in the recent years with woman wanting equality in the gender roles. An example is them wanting equality, but then them saying that they still feel that guys need to be the ones to open doors or pay for
A set of societal norms have now been dictating the types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable which is based on their sexuality called gender roles. Our culture has now been taking over the perspective on which is masculine and which is feminine. Today, culture would tell us that masculine roles are usually associated with strength; aggression and dominance while feminine roles are associated with nurturing, subordination and passivity. Due to this concept, society has accepted the fact on how people are supposed to act and how to behave. Times have changed significantly since men were labeled to be the breadwinner and women focused on good housekeeping and child bearing.
This should enrage anyone who considers themselves to be female. For example, Devor talks about how women are seen as creatures who always want to avoid confrontation and who are instinctually maternal. Females are just expected to want to have and raise children, appeal to men, and be completely and utterly weak-natured. When they break beyond the boundaries that society has glued them into, they are seen as undesirable and tainted by feministic ideology. Furthermore, society, especially men, seem to have a strong disdain for feminism.
In the essay, “Women Talk Too Much” Janet Holmes argues that while popular notion and worldwide proverbs would suggest that women talk more than men, her evidence leads to an opposite conclusion. However, her ultimate conclusion is that the question cannot be answered with a definitive answer, but instead with “it depends.” In the essay, “Sex Differences” Ronald Macaulay claims that the notion that there are considerable differences in the manner and frequency with which men and women talk is nonsense and that one way that this idea has been perpetuated is through works from more sexist ages. Macaulay states that the difference between men’ and women’s speech patterns is so minuscule that it should not be considered worthy enough evidence
Mainstream media representations also play a role in reinforcing ideas about what it means to be a “real” man in our society. In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence, and physical desirability. Sweetman (1997) further states that the Strong Silent Type focuses on “being in charge, acting decisively, containing emotion, and succeeding with women.” This stereotype reinforces the assumption that men and boys should always be in control, and that talking about one’s feelings is a sign of weakness. Traditional views of masculinity can act as an emotional straightjacket that prohibits men from expressing feelings or urges that are mistakenly seen as "feminine," such as warmth, empathy, and need. When young boys or men break this rule of masculinity, they are often teased, ridiculed, or shamed for not acting like a "man."