Title: Confronting or Confirming The Traditional Masculinity?
(Fatherhood in Indonesian Men’s Lifestyle Magazines)
Introduction
Special for his little heroes, Erwin has responsibility concept as a man “being a son has a bigger responsibility because they will become the head of the family in the future” (Santana, 2012).
The paragraph was taken from one of the article in Best Life Indonesia magazine. It illustrates man’s belief in what he himself and his son should become as a man and as a father. The paragraph also best describes the society expectation on man. In Indonesia patriarchal society, being a man means one should be able to take care of his family, and of others dependent on him. Indeed, a male person will consider as a “man”
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Therefore, in Indonesia general society father’s responsibility is measured from his ability to provide economic support for his children. This narrative closely related with the central feature of masculinity where man is a family breadwinner, supporting livelihood through work (Beauvoir, 1953; Hearn, 1992; Johnson, 2005). It generates binary opposition between men and women, especially in public and private domain. As a breadwinner, public domain was men’s field, while women was in the private domain. Indeed, the functionalist sociology perspective at the time believed in the postulate about women as the ‘heart’ of the families with male as the ‘heads’ (Risman and Davis, 2012). In the Indonesia breadwinner regime the domination of men over women were seen on how family works. As a standard in the traditional family, man or father functions as the breadwinner while woman or mother as the household keeper. However, …show more content…
Besides, in Indonesia, man as a father used to be portrayed as the distant father and being the family breadwinner is their kodrat. Now with the dramatic changing in the gender relations in the modern Indonesia, man’s kodrat was contested.
Best Life Indonesia was chosen after carefully study six other popular men’s lifestyle magazine available in Indonesia and among those, only Best Life Indonesia magazine consistently have segment about fatherhood in their publication. Approximately 23 editions of Best Life Indonesia published during the years 2008-2012 and the whole edition from 2014 including three special editions on fatherhood were analyzed. Best Life Indonesia was first published on November
Because of family values, there is a huge emphasis on marriage within the Hmong community. Similarly, males make all the decisions and carry on the family names within the clan identity. The duties that are expected of males extend beyond western cultures with what might be considered at the center of a typical family upbringing. Because of this, the roles by birth and the family obligations are an integral part of the Hmong traditional community. Her and Louise Buley-Meissner (2012) discussed how traditionally Hmong men would get to eat first with the women eating last on the men’s left over during special traditional ceremonies.
In discussing the many facets of masculinity among young men, one key issue has been the correlation it has with several developmental concerns. In Michael Kimmel’s 2008 publication “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code”, he talks about how men believe manhood is really achieved. More specifically, he talks about “Guy Code”, the universal rulebook that all men must follow if they wish to remain in good standing among their fellow man. These rules are taught as early as their toddler years.
What constitutes “masculinity?” Sadly, the term has been defined so harshly that it is having detrimental effects on our society. The definitions of gender roles bombard us everywhere, from books, to advertisements, to movies, there is seemingly no place one can hide from these absurd standards. Canadian sociologist Aaron H. Devor points out in his article “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender,” that gender norms are learned early on in life, burdening children with these restrictions (388). This is what makes movies which clearly reject and mock gender roles, such as The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, so refreshing.
Through male encounters with a male figure by their sides, known as a father, that only than youthful boys can turn into the genuine manly individual they were destined to turn into. All young boys want to be able to fit in and be the same as the others, they are only able to do this with a male figure by them to teach them how to handle the situations from a males prespective rather than a womens. The words Pittman say are intended to indicate how young adults, more centered around guys, can defeat the difficulties the come towards them with their fathers that clearly demonstrate them on how to be their manly selfs. As indicated by custom gender characteristics, guys are viewed as individuals that can be strong and fearless, while ladies are
Over time, the thought patterns of many individuals mould to believe only one perception of what is morally acceptable— a perception that is completely faulty. The ideology of the male body and demeanor is only one of the many societal norms constructed by the media, and it alone can result in mental health fatalities, mass violence, or the mere elimination of self-identity whilst attempting to meet the ever-changing ideals of masculinity. The continuous and stereotypical depiction of masculinity in the media has idealized invulnerability, toughness and physical strength as the sole qualities of a ‘true man’. As a result, the complexity of masculinity is flattened, and immense pressures are placed on individuals to meet requirements that are entirely faulty. According to Katz, cultures, topics, and even genders are not one-dimensional; in order to fully comprehend the meaning the entirety of something, one must look at more than its representation in the media.
