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For my topic I chose masculinity, I chose this topic because it was different from my everyday perspective. Learning about new perspectives in the research made the reading easier and more interesting. When thinking of a topic I wanted to learn about something new and learn about how others live their daily lives. When considering this topic, I thought it was interesting because I have two brothers and would have never considered that they would have these struggles. I didn’t think that men struggled like women do. I thought it was interesting to read that men have similar struggles. To find a topic I thought about what I had found most interesting in class. When looking for articles on my topic I used google scholar and the Xavier library
In the essay, “The High Cost of Manliness,” writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics, such as masculinity. Jensen realizes that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. He argues that there is no valid reason to have characteristics associated with being male. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.
A raging, oncoming freight train is roaring down the tracks around a slight bend bearing towards a helpless, vulnerable damsel in distress that is tied to the railroad tracks with only seconds to spare. She only has one hope: Superman. Faced with this nearly impossible situation what does Superman do? Naturally, he jumps in front of the locomotive head-on, putting his life in danger, and stopping the train with a screeching halt just inches away from the young lady, of course. What could be more heroic or courageous than succeeding during a dangerous situation? Nothing. As Superman demonstrated, these situations present the chance for traits of masculinity to be displayed. Now, not all situations may possess the severity or extremity of the situation that Superman handled but in all situations that are somewhat perilous masculinity is often associated with the attributes brave, bold, muscular, virile, and forceful, as well as many more. Masculinity requires facing challenges head-on and defeating the dangers; no second guessing, no hesitation. Get the job done. In various short stories from Benjamin Percy’s book Refresh Refresh the male protagonist is always presented with dangerous situations to display his masculinity through his courageous actions. This is executed during multiple different situations, but is often the result of saving a female character. The male protagonist rises to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself, but often they are responsible for creating the dangerous situations. These stories seem to verify Germaine Greer’s view that she expresses in her work Masculinity that “Masculinity requires the creation of dangerous situations, actual or symbolic.” (898)
I stumbled on my article in such a timely manner. I was thinking most people given this assignment would go straight to The New York Times, The Huffington Post, or some other popular outlet. I decided to take a different route and do my article hunting elsewhere. I thought to myself " Where can I get a great article that the average person wouldn 't think to look?". It hit me like a ton of bricks, Ebony Magazine. I scrolled through titles and stumbled on one entitled " We Have to Give Men the Space to Define Masculinity on their Own Terms" by George Johnson. I couldn 't pass this up because I wholeheartedly agree with this statement and it 's an issue that definitely needs to be addressed. This article in particular breaks down the struggles
According to Kimmel, the earliest embodiments of American manhood were landowners, independent artisans, shopkeepers, and farmers. During the first decade of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution started to influence the way, American men thought of themselves. Manhood was now defined as through the man’s economic success. This was the origin of the “Self-Made Man” ideology and the new concept of manhood that was more exciting, and potentially more rewarding for men themselves. The image of the Self-Made Man has far reaching effects on the notion of masculinity in America. Thus, the emergence of the Self-Made Man put men under pressure. As Kimmel states,
My focus of inquiry is gender roles. I chose gender roles as my focus of inquiry because there are multiple differences and similarities in the expectations of women and men then and now. The comparisons between the roles of each gender was enlightening. It made me want to know more, like how, when ,and why they changed if they did, or if they stayed the same what was there significance. This topic seemed to be interesting because these roles are something men and women everywhere experience in everyday life, but in each place around the world they could be different.
Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Rosa Parks, Colin Simmons, all household names that people should be and most likely are aware of. Brenda Berkman needs to be on that list of household names. In the early 80s this one woman single-handedly took on the New York Fire Department, and became the city 's first female firefighter.
Early feminist studies of gender often depicted the expression of masculinity as solely meant to subordinate women. Upon further research and understanding of gender and its role in society, gender theorists have realized that masculinity is not only a patriarchal regulation against women, but that it also has negative effects against men. Masculinity has different characteristics in different cultures, but masculinity in general presents a hierarchy of traits, with femininity as the lowest, least desirable trait. In American culture, masculinity is defined within multiple structures, such as race, class, and sexuality, where a man’s masculinity can be lessened by his traits as well as these identities. Often, normative expressions of masculinity
Joe says “And if I’m not feeling good about my own masculinity, if I haven’t taken care of my own business, then if you’re my son, I’m gonna need you to be pretty masculine to validate me.” This stood out to me because it pretty much defines of how men are working for a higher cause then their children. If they are not happy with their own masculinity, they will use their children to prove their masculinity. The fathers push their children to level of masculinity they were never able to meet. Another topic listed was accepting responsibility.
The media is a very influential aspect of our daily lives. The media is everywhere we look, everything we listen to, and everything we talk about, we cannot escape it. It only makes sense that the media would have an affect of the construction of how we view masculinity and femininity. The media has the ideals or standards of what it means to masculine or feminine which with our changing times do not represent a majority of people. These standards are set so high that no one can reach them, which makes people feel defeated since they do not meet these expectations. With many people not fitting into these generalized norms we set for a “man” or “woman” it is time we get rid of these norms, or at least update them to the times. People are changing
Unlike the negative opinions about masculinity said that it is dangerous, violence and a threat to women, positive opinions people wanting to restore masculinity. “A professor of political science and philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada” (Newell) had written an article discuss about positive things of masculinity. According to Newell that “young men need to learn a positive version of masculinity that encourages honor, pride, and respect for women.” With him, masculinity is a positive thing for men, it is honorable and respectful, therefore young men should learn it. Sadly, throughout the years, masculinity has changes a lot which made people misunderstood the actual definition of it and mislead it to violence and misogyny (Newell). Even though everyone has their own personalities, but babies are born, raise and teach by their surroundings. Due to that reason, “Newell contends that society needs to channel certain boyish traits, such as a desire to be heroic, in positive directions and teach these boys how to become honorable men.” Babies are like a clean slate, what they see is what they are going to learn, they should see and learn masculinity in positive ways of it, not the bad ways of it. To learn masculinity in positive ways, Newell states, “to do this, we must recover a sense of what it means to be manly—honorable,
Germaine Greer, The author of the article, is a very is inflammatory writer who is known very well around the world for her feminism. She is most famous for her book The Female Eunuch, noted as a key text of the feminist movement in the '70s. Germaine Greer is a feminist, she wrote this article in order to create an alternative female out look on a male tendency, but also to show society what was wrong with their thought about masculinity and that it is determined by biology. In the book The Female Eunuch, the last chapter was called Masculinity. There were several but the three main essential attributes of masculinity, according to the minutes off their career are that they need to be extremely strong, they also need to be in control come and they have to always feel better than women.
Section 1: What is your topic, and why is it important to study this topic?
The concept of hegemonic masculinity, as described by R. W. Connell, is becoming more applicable than ever, namely in the world of sport. This notion was developed nearly twenty-five years ago, yet remains highly influential in the social construction of gender roles. In current Western societies, there is an automatic assumption that women involved in sports are all lesbians, and men posses more masculine traits than one who is not involved in sports. This double standard emphasizes the inequalities within the athletic community. The emphasis on masculinity brings forth different consequences for men and women, where men are regarded as strong and powerful, while women are intrinsically seen as more masculine (Baks & Malecek,
I started gathering information by watching movies that are much centered on masculinity and patriarchy and I also made a general search on masculinity. I watched documentaries and televisio...
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.