Theme Of Masculinity In Daniel James Brown's The Boys In The Boat

In 1936, just being a man did not fit the idea of what masculinity was, there was more. In Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat (2013), the reader relives the moments leading up to, and through the Berlin Olympics. The reader visualize events through the eyes of a grief-stricken Joe Rantz, who uses rowing as his way of sheer survival. Brown’s characterization of Joe implies that he was seen by others as this masculine male. Brown’s description of Al Ulbrickson, head coach of the University of Washington’s rowing team, also insinuates the same notion. In this era, the majority of people believed that showing no vulnerabilities, and being a strong person meant one was masculine. The amount of emphasis placed on Rantz and Ulbrickson’s personalities,

All of Joe Rantz life, he was constantly let down by those around him, especially his own family. However, he never let his feelings be revealed due to his desire to keep his reputation for being masculine alive. Because of this, many people including his own girlfriend, Joyce Sindars viewed him as this impassive and impenetrable person: “ ‘I just don’t understand why you don’t get angry Joe’... ‘It takes energy to get angry … When they left, it took everything I had in me just to survive. Now I have to stay focused. I’ve just gotta take care of it myself.’”(134). Joe feels as though evoking of feelings of anger, would only do more damage than good. He does not want to be hurt more, so his best option was to keep this all inside: “Joe realized, he answered hesitantly, cautiously, unused to unveiling himself”(219). Joe Rantz has never allowed himself to fully expose who he is to people. He fears that if he does people would be able to capitalize on it. The fear of having your vulnerabilities capitalized on stems from people, especially Joe’s coach exploiting every hint of weakness he could find. Along with hating the idea of being taken advantage of, he also believes he will be seen as inferior by those around him. Men who commonly expressed their emotion were looked down upon for being more feminine than masculine. While showing no real vulnerabilities, one must also be mentally and

Al Ulbrickson rarely ever let things get to his head, evoking a very invincible-like personality. Prior to him coaching rowing at the University of Washington, he was very a successful rower, who competed at the collegiate level. Al is most commonly known for holding in his emotions in situations where they are expected to show. It was towards the end of the race, and the American boat is behind all the other boats:” On the balcony next door, Al Ulbrickson stood emotionless, expressionless, a cigarette in his mouth. He fully expected to see Don Hume’s pitch forward over his oar at any moment”(349). Al Ulbrickson was placed in a situation where panicking was fully expected, instead he chose to not let his inner emotions of anxiety show. His reasoning for doing this could be pointed to his desire to be seen as a superior masculine male. Nevertheless, while being impenetrable and strong could portray someone as masculine, it also restricts people from experiencing moments in life without