What does it mean to be a man? To many people, it means engaging in physically demanding activities, such as playing sports or manual labor. Just the word "masculine" conjures up images of action movies, explosions, and fearless heroes whose ability to make jokes in dangerous situations borders on sociopathy. But by definition alone, "masculine" simply means "of or like men or boys; male." "Machismo," on the other hand, is defines as "overly virile; domineering." Throughout our lives, society teaches us that "machismo" and "masculinity" are one and the same. This idea could not be further from the truth. While a man may show qualities of machismo, they are not required to be considered masculine. This brings us back to the beginning: What does it mean to be a man? I believe that what makes a man a man is adherence to principles.
In her essay "Why Men Don't Last: Self-Destruction as a Way of Life," Natalie Angier examines the reasons why men have a shorter average life span than women, and why more men than women die every year. One of these reasons is that "men are natural risk-takers, given to showy displays of bravado, aggression and daring . . ." (Angier 372). According to Linda Chamberlain, a psychologist who specializes in treating compulsive gambling, "[m]en . . . like the feeling of being a player, and taking on a struggle with the house to show that they can overcome the odds and beat the system" (qtd. in Angier 372). Chamberlain also explains that male gamblers often exhibit the aforementioned risk-taking behavior. The "traditional image" of manhood appears to be little more than a violation of common sense. The purpose for this behavior is often to attract a mate, and in the past, it would have served a m...
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.... To quote Thomas Jefferson, "In matters of principle, stand like a rock."
A man can choose not to take unnecessary risks. He can openly express his emotions. He can ask for help when he thinks he needs it. He can do all of these things, and they will not make him any less masculine. His occupation, tastes, and sexual orientation are irrelevant. So long as he adheres to the principles he sets for himself, he is a man.
Works Cited
Angier, Natalie. "Why Men Don't Last: Self-Destruction as a Way of Life." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print
Goodlad, Lauren. "Why We Love 'Mad Men.'" Muller. 517-21.
Muller, Gilbert H., ed. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print
Rodriguez, Richard. "Family Values." Muller. 321-27.
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.
The concept of masculinity is considered as the qualities and characteristics of a man, typical what is appropriate to a man. In this article, A Community Psychology of Men and Masculinity: Historical and Conceptual Review, The author Eric S. Mankowski and Kenneth I. Maton, analyze four main themes: "Men as gendered beings, the privilege and damage of being a masculine man, men as a privileged group, and men’s power and subjective powerlessness. The second and fourth themes are described as
The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 8th edition, Ed. &. Gilbert H. Muller, b. 1875. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. 305-308.
All over the world Masculinity has many different cultural definitions. Depending where someone is from, and what they were brought up to believe, defines what the term “masculinity” entails. Different Social institutions all over the United States, such as the military, sports, clubs, and fraternities, have been constructing their interpretation of masculinity. One major social institution that is active in thousands of Universities across the United States is campus fraternities. Campus fraternities create their own sense of masculinity by generating certain requirements and characteristics a man must hold in order to represent them as a part of their fraternity.
Different from female and male which can describe animals, femininity and masculinity are personal and human. That is femininity refers to qualities and behaviors associated with women and girls and masculinity is manly character, it specifically describes men. Femininity has traditionally included features such as gentleness, patience and kindness. On the contrary, men?s chief qualities are strength, courage and violence.
Over time, the image of men has changed. This is due mostly to the relaxation of rigid stereotypical roles of the two genders. In different pieces of literature, however, men have been presented as the traditional dominate figure, the provider and rule maker or non-traditional figure that is almost useless and unimportant unless needed for sexual intercourse. This dramatic difference can either perpetuate the already existing stereotype or challenge it. Regardless of the differences, both seem to put men into a negative connotation.
In the text, The High Cost of Manliness, writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics such as masculinity. It has come to his attention that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. Jenson argues that there is no valid reasoning to have characteristics associated with males. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.
Ed. Larry Madaras and James M. Sorelle. 14th Edition. The. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
... E Glenn, and Nancy B Sherrod. The psychology of men and masculinity:Research status and future directions. New York: John Wiley and sons, 2001.
Spiceland, David, Jim Sepe, and Mark NelsonGlobal Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. 258-264. Print.
When someone is thinking of a man, what do they think? Strong? Brave? That’s what most people think; in reality that is a very false image. In “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code,” Michael Kimmel, talks about what it means to be a man and what it takes to be a man in today’s world. Men are pressured into what they “should” be. If they don’t follow certain unwritten rules, which include: not asking for directions, not giving up, not showing fear, or any signs of emotional weakness, such as tears; they are considered less than a man, a wimp. A real man must be aggressive and brave, he must defend his territory: status, family, possessions. Men blindly follow the Guy Code, they believe in order to fit in, they must comply and be part of the pack.
6th ed. of the book. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print. The.
...apons, men can easily kill each other off, but that is acting out of society's rules, which are set for the maintenance of order within a civilization. This can result in negative feelings such as unhappiness and anxiety for men, however. It evidently shows that bottling up one's instincts and drives is self-destructing, but going out and killing or sexually assaulting anybody is also very destructive. It is an ongoing internal battle.
Renzetti, C. M., Curran, D. J., & Maier, S. L. (2012). Women, men, and society. Boston: Pearson.
Theroux, Paul. "Being a Man." The McGraw -Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines 8th edition. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. Boston: Mc-Graw-Hill, 2003.