A Critical Analysis Of Guante's Masculinity

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Society in general has a way of naturally assigning men and women with individual roles that need to be complied with. To clarify, in the 1950s and 1960s, American women were required to maintain their homes while raising their children and making sure the husbands were happy. On the other hand, American men had to provide for the family and protect them. Displaying characteristics not parallel to one’s gender is rarely unobserved and almost always has negative consequences because society seeks to maintain order. In reality, the people cannot conform to society’s “norms” because people have the right to be independent of society, yet be a part of it without sacrifice. An example would be how American society views masculinity as a man who …show more content…

Guante starts his performance calm but then as he continues, his tone varies from aggressive to annoyed and contemplative. Guante aggressively says, “You cannot arm-wrestle your way out of chemical depression. / The CEO of the company that just laid you off does not care how much you bench” (lines 4-5). Guante’s aggressive tone creates an atmosphere of seriousness which helps the audience realize that societies view on a man’s masculinity does not provide him with benefits or excuse him from life’s realities such as being laid off. Moreover, Guante uses his aggressive tone to show the audience that regardless of what society expects from a man, he cannot escape what is going around him simply by manning up and meeting society’s expectation. The combination of his aggressive tone and his views on masculinity incite the audience to respond in an empathetic way towards men because they see men as human being before they are viewed as a gender. Later in his performance, Guante’s tone changes to being annoyed to questions why men allow their masculinity to be questioned. Guante’s tone in general effectively criticize men for ignoring the problems they face when society questions their masculinity. As a result of Guante’s changing tones, the audience is able to follow along his views on masculinity and realize that society’s interpretation of masculinity is a social

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