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Examples Of Masculinity In Dr Strangelove

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DR. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a film that mocks the cold war and the race that there was between the United States and the USSR when it came to the creation and the possession of Nuclear weapons. The film starts with a U.S general giving directions to the air force to attack the USSR with nuclear bombs. The film also portrays the relationship between war and masculinity in two ways. The relationship between the war and masculinity in the film is portrayed in two very important ways. The film introduces hyper masculine characters such as General Jack D. Riper and General Buck Turgidson whom at times are portrayed as irrational and want nothing but to go to war defeat the communists. Then they have male …show more content…

Strangelove is a film about war that has only one female character (Miss. Scott) that is a general’s mistress. In a movie about war that lacks female characters and the portrayal of women is that they are sexual object it is clear that the point that is being made is that war is a man’s job. The men in this movie are portrayed as making important decisions at this time of conflict where as the woman is shown tanning. I feel that this image portrays feminine behavior as siting around waiting for others to make decisions when it comes to war where as masculine behaviors are see as those who are deeply involved in the war. The words masculinity and war by themselves have different meanings but they share similar characteristics. “For instance, qualities such as aggression, rationality, or physical courage are identified both as an essential component of war and also of masculinity at a given place or time” (Hutchings 389). What are described as traditional masculine behavior are considered to be important when it comes to …show more content…

The president of the U.S doesn’t even have control over his military because he is not men enough to be taken serious on the matters of war. One general went behind his back and started a nuclear attack on a foreign country, and his other general constantly undermines his decision. In the war room the president seems as if he is the least powerful person there. The president is displayed as a man who doesn’t want to attack, a man who will let the enemy in his war room just to stop fighting and in the film his behavior is portrayed as week. When he makes the phone call to the president of the USSR instead of it being a serious and powerful conversation about war and strategies it comes out to be a conversation that ends up being why don’t you call me to say hello. Which can be perceived to be a feminine trait. The depiction that the president cant solve such problems because he is to soft and not made for war makes the point that the only type of person that is needed for war is aggressive and

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In the feature article “All Guts, No Glory”, I agree with the author Molly M. Ginty, that women participating in combat. If I was in the military some of the things that might affect me would be probably because of my gender. First, women would not be put into battle because people think women cannot handle the work or bloodshed. They think women are better off bring a nurse for helping men in battle if they get injured. Second, they think women in combat would be a distraction.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

Myers clearly shows that the military forces men to act masculine when he writes, “My father used to call all soldiers angel warriors. He said, because usually they get boys to fight wars.” (Myers 214) It is clear that Myers is explaining that the military creates an environment in which men are forced to flaunt their masculinity and prove themselves to others. The military creates an environment that perpetuates an over exaggeration of masculinity.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

Society should not base masculinity with these traits since it is learned by observation and demonstration, and this leads men to disconnect their emotions. The author is trying to take away the blindfold on society's eyes because there is an injustice towards men and woman. These aspects of masculinity are how men are taught to be, but if we remove, eliminate, or ignore those aspects and misconceptions men will express their emotions openly without having to restrict themselves and be able to fit in society or at least feel like they are a part of the society. As you can see these views make men disconnect with their emotional side Jensen mentions this when he gives the example of his friend that worked on Wall Street and his friend described it as “coming to work as like walking into a knife fight when all the good spots along the wall were taken” (131). If we stop identifying masculinity as conquest, men would stop trying to be competitive, dominant, and even violent men might not need to always be on their guard to keep this appearance all the

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1456 Words | 6 Pages

This was formed from years of social views and gender representations in film. Women were often thought of as people who had small roles to play in life and a desire to there working class of men. The males were given heroic and superior roles, usually seen saving the day or doing what it took to support a family as seen in The Searchers where the men had to protect the family in search for their loved ones after the Indians raided the family’s home. In the movie cowboys vs aliens we also had a similar situation where the males had to leave home in search for their enemy. Males are still seen in this way in featured films and females still desired over men with their feminine aspects.

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772 Words | 4 Pages

In 1964, the year Dr Strangelove made its grand debut in theaters, the United States of America was covered by alarming clouds of doubt, fear, and constant dismay. As one may know, the events leading up to the 1960s brought the likelihood of a nuclear holocaust, which instilled fear in the vast majority of the

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729 Words | 3 Pages

Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove satirises the cold war and the actions of politicians during times of worldwide fear. The characters General Jack Ripper and Buck Turgidson reflect the drastically absurd political mindset of America in the 1950’s and 60’s. Strangelove satirises the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction- the notion that a country having more nuclear weapons than their enemy and being able to cataclysmically destroy them, brings peace and safety.

