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The importance of masculinity in society
The importance of masculinity in society
Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
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Throughout history, men have been given power solely because of their gender. In society, men receive benefits, rights, and authority, not based on character or eligibility, but on their physical characteristics and life is inherently easier if one is male. Women have just gained the right to vote within the past decade, while men have always been allowed the privilege of contributing to government and civilization. Also, men had the advantage of being in control of wealth and property for hundreds of years because that is how society always functioned. The foundations of society were built on a patriarchy. Therefore, the value of male characteristics and the importance of men have been passed along and are still present today. While society progresses in understanding equality as years go by, male privilege is still in action …show more content…
Privilege is having one’s body accepted by the public and having opportunities given regardless of qualifications or backgrounds. Privilege can also be accepting certain behaviors only because a man exhibited those actions. Posters, cinema, and the music industry are just some of the media today that reinforces gender privilege.
To begin with, body image is a stressed issue in the media, however, the male body is acceptable regardless of how it looks. Society instills the idea that a man can be in horrible shape and still win a woman with supermodel looks. Men are essentially taught that they do not have to work to deserve a woman. Also, it is common to see men letting themselves go, while women must retain a strict body image to be accepted by society. Generally, men get a pass when it comes to judgement by body type. Rigorous work and social rejection are circumstances men can opt out of when based on appearance. Men have the ability to experience limited trouble from society for
Throughout history, it is clear that men are usually seen to be advantaged by the logic of domination while females tend to be disadvantaged. Whether it be in the workplace, household, or even the bible men have always been inferior to women. Through history, cultural norms and stereotypes gender roles were created and have been present throughout society. Although it is believed that males are more advantaged than females the texts Eve and Adam: Genesis 2-3 Reread by Phyllis Trible and The Creation and Fall of Man and Woman explain how men and woman are in fact equal and maybe even disadvantaged by these cultural arrangements. Therefore, throughout history it is clear that gender discourses would allow one to believe that men are advantaged
Realistically, when someone is more powerful, they have the ability to set the rules. Men have historically held power in society, which means that women did not have as much stance or freedoms as men have had in the past. For example, Canadian women did not have the right to vote until the year 1916. This factor has continued to trail into the present day, creating the ‘weak’ image towards women, overall forcing and pushing men to become the opposite of this factor. Thus, cultural ideals of masculinity rely on the ideas of femininity through patriarchy and gender binaries. The emphasis on characteristics of men are being exaggerated, as society is pressuring men with unattainable standards of masculinity such as being tough, muscular and buff. Men continue to conform to these characteristics, in the fear of being oppressed through exclusion, which only strengthens society’s standards even more. This leads to more societal pressures on men, thus leading men to experience more societal pressures in the fear of feeling excluded. These “systems of inclusion and exclusion are divisions or barriers that prevent people from joining and belonging.” (50). For example, if a man wears nail polish, they may be oppressed and excluded through facing ridicule and bullying, because wearing nail polish is considered “girly”, therefore this boy is rebelling against society’s socially
Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem. Many people will argue that she is correct while some others will explain why this not is the case.
What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.
In the beginning of the year I entered this class with a very sheltered and ignorant view of current and past events. Through time and sociological evolution I have begun to see things in a different light. The development of my ability, to look at something or some kind of situation, lets me use the sociological terms in such a manner to relate them to micro and macro problems in society. This started with the assigned readings of the class; the aim was to decipher the messages the authors were presenting. The goal was then to dig deeper and use my experiences to help myself understand the concepts throughout the course. "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited." Plutarch (46-120 CE--common era) I was no longer supposed to retain knowledge on a factual basis but to observe the problems and challenge my own thoughts, values, and beliefs. Challenging these aspects lights the fire that creates the ability to use working sociological terms in my analyses. Through my analyses of the authors in the course I developed questions about the particular readings that we were assigned. The questions I present from these authors are on the basis of learning and seeing the macro picture from micro events. The authors that we read from were: Allan G. Johnson, James W. Loewen, Jonathan Kozol, David Nibert, Arnold Arluke, Clinton R. Sanders, and Elie Wiesel. From each one of these authors we are able to relate a theme of sociology to what is happening in their books, which results in the discussion questions.
