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Masculinities Essay

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Constructing masculinities
Masculinities are the patterns of social practice associated with the position of men in any society’s set of gender relations (Connell, 2005).
Masculinity is not genetic trait that men are born with , rather it is acculturated, composed of social norms of behaviour, which they learn to reproduce in culturally appropriate ways (Beynon, 2002).
Connell, (2005) defines masculinities as the pattern or configuration of social practices linked to the position of men in the gender order, and socially distinguished from practices linked to the position of women. Configuration of practice in everyday life is substantially a social construction.

When concepts of masculinity are addressed by society at a macro level, the focus is on particular traits or characteristics of how males are to act, …show more content…

According to Pleck (1995) masculinity is being referred to, sets of culturally defined principles of masculinity to which men are expected to hold on (Pleck, 1995).
Support of the traditional male roles and norms by individuals, groups and society referred to as the masculinity ideology (Levant, 1995). Thompson and Pleck (1986) noted that a particular collection of dimensions upon which some individuals base their notion of masculinity is masculinity philosophy. However, these dimensions are defined as toughness (in the physical as well as the mental and emotional sense), norms related to status and, finally, the anti-femininity norm. While the dimension of toughness refers to the prospect that men need to be strong, experienced and capable of solving their emotional problems in an appropriate way, the status dimension is defined as labour, economic and professional success, and it is generally associated with a high income (Thompson & Pleck,

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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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