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1798 Words | 8 Pages

According to her the only way to end war is unmaking masculinity. She further adds that this kind of change is already in process through the men who oppose and say no to combat and transform their lives into a new kind of humanity. But the work of Kathleen Barry also has some shortcomings like: - In reality it is very difficult to separate combat ethic from the military’s time immemorial emphasis on face-to-face killing.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Michael Frayn wrote the partly autobiographical novel ‘Spies’ in 2002 to explore what we would have made, as children, of an adult life. During 1940, there was a fixed idea about masculinity. Men that didn’t fight in war felt emasculated as called as chicken or many timid names. Perhaps Mr. Hayward is a comment on the unhealthy effect of this stereotype, which makes men being more aggressive to overcompensate their absent.

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329 Words | 2 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, different constructs of masculinity are defined and explored for significant purposes: to identify stereotypes; to contrast characters that conform to archetypes; and to reveal the consequences of adhering to social norms. In act IV, the juxtaposition between Macbeth–an unfeeling man–and Macduff–a passionate man, exemplifies how emotions power an individual. In the scene, when Ross tells Macduff that his family has been slaughtered, his reaction is full of grief, to which Malcolm responds that he should “dispute it like a man,”(IV.iii.219) or in other words to resist his emotions. However, while Macduff agrees to do so, he points out that “[he] must also feel it as a man”(IV.iii.221) and “play the woman

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661 Words | 3 Pages

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams distinguishes the masculinity and femininity of Blanche and Stanley by establishing the range of emotions and behaviors each character demonstrates during interactions with other people. Throughout the scenes in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams has repeatedly characterized Stanley Kowalski having animalistic behavior and developing masculinity. Initially, Williams depicted Stanley as a white collar everyday individual when Stella shows her sister, Blanche, a picture of Stanley as a Sergeant in the Army. In the beginning of the novel, Stanley was light and playful with Stella, especially when he teased Stella before going to the bowling alley to hang out with his friends.

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1435 Words | 6 Pages

Patriarchal roles given to men in the most important positions of Shakespeare’s time, the government and army, form masculine stereotypes which perpetuate accepted standards of masculine violence. In Titus Andronicus and Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare elicits the expectation of men to establish masculine dominance by perform violent acts, whether achieved in savage or cunning ways, if driven by an accepted motive such as war, revenge, or the defense of one’s honor; in turn, this accepted violence constructs masculinity and patriarchy. The respect and reverence of war heroes in Titus Andronicus form standards of masculinity through violence. Shakespeare begins Titus Andronicus with Saturninus addressing crowd on how he deserves to be emperor

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1834 Words | 8 Pages

This new, painful portrayal of masculinity reflects the brokenness and inner turmoil of soldiers returning from World War I that defined a generation of men. In general, the combination of Valentino and Mathis led to a radically different view of masculinity than in the pre-war

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802 Words | 4 Pages

720). Underpinning mass war rape or rape as political policy (Rittner & Roth, 2012) are “patriarchal gender relations” (Messerschmidt, 2006, p. 708), “hegemonic masculinity” (Mullins, 2009, 730), sexual violence (Burn, 2011; Rittner & Roth, 2012), and competing nationalisms (Messerschmidt, 2006) particularly in country-specific or regional specific armed conflicts in which ethnicity, nationalism, and beliefs in ethnic superiority combined with racism take precedence. In turn, the three-way relationship between nationalism, militarism, and patriarchal masculinity becomes the ideal breeding grounds for genocidal rape (Albanese, 200, p. 1007 as cited in Messerschmidt, 2006, p. 709), leading to the construction of a hierarchy of masculinities (Hunnicutt, 2009). This socially constructed hierarchy of masculinities then serves to justify masculine domination and ethnic superiority over the “Other women, Other men, and the Other nation” (Messerschmidt, 2006, p. 710); thereby, justifying the goal of humiliating and metaphorically castrating or emasculating male members of the targeted population (Mullins,

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2060 Words | 9 Pages

Should women be allowed in combat? Women should be able to serve in combat if men can. I will prove that women are equal to men and they have the strength just like men. People say one of the main reasons they don’t want women in combat, is Physicality. Physicality is a main component in combat, you have to have it to be in it.

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1650 Words | 7 Pages

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb it a film from 1964 that satirizes the Cold War and nuclear war. The perfect mix of comedy and seriousness that never loses focus or becoming boring. Being able to hold a person’s attention can be hard for movies to do, but Dr. Strangelove has the ability to do that with its brilliant directing and acting throughout it. United States Air Force General Jack Ripper who commands an air force base, which controls a certain group of planes, all which hold B-52 bombs. The planes are stationed a few hours from the Soviet Union borders.

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