In Robert Jensen’s article “The High Cost of Manliness”, he states that the idea of masculinity is a bad thing and they should get rid of it. This article debates on the common stereotypes of men, as he states: “That dominant conception of masculinity in U.S. Culture is easily summarized: Men are assumed to be naturally competitive and aggressive, and being a real man is therefore marked by the struggle for control, conquest, and domination” (par. 4). Nonetheless, there are some traits that men and woman share, such as, caring, compassion, and tenderness. These traits often depend on the situation, since a man cannot always be this way, whereas, a woman is often expected to have these traits.
aside from child rearing. And eventually that assumption that men are dominant over women is not always true because women can somehow do better as compared to men. The fine line that separates men and women should be dissolved for it is this line that inhibits the growth of the society. If one wants the society to progress, he must realize the purpose of women or the things they can do for the society that are usually underappreciated due to gender roles and stereotypes. In Parsons and Bales (1955) classic formulation of role differentiation, the male’s role is “instrumental”, responsible for the family’s relationships with the outside world, primarily through his job.
Gender Writing Assignment Magno Martinez P.3 A person’s feelings towards another are typically defined by the other’s physical appearance. These standards are usually based upon what is delivered by mass media. Most fathers gravitate to teaching their sons to wear a ‘mask of masculinity’, and to ‘be a man’.
Today, forty percent of women are the breadwinners of the family, meaning the roles of women and men have dramatically modernized since the Industrial Revolution (Wang). With great ferocity, gender roles
In her conventional view, a woman must support her husband by creating an organized home and nurturing him. Women are not only in charge of doing the housework and childcare, but they have their own individual dreams they want to reach. It is discriminatory towards women when they live under the social expectations of being uneducated and a supported wife. From the textual support, it is evident that women struggle to reach their individual goals under a male-dominant society that require women to be
He also explains how the world can change men and how values and ideas change men. People fear these changes are affecting the society and lives of other people that they show a bad image to what manhood looks like. Some men do not mind these changes while men do. In some parts of the article, the author talks about the changes in men and how it is
Peace is the beauty of life. It’s the sunshine. It’s the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It’s the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth” (Begin,Menachem). There are many stereotypes about dads that they don’t do important roles compared to mom’s roles.
This article is all about the change in families occurring over time since this 1950’s. This topic has evoked many discussions around the world about the type of families that need to be acknowledged and supported socially. The article examines the changes which have occurred over the years regarding marriages, families, gender relations, sex/gender division of labour and the life cycle that has changed noticeably. This article is useful for my research because it identifies the diversity in families which is accepted in our generation today which would be looked down upon in past generations. The idea of “traditional families” has been neglected and is not practiced by modern thinkers.
It’s impossible to deny how far the desire for a male child has spread throughout the world, so there are great expectations associated with male births. One of the popular ones being that one day the child will grow up to succeed his father, and take care of the household. But does the upbringing of men in this culture really help them? Analyzing a common male child growing up, from the
Gender roles are beliefs about the ways in which communal and societal roles are defined by gender (Slavkin&Stright, 2000). In traditional families, traditional gender roles are common. The male is the breadwinner; while the female is responsible for childcare and housekeeping. This pattern defines masculinity as assertive, aggressive, and independent (Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Steffen, 199284) and femininity is defined as emotional, sensitive and nurturing (Bem, 1981; Slavkin&Stright 2000). Gender differences have been discussed thoroughly by many researchers in the fields of language, education and others(see for instance, Locke, 2011, Okamoto, Slattery Rashotte, & Smith-Lovin, 2002, and &Kiesling, 2007).