In chapter 1 of “Dude You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School,” the author mentions that “one of the ways a queer theory approach can bring studies of masculinity in line with other feminist theorizing is to uncouple the male body from definitions of masculinity.” What he means by “uncouple the male body from definitions of masculinity” is that the word male is normally associated with masculinity and in order to fully understand these theories we must stop genderizing the word masculinity. Instead, we must see masculinity as an organizing principle of social life (Pascue). It is important to decu…
The author suggests the cost of the traditional view of masculinity are damaging. He mentions that some are willing to go above and beyond to exhibit their masculinity and later paying for it. I agree the traditional view of masculinity comes at a cost. Masculinity could cause a great deal of stress, competiveness, physical injury or even death.…
Manhood in western societies is pre-programmed, pre-packaged and forced-fed to boys from birth to adulthood. Historically the puriest example of a real man was the military standard. Military manliness dictates that a man must be strong, both physically and mentally, a man must be unfeeling and must be loyal to their fellow commrades. Men must show a certain level of respect for women but never acknowledge them as equal.…
Rogers touches on gender issues and stereotypes related to gender in the essay. He makes that clear by discussing the differences in behavior exhibited by male and female participants in the sport. He points out how the two genders are perceived by fans of the industry as well as the significant difference in the way the athletes view the sport. The females are more sportsmen like and accommodating as they see that the sport is “for fun.” The men on the other hand, are more aggressive and mean-spirited toward one another as they see the sport as one in which they must compete for dominance and prove their superior abilities.…
Though not every sporting event is televised, the ones that are tend to be violent, male sports. One example of a popular, televised sport in America is men’s hockey. Not only is the sport violent in itself, but physical altercations are also allowed and even encouraged. American football also results in violence that can cause serious injury. For example, in 2012 there were 261 reported concussions in the NFL (Garriott, 2014). Research shows that there is a link between masculinity and sports due to the fact that men’s sports not only involve power and privilege, but also display aggression, anger, and domination (Omar, 2011). Fans not only praise the sports, but they also praise the players. Participants of these sports are being idolized for their violence and aggression. This results with having those who are exposed to these sports will then tend to believe that displaying these actions is considered masculine. Therefore, boys and young men who are striving to be “masculine” will then mimic these behaviors in hopes of fulfilling the ideal masculine role that is set by American…
The study of American sports reaffirms the importance of male masculinity and the strict standards for women during the time period of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. To Americans during that time, a successful man was defined as a robust man, and men who participated in non-athletic events were harshly criticized. Americans believed that manly exercise was necessary in order to obtain true physical happiness, and society encouraged all men in America to be strong and masculine. The assumption that men were naturally active and women were naturally passive was upturned during the Gilded Age; women were breaking out of the stereotypes and were entering into the public sphere at a rapid pace. Women in America began to implant themselves into things that were once exclusive to men, such as voting, attending school, and participating in sporting activities. Due to the advancement of cities during the end of the nineteenth century, men were no longer participating in physical work or working for themselves; instead, they were working under other individuals as businessmen, lawyers, and clerks. Men in America felt that these social changes were a major threat to their masculinity, known by historians as “The Crisis of Manliness.” Due to this crisis, men turned to sports in order to retrieve their lost virility. The proposition of Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Strenuous Life” promoted the idea…
Masculinity and the ideals of manhood are not universal; place and time are factors of masculinity and hegemonic masculinity is no different. According to R.W Connell hegemonic masculinity is the one form of masculinity in society that has the most authority and influence on boys and men of that society. This form of masculinity sits at the top of the masculinity hierarchy and as a result those who attempt conform to hegemonic masculinity not only gain an advantage and privilege over other forms manhood but also over both genders (Connell, 171). However, because hegemonic masculinity is an unattainable ideal, men often go to extremes to confirm their masculinity to themselves and other men in their lives. Using the articles "’Talk About Strenuous…
