A man is known to be rough and tough; if you do not exhibit those characteristics, then you are not a man. Simple. Well not quite. Humans are complex beings and can’t be separated to two distinct genders who never touch and cross their respective boundaries. Each gender is not locked into its own bubble. The hegemonic masculine male described by R.W. Connell and Jackson Katz, do not exemplify the whole male population who identify as ‘male’. The Bronies community is a group of men who value ideas that society dictates as feminine. Meaning, these men aren’t accepted as ‘men’; they are less than a man. “Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony” reveals grown men who are fans of “My Little Pony” out to the world. This is a fanbase that is unheard of and seen as ‘uncommon’ and ‘unnatural’. These men find important values in “My Little Pony” like friendship and how to properly act in situations. “My Little Pony” intended audience is for little girls where it gives simplistic messages of the importance of friendship and proper behavior. The Bronies community is primarily made up of outcasts and outsiders in their home community. The community strives for acceptance, tolerance, and equality for each of its members, which opens up social interaction in a non-anxious setting. …show more content…
Media helps to reinforce societal views. Masculine identities and traits are repeated in media programming to the population, alternating or creating their perceptions on males. With these thoughts in place, males are expected to act a certain way. The Bronies are out casted because of their gentler side which is made to be considered as ‘girly’ and ‘feminine’. They are continuously outed from the male sphere, although they identify as such. The Bronies carry other interests and traits that are associated with what society views as
By looking at the incidents happened around Ponyboy and the changes of Ponyboy’s attitudes towards reality, we can see that Ponyboy has matured and learned the essence of solving problems, which most readers don’t see; this is important because it reveals the relationship between dreams and reality, that is cocooning from the world is not going to solve any problems, instead, only through facing the reality could we regain lost courage and break the obstacles.
Masculinity and femininity are not restricted to two separate and distinct groups. In reality, they are different within themselves, and similar to each other. It is a well-known stereotype that men are tough and strong with no emotions, while women are weak and need to be supported.
This means that these women have less privileges than black males, because even though both of them share the same race, male as a gender is generally ranked higher than women. Similarly, black men have less privileges than white men, because the white race is ranked higher in society. These universalizing assumptions rely on the essentialist way of thinking, therefore blocking the fact that women’s lives are much more diverse, as each woman has different, multiple life experiences and personality traits. This idea of the power-dominated group of society is known to be rooted from the other oppressive structures such as Eurocentrism, heterosexism, transphobia, and ableism. For example, Eurocentrism is “a view that Europe is the centre of the world and “civilization”, and everything must be measured against this standard.” (56). This ideal standard is creating oppression towards members of society who are not necessarily white, male or heterosexual, thus, allowing inequality to take place and unearned privilege towards this group of “power-dominated” people. From children’s Disney movies, kids witness masculine and feminine stereotypes from a very young age. These reinforced stereotypes teach children how men and women should act, look and behave. For example, in the movie “Hercules”, a delicate and gentle princess finds love with the big, muscular, and ‘manly’ hero named Hercules. As these films describe that men are the complete opposites of
Although animated cartoons have long been associated with children’s entertainment, the content of many cartoons suggest they are for adults as well. From character portrayal to perceived gender roles, cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Scooby Doo both reflect societal values from their time periods as well as perpetuate the developed stereotypes. Cartoons produced more recently such as The Simpsons start to challenge these stereotypes instead of following blindly. Comparing the earliest popular cartoons to more recent productions, shows progress towards a less stereotypical character portrayal in regards to gender.
In an excerpt from his book, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, which was first published in 2008, sociologist Michael Kimmel shows us how the teaching of masculinity in America begins to form at a very young age and goes far into adulthood. He focuses on how boys are molded from a young age to be men, by forms of harassment, teasing, and peer pressure from parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and society. In this specific essay, Kimmel explains the pressures young boys experience and the expectations as they grow into manhood. Kimmel vividly describes men who are pressured by their own peers to prove their masculinity. Furthermore, there is a relentless sense of having to show ones ' 'manly ' ' behavior. Masculinity is expected, and needs to be shown in-front of others at all times. For most men, being able to do
He is more of a pacifist than a lot of other children and teen-agers in his town. Pony prefers to read and watch sunsets over fighting in rumbles. He is always considerate of other people's feelings, even when they are unlike himself. Ponyboy commits a brave act in saving children from a church fire, and is also involved in a murder of a Soc which is what brings him to the church in the first place. His kind actions outweigh his wrongdoings, even when hit by trial after trial. Many others in his gang are like family to him and he knows that many face similar issues. His older brother, Sodapop, is a high school dropout who loves horses and his family. His girlfriend leaves him and moves to Florida, and he is stuck between the arguments of his brothers. Sodapop works hard at a gas station fixing cars, and is always there in Ponyboy’s times of despair. He casts a more paternal shadow than the oldest Curtis brother, and seems to cheer many people up. When Ponyboy disappears, Sodapop is deeply concerned for him and even considers looking in Texas so he can bring Pony home. Although he faces many of the same trials as Pony, he handles himself and manages to get his family and friends through many rough patches. Ponyboy and Sodapop suffer because no one steps in, but both could use a guiding hand. Ponyboy could use guidance in finding a productive future and putting his smarts to a more
For example, “men often feel that they are supposed to be tough, aggressive, [and] competitive” [in the workplace…]. Women, on the other hand, are ‘unsexed by success’” (Kimmel 2013, 250). At the same time, we have seen these gender roles played a vital role in the family. According to Jhally, “the women of the dream world are fragmented and presented as a number of simple and disconnected body parts” (Jhally 2007). Therefore, “the media helps to maintain a status quo in which certain groups in our society routinely have access to power and privilege while others do not” (Mulvaney 2016). Therefore, “these images and stories have worked their way into the inner identities of young women who view their own sexuality through the eyes of the male authors of that culture” (Jhally
We’re all familiar with the stereotypes and myths about what it means to “be a man.” The victorious leader gets what he wants using aggression and does not accept failure; he is smooth with the ladies, and he is often good with a gun. He is usually rich and in control, especially in control of women, like a father who loves his daughter dearly but will be damned if she’s going to go out dressed like that. The list could go on and on with the stereotypes. But the Coen Brothers’ cult-classic film, The Big Lebowsk (1998), with its hero “The Dude,” contradicts these notions of masculinity. The Coen brothers offer several familiar stereotypes of masculinity (the Vietnam vet, the successful capitalist, an oversexed bowler, some aggressive German nihilists), yet it is these characters that throughout the film are shown to be absurd, insecure, and even impotent. It is these stereotype men that the Coen brothers criticize. “Sometimes there’s a man,” says the narrator over and over again, pointing out the Dude’s non-stereotypical masculinity as the true representation of what it means to be a man. The brothers then illustrate that the men who give no thought to their identity, who ignore the pressure to conform to cultural expectations, are to be regarded as “real men.”