As a member of the dominant race in America, I know that I possess certain unearned privileges that allow me to be more successful overall. I was raised with the mindset that racism doesn't affect me because I am white. The U.S. education system taught me about my racial and ethnic history, but it is likely that my classmates of different races could not say the same. I learned about racism in school but not to view whites as privileged or degrading towards subordinate groups. My group was never seen at fault for oppression or took any responsibility for it. Myself, nor my peers, were ever seen or viewed as unfairly advantaged or privileged. I grew up under the impression that any person could achieve what they wanted if they simply worked hard
Sensory and DiAngelo (20012) showed the meaning of “privilege” in general and in academics. In general, people who have the privilege are treated as lucky, and they will benefit from this luck. Therefore, people think that privilege is a positive thing. However, the definition of the privilege is different when academics define it. The reason why it happens is because of how society works defined by academics. “They refer to the rights, advantages, and protections enjoyed by some at the expense of and beyond the rights, advantages, and protections available
Men were taught to be superior to women since the dawn of time, whereas females were looked down upon. Ruled by patriarchy, it was hard for most of these women to do more than just be a stay at home wife. In some of the stories we have read, the women were portrayed as submissive, obedient, with no voice. Women have struggled to break out of this mold and find a voice for themselves. However, some managed to break out of these expectations and standards. Women and men have had to fulfill different set standards before anyone had stepped foot outside the womb. For both genders those standards came with different expectations.
1. (a) Privilege is defined as a favor or right granted to some people, but not to everyone.
What is privilege? This is an exceptional right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. Privilege can be defined if one person or a group of people has one or more right or value that others people or set of people are deprived of just because of the groups they belong to or for whom they are, or rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Right to privilege doesn’t control one’s results, but this is absolutely a benefit that makes it more likely that whatever endowment, ability, and aspirations a person or group with privilege has will result in something positive for them. There many different types of privileges such as white’s privilege over blacks in America, men privilege over women mostly in the muslin countries, in the church and mosque, men privilege in the corporate world, entertainment industries and more areas where women are discriminated because of the
In this day and age, hundreds or thousands of women and men are having an ongoing battling against themselves to meet up to society 's standards on body image. Every day people are sacrificing their bodies to strive for the "perfect" figure that would make them feel like they belong in our society. Because of society 's pressure, it has given men and women the immense amount of pressure to achieve these unrealistic goals. Needless to say, women and men are grappling with their inner demons to reach their goal of having the ideal body. In today 's society, men and women both struggle with body issues by the profound impact of social media and a lack of self acceptance; however, it appears that men are struggling more due to having to shield
Studies of body image in the past have gained varying results as to the groups that are affected, as well as the amount of impact body image has with these groups. There has also been much debate over the validity of methods used to judge body image, and how well the measurements used actually correlate participants’ actual views of body image (Cash, Morrow, Hrabosky, & Perry 2004). Some factors that have led to this discrepancy in answers are questions that were framed to be more suitable to attain the attitudes of one gender over another. The initial studies of body image focused upon simply body shape which seemed to be more important to women, whereas body image affects were seen for men when questions of muscle definition were included into the questionnaire process (Ridgeway, & Tylka, 2005).
This was the case in the past and might still be for people in other countries but for the western hemisphere, women are becoming more and more independent and less in need of a man. Men seem to not understand this evolution and still believe women need to depend on them and that they must provide. In multiple cartoons from classics like The Flintstones or The Jetsons to more modern day cartoons such as F is for family, Bobs Burger and American dad, show that the family depends on the most dominant man. That shows our growing youth that they are supposed to be the "man of the house". This pattern shows that throughout history, men have always kept the most powerful roles. That be if they are exploring some new places or if they are making new laws and changing their community in a drastic way, something that all of these men have in common is that they are predominantly white. In addition, this obstacle is set for men of other nationalities or other skin tones and for the white male himself, since he is expected to be at the top of the food
Money can give people a lot opportunities and privilege. Financially privileged people have no trouble getting materialistic things such as big houses, expensive cars, and jewelry. Being privileged can also provide better scholastic education as well as respect. On the other hand, a lack of money, as a person might guess, limits opportunity and lower a person’s status on the privilege pole. In order for an underprivileged person to have all of those things, they have to work hard to get to get the luxuries of nice houses, cars, and jewelry. As far as education goes, the underprivileged might not go to the best schools but they get an education that will prove to be more valuable in life; they learn to earn respect, appreciate what they have and how to survive with just the necessities and what’s really important in life. So when a person looks at each group and tries to decided with one gets the most out of life, they will see that underprivileged individuals get so much more out of life than a person who came up in affluence and privilege.
When it comes to gender men tend to be superior to females. Society has portrayed certain characteristics to women and men. Society has created each gender to have their own specific roles. There 's this idea that femininity has been reconstructed males are more valued than females. These generalizations of gender the men or women are taught child usually from parents and teachers or someone older. Society has expectations from women and male. Men women are portrayed as to have emotions be more sensitive week and need someone to depend on. Men are taught at a young age to not show emotions, they have to be a leader, and be stronger than women are. And if men are failed to do what they are expected 2 they are seen as less of a man or disgrace to mankind. Men and women should be seen as equals they should be able to do the same things without people looking down upon them.