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Hegemonic Masculinity Essay

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Masculinity has been classified differently depending upon the approach of the researcher. Joanna Bourke outlines the five ways masculinity can be conceptualized, including biological, whereby masculinity is a product of the biological makeup of men; socialization, where masculinity is a result of the “proper” socialization of men; psychoanalytical, whereby differing masculinities are formed as a result of varying socio-historical and cultural environments; discourse, where masculinity is an outcome of discourses; and feminism, where patriarchy not only restricts men but also reinforces the oppression of women. There are multiple versions of masculinity within any ‘one’ social context. Robert Morrell explains, “Boys and men choose how to behave and this choice is made from a number of available repertoires. Such choices are never entirely free, because the available repertoires differ from context to context and because the resources from which masculinity is constructed are unevenly distributed.” Thus, men in …show more content…

Hegemonic masculinity is sometimes used as a free floating concept, in contrast to the original concept given by R.W. Connell. This concept is firmly attached to the peak of the ladder of historically specific kind of masculinities which include subordinate and inferior masculinities. Hegemonic masculinity was not supposed to be normal to some extent; only few men practise it. But it was certainly normative. It embodied the currently most honoured way of being a man, it required men mostly to be guided by it. Ideologically, it legalized the global dominance of men over women. Hegemonic masculinity took place in certain conditions which were open to such a change. Hegemonic masculinity replaced older types of masculinity and became the prominent form of masculinity during the Victorian

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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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In a society where we fight for equal rights all over the world, one would think that the emotional freedom of men and women would not be one. Today, men are still held hostage emotionally and are unable to express themselves without ridicule freely. In the article “Toxic Masculinity,” Callie Zimmerman suggests that males face many hardships simply because they are forced to exhibit a degrading state of manhood (web). Toxic masculinity holds true by pointing out the history of this misconception and providing insight for one to relate, understand and change these views in one’s life. Men are often held to a higher standard than women with masculinity being the most important part of their existence.

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However, this creates tension between hegemonic ideals of masculinity. At the beginning of Reagan’s presidency, males were considered ‘soft’ and thus Reagan endeavoured to bring back ‘traditional’ values of masculinity and gender roles and as such became the ‘masculine archetype of the 1980s’ (Vogel, 2015, p. 464-473). This hegemonic masculinity is defined as a ‘…young, married, urban…employed, of good complexion, weight, and height…’ (Brod & Kaufman, 1994, p.124; Phillips, 2006, p.407)

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The Importance of Masculinity The novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Diaz, is one of the most known books about a dystopian society. Junot Diaz discusses the importance of masculinity in Dominican Republic society. Masculinity is explained as: “All men are influenced by their upbringing, experience, and social environment which play a big role in determining one’s view of masculinity and manhood. This means that masculinity is going to be different for everyone.

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The problem of this understanding of masculinity was that in 19th century even men themselves started to deviate from this norms leaving opportunity for a deeper social

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Connell states that hegemonic masculinity is likely to be established only if there is some correspondence between cultural ideal and institutional power. Using this definition the military men can legitimately make a claim to hegemonic masculinity. As service members they are agents of the state domination, legally vested with the right to use lethal force in order to maintain domination. Similarly, in the case of the Indian army, it may be interesting to see how the army personnel not only represent the ideal masculinity but also use their institutional power in order to establish their masculinity as hegemonic.

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1677 Words | 7 Pages

Part of modern day hegemonic masculinity is sports. Some men are the athletes and some are game statisticians, knowing the numbers and the athlete just to fit in. Sports have been all about what makes a man, since the beginning of my own life I have been a part of hegemonic masculinity through sports. Elementary school sports was where it all started, being part of a massive football school where polarity didn't spawn from who was the most approachable but who could catch, throw, hit, and run the best from an early age. The next step up is High School sports, the ideals of popularity stuck from the early age fourth grade all through out my public schooling.

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“Masculinity as Homophobia” an article by S. Kimmel, that talks about how men these days have the fear of being judged and ranked based on their manhood. There are some arguments that the Professor mentions and uses in his article that supports his argument and some experiences from other people 's perspective in life of men over the years. The author’s main argument is about how men these days are being watched and judged closely based on how they walk, talk, eat, dress, move and look like. The author explains how the world is judging men and how it tries to take that power and that pride of being a man.

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Using the analysis from the film we can then explore and define the ideas behind masculinity to get better insight on this. Americas idea of masculinity is defined within the film as being assertive and constantly showing your strength. I say this because one part of the film the researchers begin to show us a video of a military man and showing us the strength that this man has. They also describe how super heroes are usually packed with muscles and are trying to save the world. So, masculinity could be defined as being strong on the outside and being able to defend yourself as well as defending the people around you while sacrificing your

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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.

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Ethics comes from the Greek: êthos, place where one lives, is what Aristotle called a way of being, character; something that the person can build, mold. The human being can shape his character, his way of being. The individual is not fatally determined to live being always the same; He can then build his way of being, to say it like the Greeks, his êthos. Let us ask now, how can the êthos be shaped? Through the creation of habits, which comes to constitute our way of being.

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Pascoe claims that “masculinizing discourses and practices extend beyond male bodies,” and that the fluid practices, rituals, and discourses that make up masculinity can be enacted by and affect males and females, and a multiplicity of institutions (9). Masculinity and compulsive heterosexuality are immutably linked, creating a reciprocal situation in which boys will assert their masculinity to prove their heterosexual and dominant identity, as well as prove their heterosexual dominance in order to affirm their

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

The Victorian era was one ‘of rapidly shifting ideas of what it was to be a man (and) how one defined one’s masculinity,’ (Conor 10). Therefore the ideas of masculinity were one of re-defining, and new definitions are formed.

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a) The film argues that the major issues and problems created by masculinity occur by telling young boys to “be a man”, and using a “hegemonic” definition to define masculinity. While the film does not focus on the definition of hegemonic masculinity, the masculinity they describe is very much hegemonic in nature. The film describes hyper-masculinity that is defined by domination and aggression. The film focuses on the “mask” of masculinity, which requires boys to hide their true selves, and instead, put up the front of hegemonic masculinity. The film tries to demonstrate that if we let boys express themselves – their feelings, their fears, their issues- they would be healthier humans.

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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.

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