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Masculinity And Femininity Essay

1194 Words5 Pages

Closely related to the idea of gender is the idea of masculinity and femininity. Masculinities can be defined as innate qualities that differ a male from a female however, it translates into culture in the form of specific roles and performances which men have to perform or it is imposed on them (Cornwall, 2010). In abstract terms, masculinity can be understood as something which boys and men do and on the similar lines femininity can also be understood i.e. what women and girls do, more so what women and girls learn to do (Paechter, 2006 and Wesely, 2012). These roles may assign a higher status to men in the power hierarchy irrespective of the fact whether they feel powerful or not. Men in this sense may also feel the pressure of masculinity i.e. they have to engage in a …show more content…

The concept of hegemonic masculinity has also been related to ambition, strength and self reliance amongst men which is not encouraged amongst women. Hegemonic masculinity also tries to promote a certain kind of body regime for men which endorse highly muscled and tough bodies (Buchbinder, 2012). There are other scholars who have tried to unpack the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Kimmel & Amy (2008) view hegemonic masculinity as a collective of some specific characteristics possessed by a man. The one who does not have it is considered unworthy or inferior. The concept of hegemonic masculinity has been widely applied to understand the behavioural patterns amongst boys and men. It has been used to study the patterns of classroom life including resistance and bullying amongst boys and the role of teacher in such circumstances. It has also been used in criminology to understand why men or boys commit heinous crimes. The media representation of men is another field in which the concept of hegemonic masculinity is widely used to understand behaviour of men in body contact confrontational sports and the related

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