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Masculinity in today's society
Masculinity in today's society
Masculinity in modern society
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Masculinity in today's society
Masculinity in today's society
Masculinity in modern society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
When we talk about masculinity in America today we theorize that violence that happens more often than we like, from mass shootings or crime in general, including rape and murders in the real world and in the virtual thrill world of videogames and movies we find a parallel connection of masculinity as violent. Even though an overwhelming majority of violence is committed by men and boys we as americans rarely connect gender as a major key in violence. But when we lay out the plane lines about culture of violence were almost always hinting that it is a masculine trait that is a taught behavior. The modern society has conjured up the idea of the ideal man, that showing emotions is wrong but one must be charming, seeming smartish but more of an attitude of control showing that manhood has a hierarchy. Weakening the not so tough guy, society giving them labels to show they are outside of the gender binary.
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
Winton uses the characters of Mr Pike and Mr Loon to provide contrasting views on the constructs of masculinity present in Australian society during the 1970s. In Sawyer, there are not many opportunities offered to young Pikelet, but as they are male, they are expected to follow in the footsteps of the other men in town, becoming fishermen or miners. However, a great deal of his masculine identity is shaped by his father’s masculinity. Mr Pike is timid and “naturally subdued” (p12) and as a teenager, Pikelet finds it difficult to relate to him. He is not a strong or inspiring figure and is instead a masculine model who is cautious of the natural world.
“The Myth of the Alpha Male” by Scott Barry Kaufman highlights the historical distinction between the two types of men, ‘alpha’ and ‘beta,’ in order to debunk the ‘persistent myth’ between these dichotomies. Kaufman draws attentions to males and the male societal expectations in a way that challenges the male stereotypes in order to develop a commentary on the cultural paradigm and introduce the concept of the prestigious male. In this piece, Kaufman presents drastic ideas, challenging the two categories of perceived males, ‘alpha’ and ‘beta.’ This is done in order to draw attention to the societal expectations of males and highlight the stereotypes of males.
Jackson Katz’s film Tough Guise 2 seeks to expose how the media promotes a toxic ideology behind what makes a man masculine and show that it is a social construct. For decades print, television, videogames, and film have presented masculinity in a way that makes men think the only way to be manly is to be emotionally unavailable, sexually aggressive, and violent. This ideology has been a curse on culture in America and many other countries around the world. “We're not living in the Wild West. We're not a Third World nation” (Katz).
History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be
If someone asked you what it means to be a man, what would you say? Would you give an example of a person you think is manly like William Wallace? Or would give definitions like strong, courageous, loving, and adventurous? There are countless examples of what people think it means to be a man. God specifically created a man to be manly.
According to Prof. Clatterbaugh and Dr. Whitehead, male behaviors and masculinity are not just a simple product of biological predispositions or genetic coding. All societies around the world have the cultural concept of gender, but some of them do not have the idea of masculinity. The modern usage of masculinity usually describes the behaviors that result from the
The growing rift in today’s polarized political and socio-economic climates beg the question: when did this estrangement begin? Similar to the polarization of the political and socio-economic climates, the polarization between gender values has likewise always been an object of study for scientists. The ideas of gender specific behaviors and attributes have been around for a long time, but the ideas of where they belong are hardly agreed upon. Rhoda Jordan, a spiritual mentor, writer, and actress, speaks of a harmony between values that reside in each person, regardless of gender. In order to have a world that is inclusive and available for all, Jordan argues through the article “The Problem With Masculinity” that this distinction breeds hostility
There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, masculinity is “the assemblage of qualities regarded as characteristic of men.” Yet when people think of the word, a more abstract concept comes to mind. Masculinity has come to be defined as an impassive, strong, brave man, often described as a “real man.” Although masculinity is, by definition, the qualities associated with being male, in the popular imagination, it has come to signify bravery, toughness, and an impassive demeanor. Popular culture has contributed greatly to the perceptions of masculinity in our society.
“On an individual level, we may do gender to experience the rewards and privileges that come from acting in ways consistent with people’s gender expectations.” (pg.94) If a man does masculinity and fulfills the role of the bread-winner, he may expect to come home from a long day at work prop his feet; while his wife or female partner takes care of everything else. “In general, social costs of violating gender norms are not felt evenly by girls and boys, or by women and men.” (pg.94) Society is more accepting of a women who acts masculine than it is of a man who acts feminine.
It seems that men need to be strong and full of energy, and protective not only biologically but in the outside world as well. It is their responsibility to take care of women. It’s like to be successful women you should be better than men. Before Jensen’s essay there’s a quote, “Our behavior is a function of our own selves” (Laing, 1). The way in which we behave totally depends on our experience i.e., what we have observed and what effect does the experience have on ourselves.
Throughout this sociological investigation, the notion of ’’masculinity’’ will be explored, examined and dissected as well as the concept and the idea of what it means to be a man in the eyes of an individual themselves as well as society as a whole. One may note that this investigation will intertwine and relate to the woks of Lorber (1996), Connell (1995) as well as various other pieces of academic literature and research. It is evident to note that further research has been done in the form of a one-on-one live interaction with a Mr Andrew James. This interview will explore the paradigms of what it means to be a man and what is considered to be masculine from the view point of a heterosexual male and thus illustrating the stereotypical thoughts that are associated with what a man ‘’should be.’’ Before one starts to explore to notion of masculinity and what is meant be the term man, one first needs to differentiate and find a distinction between the notion of sex and gender.
Masculinity (also called boyhood, manliness or manhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with boys and men. But the culture doesn’t end at the definition, it starts from there. The first thing to come to mind when the word masculinity is heard is usually a man flexing his gigantic muscles, as the word might sound to suggest, and that right there is the current culture of masculinity because sadly, in the world we live in, not everyone has a “muscular body”. So far we know the concept of masculinity, but the culture is what is truly hampering.