In this essay called “The High Cost of Manliness” written by Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas, in Austin, he tells us that “if we could get rid of the whole idea of masculinity, we have a chance to create a better world for men and women.” He states that it’s not easy to be a man in our society, especially with the demands that come with the dominant conception of masculinity, which is where men are perceived to be tough, competitive and aggressive and must show those qualities in order to prevail as a “real man.” He mentions that DNA does play a big role in a person’s behavior and that our genetic endowment is influenced by culture. The guys that don’t meet these expectations and who are caring and show compassion toward others are often called sissies, fags, or even girls. Jensen states that culture also seems to be linked to a recurring intellectual fad called “evolutionary psychology”, which creates a gender difference between men and women, and thus making it necessary to choose which gender distinctly shows more masculine characteristics than the other. For example he reminds us of the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy when male firefighters rushed into burning buildings, risking and even sacrificing there lives to help save others, and recognizing this as a sign of strength and masculinity, who is to say that women wouldn’t have done the same if put in that same situation. Jensen explains that the reaction to rush in a burning building to help those in need by those firefighters was “simply human” and for society to automatically assign these type of human qualities to a specific gender is “misguided and demeaning to the gender that is assumed not to possess these qualities.” Yes there are obviously physical differences between men and woman such as size, and reproductive organs, but he says when you think about it, men…
Exploring the construction of hegemonic masculinity, we go through a contradicting state of the definition of manhood. Although contradictions appear, it is socially adapted and able to reside without conflict. Take manhood as this, “We think of manhood as a transcendent tangible property that each man must manifest in the world” (Kimmel, 1994). Meaning that manhood is merely an idea which is drilled into a man’s head by society, “Gender, we said, was an achieved status” (West and Zimmerman, 2015) in other terms, manhood is a socially agreed upon idealization of how men should act or who they should be. In West and Zimmerman’s “Doing Gender”, Hegemonic masculinity is accomplished by the unavoidable categories of sex and gender and ways we act upon them; collaborating together in a socially constructed standard of how to be.…
Through watching this short documentary I have learned and acknowledged how we are so easily influenced and shaped through a variety of things: family, community and media. Numerous kids around the world learn at an early age to put on a so called "front" or "guise" to show only the certain parts and qualities that a tough guy possesses. At the beginning there was a clip where young boys defined being manly as: being tough, powerful, athletic, muscular, and stud. If you did not fit into this category then the names that you were associated with were: wimp, fag, and sissy. The family and community have a huge part in shaping kids this way, but the biggest influence in the media/ television. For example, kids view Latinos or Mexicans as boxers and Asians as martial artists or even as criminals. This gives them an image of male dominance, power, and also control.…
men of trying to live up to the unattainable ideal of true masculinity are real,…
Manhood in western societies is pre-programmed, pre-packaged and forced-fed to boys from birth to adulthood. Historically the purest example of a real man was the military standard. Military manliness dictates that a man must be strong, both physically and mentally, a man must be unfeeling and must be loyal to their fellow comrades. Military manhood favors the heterosexual man and believes that he should not gay or exhibit feminine behaviors if he is to be considered a real man. Above all else they must protect what is theirs, the bloodier the better. This idolized and ideal expression of masculinity is losing much of its relevance in the ever-changing and evolving modern world but, it will always have a platform in Hip- Hop culture.…
In the essay “Men - It’s In Their Nature,” Hoff Sommers states that although the “radical masculinity” should be addressed and civilized, it should not be eliminated because it is something natural and without it men would not be able to protect women and society. She argues that trying to make boys behave like girls does a disservice to boys’ natural talent. As Hoff Sommers claims, it is more of “men’s nature” and what society has to do is to civilize and handle the natural masculinity in men.…
Growing up in our society and transforming into various norms, values and beliefs, is revolutionary amongst young men and ladies, and today I will specifically focus on young men. My little brother is 12 years old, he is already expected to “act like a man” or “man up”, and He will be told to show no weakness. This kind of advice will hinder my brother from becoming a “true man”. According to tough guys 2 by Jackson, Katz 86% of armed robberies are committed by men, 77% of aggravated assaults are committed by men, 87% of stalkers are men, 86% of domestic violence incidents resulting in physical injury are perpetrated by men, 99% of rapes are committed by men, Men commit approximately 90% of murder, and over the past 30 years, 61 of the last 62 mass…
The argument in the text is “For men, success or failure as an athlete can be a major part of a man’s identity..... knowing about and participating in sports is an important source of men’s gender socialization....the attitude that “sports builds character” runs deep in American culture..... Sports are considered to be where one learns to be a man.”(Anderson and Taylor) In the Andersen text it states that “for most men, playing or watching sports is often the context for developing relationships with fathers.....Through sports relationships with male peers, more than anyone else, however, the men’s identity was shaped. As boys, the men could form “safe” bonds with other men (Messner 2002)”(Anderson and Taylor). In the typical view of an…