Men always seem to be expected to be a superhero, even when it is pretty impossible to have super abilities. That expectation may have been a bit off but they do expect them to be extremely masculine all the time. The problem with that though is that masculinity is a social concept that could be defined as what society expects men to act like which is strong, bread maker, and always rock hard emotionally. Personally my opinion of this is that it is complete nonsense. Men should be able to feel how they want, not feel cornered, and some men who agree with being a brute need to take a deep breath.
Let’s start with a negative example of masculinity that promotes it in all the wrong ways. In the color purple Mister is a great example of what men should not be but seem to be encouraged to do. He makes the money; he is the leader of the house; yet he abuses his wife; he treats her as nothing but a maid; it is sort of like she is subhuman; he is a man so he is obviously better. Once he even beats her for going to check the mail (Spielberg).That is nothing like what the expectation of men should be. Too bad society’s views of men influence the views on woman, and vise versa. Men should be encouraged to be strong by choice, not taught that they must to influence a sense of power over others. They should be encouraged to help provide for a family, not that they must be the only one to provide. Taught that he is equal to a woman, not that she is some sort of subhuman.
I have recently read an article on the definitions of gender roles. There are also examples of a little boy named Jonah who from a young age always preferred pink, dresses, and dolls (Newsweek Staff). Instead of forcing baggy shorts, trucks, and football on them she made a muc...
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...re ostracized because they o not fit gender roles and societies expectations. Schools send messages to boys that deter them from wanting an education. It would be wise for society to start reevaluating the definition of masculinity and how they treat those who do not conform to those expectations.
Works Cited
Health Day. "Grades May Suffer When Teens Get Bullied." US News. 23 Aug. 2011. U.S.News & World Report. 10 Mar. 2014 .
Newsweek Staff. "Rethinking Gender: What Makes Us Male or Female?" Newsweek 20 May 2007.
Spielberg, Steven dir. The Color Purple. Perf. Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg. Warner Bros./Amblin Entertainment, 1985.
Weiss, Bari. "Camille Paglia: A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues." The Wall Street Journal 28 Dec. 2013.
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...they can no longer be considered masculine even if they have all the other masculinity traits. Masculinity is a very touchy subject that requires a lot of attention. Many things that happen in the American society can be blamed by masculinity. It may take years to earn your masculinity, but only seconds to lose it.
In one of our class discussions on hegemonic masculinity, we attempted to define a general list of characteristics or behaviors that one should have in order to attain this ideal. However, there was no consensus on these qualities. Frequently, the qualities that we would suggest would be those that were the opposite of qualities associated with women. For example, if we would categorize being emotional as a trait assigned to women, we would assign the trait of being impassive to men. This would also occur when we considered which behaviors would be considered masculine. While we assumed women would perform work inside of the house, we assigned men to work outside of the house, doing activities such as maintaining the yard or fixing the car. Most of, if not all of, the qualities and behaviors we assigned as being a part of hegemonic masculinity perpetuated the idea of gender inequality. When we assumed that those characteristics would be considered aspects of hegemonic masculinity, we restricted them to only being assigned to men because if a woman could possess those characteristics, it wouldn’t be considered a masculine aspect. This also explains how hegemonic masculinity can perpetuate
‘Women and men are different. Equal treatment of men and women does not result in equal outcomes.’ (Corsten Report, 16: 2007) According to Covington and Bloom (2003) numerous feminist writers have demonstrated and documented the patriarchal nature of our society and the variety of ways in which the patriarchal values serve masculine needs. ‘Despite claims to the contrary, masculinist epistemologies are built upon values that promote masculine needs and desires, making all others invisible’ (Kaschak, 11: 1992).
Although the definition of masculinity is very black and white, there is a lot of gray popping up, making the term easy to redefine and for men to leave their marks and create a revolution. (Is it that likely?)