Ponyboy Curtis is a 14 year old boy, who has been classified as a “Greaser” a gang in the town where Ponyboy lives. The Greasers are “supposed to be like hoods, they are supposed to wear their hair long and dress in blue jeans and white t-shirts, and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots” (pg. 3). That’s mostly what all greasers look like including Ponyboy. Ponyboy has “light brown hair, and greenish-gray eyes, his hair is longer than a lot of boys but that’s something that defines him as a greaser” (pg. 1). Although Ponyboy sticks with his gangs and goes by their rules there’s also some things that make him different. Ponyboy loves to read books, and watch movies. Something that the other greaser don’t do because they don’t have the time. He also takes school very seriously, Ponyboy thinks that he is “supposed to ...
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
Except that it doesn’t. Pony seems to be losing his mind, his balance, and his good grades. When his English teacher tells him to write an essay ‘ one from the heart, about something meaningful to him ‘ he realizes that he can share the story of the three dead boys with the world, and maybe make a difference in the lives of others. So, turns out, the story we’ve been reading is really Ponyboy’s English
The Bro Code breaks down the establishment and encouragement of sexism into four “steps” that society uses to form sexist men (Keith). These steps are: “1. Train Men to Womanize, 2. Immerse Men in Porn, 3. Make Rape Jokes 4. Obey the Masculinity Cops”(Keith). Thomas Keith begins by addressing the fact that he grew up in this “bro culture” and that men today are continually taught to have the same mentality that Keith had when he was younger. However, he claims that “bro culture” has changed and has become a more “dangerous sexist” (Keith). Our culture continually promotes this behavior through music, television and media, all which tell men that in order to be successful and true men they must be rich, strong and surrounded by women.
Much of what society dictates can affect children’s perceptions of the ideal gender standards, and can lead to abuse and violence. Media has a huge role in perpetuating these dangerous gender stereotypes. Numerous male images are used in advertising and television, representing themes such as "heroic masculinity" and "might is right". These portrayals of violent behavior associated with masculinity target young men and convince them that in order to live up to society’s standards, they must resort to aggressive and dominant behavior, the use of assertion, and physical violence. Males are saturated with images of glorified aggression through movies such as Lethal Weapon, sports programs, and "macho" celebrities, like Bruce Willis and Arnold Shwartzenager. Female stereotypes span the opposite extreme. Innumerable young women perceive "ladylike" expectations to be neatness, passivity, politeness, and struggle to meet them, hence they appear nurturing and feminine. Women in the media who challenge these stereotypical behaviors and display assertiveness tend to be slotted into the role of "tomboy" or "dyke". These impositions contribute to the breeding of young men who act in an abusive manner, and are terribly restricting towards boys who covet deep emotion. The antagonist of Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew, perceives himself to...
Drawings a boy may draw of a gun might be seen in a cartoon that they religiously watch, and this is looked to as being a social norm. Boys often watch violent or action-packed cartoons or television shows, whereas girls might draw a pony seen in their favorite cartoon. Girls are often expected as a norm to watch cartoons and shows that might involve drama and romance. “Again, identity is a social concept”. When we engage with any media, no matter what form it may take, we are in essence receiving the ideas from those authors.
The differences between women and men are not solely biological. Our society’s culture has established a set of unwritten cultural laws of how each gender should act, or in other words society has ascribed a stereotype. Men’s gender identity has been one of masculinity, and masculinity is defined as referring to a man or things described as manly. What does manly mean though? Is a male manly if he is “Mr. Fix-it”, or the jock, or if he sits on the couch on Sunday watching football? This latter statement is a stereotype of men, that has been around for decades, and is current as well, but starting with the 1960’s a man’s role started to change, despite the stereotype not changing to accommodate it. For the past 40 years one can see how men have taken on roles stereotypically ascribed to women, such roles including being the “stay-at-home mom”, which we can find an excellent example of in the 1980’s film “Mr.