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Men are allegedly competitive, aggressive, dominant, and strong and if these attributes are not acquired a man is not a man. When other men recognize a man failing in those four areas of “manliness” they compare him to a female with negative connotation as expressed in the following quote, “The worst insult one man can hurl at another-whether its boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom-is the accusation that a man is like a woman.” These actions create perceptions that women are unworthy and pitiful. Jensen mentions that because of masculinity men are thought to seek control over women resulting in an increase of physical violence towards women. However, masculinity has harsh effects on men as well. Men are constantly trying to prove their dominance to each other, while competing against one another for ultimate dominance. This creates a never ending cycle of competition and unease for
The topics that Joe Ehrmann uses as framework for his Building Men for Others program are quite intriguing and make you really question masculinity. The first topic, rejecting false masculinity, can be interpreted a few different ways. In the book, it states: “As young boys, we’re told to be men, or to act like men” soon followed with “we’ve got all these parents say ‘be a man’ to boys that have no concept of what that means. I completely agree with the statement of Joe Ehrmann and often question the definition of ‘being a man’. Many boys and men will reject the idea of a man being anything other than being big and strong or having power.
Men are looked at as brave, selfless people and are perceived as heroes all throughout society. Johnson addresses this point saying, “The idea of heroism, for example, has been appropriated almost entirely by patriarchal manhood. From movies and television to literature to the nightly news, our ideas of who and what is heroic focus almost entirely on men and what they do” (548). Since men have power in this world, they have generated a society that pleases them. Superhero movies are a huge money maker in today’s world. But, the most popular superheroes are exclusively men such as Batman, Superman, Captain America, The Flash and The Hulk. This media only feeds into the ideology that men are the heroes in the world and they are the ones making sacrifices for others. They see a world that appeals to them and do not see a reason to mess with the system. Kilbourne writes, “When power is unequal, when one group is oppressed and discriminated against as a group, when there is a context of systematic and historical oppression, stereotypes and prejudice have different weight and meaning” (499). Men now see patriarchy as natural and how life should be. They can look back at previous generations and see that they succeeded with patriarchy and feel they should do the same. Men see absolutely no reason as to why they should relinquish their position of
In our society today, the view of Masculinity has changed a lot where it almost
Men I feel like they are the center of the universe sometimes. In this day and age that is not some much the truth anymore. Women are now becoming better than man at a lot of things, even at manager position, running for president and so much more. Men do not have to be the strong one, or even in control when comes to life or even relationship anymore. The three essential attributes of masculinity, according to the feminists author Germaine Greer is that men believed that they have to be strong, that they have to be in control, and that they have to be better than women.
The problem, as I see it, is that we have not re-defined masculinity for the modern age. In the old days, masculinity was measured by (1) physical abilities, particularly strength, but also skill, (2) power/success/wealth, and (3) sexual prowess. The first can be developed through education and hard work, the second could be acquired through the application of the first, and the third, well, either you got it or you don't, but locker-room bragging can always make up for any lacks, especially if you got the first two. Boys growing up in such a society work to develop their physical abilities and learn how to apply them most efficaciously, thus becoming a "man". This makes sense when a man might be faced with the challenge of building shelter on the prairie or raising crops, but us modern urban men are unlikely to face such challenges. Of course, we are not unprepared for the challenges of a modern urban lifestyle. Our education generally provides such life-sustaining skills as linear algebra, the performing arts, and information systems management. The educational system is successful enough to allow most of us to get jobs that pay us enough to afford all the requirements of a modern urban lifestyle: housing, food, clothing, entertainment, transportation, etc. The trouble is that while education has more or less kept pace with the advance of civilization, our notions of masculinity have not.
Masculinity and femininity are two terms, which have been interpreted differently throughout history. Both the males and the females have responsibilities and duties but these duties differ based on one’s gender. Gender has played a prodigious role in the economy, politics, and the society. Everyone starts making interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses based on one’s gender. These interpretations are not always based on his or her ability but is usually based on his or her gender. Males tend to be judged as extremely strong and unfashionable in terms of appearance. Whereas, females are judged as expensive and very fashionable. Males and females both differ in their abilities and their enjoyments. Fashion, entertainment, and strength are three topics, which are used to define masculinity and femininity in the 21st century.