The Role Of Masculinity In American Society

Throughout the series of stories there is a lot of irony behind what is really being said. Soldiers get lost in their thoughts and try to forget the war for a moment. Lieutenant Cross is the one that keeps the soldiers in line and is in charge of the group, but he also goes through something that weighs him down. "On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending,

Women today are still battling with the stereotypes given to them many years ago. Women are seen as less than men, they are expected to stay home and take care of the children and absolutely never be more successful than a man. They are not supposed to be seen as the hero in a situation because heroes are seen as masculine men, not women. More shows and movies are starting to fight back against these stereotypes. One show in particular, NCIS or the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, portrays women as strong and successful. It gives women a chance to show how confident they can be in themselves and that they can also be considered the hero. NCIS shows through Abby and Ziva that women can be successful and the hero, which provides women with a strong and heroic role model to emulate.

For example, Jimmy Cross utilizes Martha as a distraction to escape his responsibilities of leading the troop through the war. “And then suddenly, without willing it, he was thinking about Martha” (11). By slipping into frequent daydreams, readers realize how his desire for Martha prevents him from acting like a true war sergeant. For instance, when given orders to destroy the tunnels in Than Khe, Cross was thinking about Martha’s virginity. Furthermore it is implied, that Jimmy Cross feelings for Martha is unrequited love. As a result, he fantasizes of there being a relationship more than one-sided love. “...a poet and a virgin and uninvolved, and because she did not love him and never would” (16). His fantasies about her not only served as a diversion from the war, but it also prevented him from developing his leadership skills. While Martha’s primary role in Cross’s mind was to act as a diversion from the traumatic experiences of war, she is also characterized as a type of emotional baggage that caused the death of others. “ He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (16) The thoughts of Martha, was specifical the metaphysical item Cross carried heavily to war to serve as a diversion; however her role hindered him with his duties as a Lieutenant to keep his troop safe and

Jimmy Cross being the immature lieutenant is affected being responsible of his men, and carries much of the war’s burden. Every time one of Cross’s men dies, he experiences deep regrettable feelings that he should have been a better

Masculinity can be defined as the behaviours, social roles, and relations of men within a given society in addition to the meanings that are attributed to them. The term masculinity stresses gender, unlike male, which stresses biological sex. Despite, this we often times see masculinity being represented as directly correlating to men with an inability to adhere to this is shown making you less of a "man". As put by Katz (1999) there is an expectation that men on screen must be void of emotion, not backing down from a fight, tough and an embodiment of the male gaze. Katz (1999) argues that essentially what

In life, everyone has obligations. People have responsibilities they have to tend to everyday, but sometimes there are passions of love or revenge that makes one stop thinking of what their true responsibilities are. For soldiers fighting in war, their responsibility is to take care of their men and make sure no one gets hurt. They fight for their country and protect the men who have become their family. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross went against his honor to protect his men. He let his responsibly go, which caused one of the men in his group to die. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross confronts the demands of the love for Martha, which conflicts with his responsibility in the war, which affects him and the story.

He begins by explaining that Jimmy Cross has an obsession, and her name is Martha. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack” (pg. 1, line 1). Although Jimmy Cross wished they were love letters he would still continue to go crazy about them. ”He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there.” (pg.1, line 9) Jimmy Cross could not wait to see Martha as he continued to constantly have her on his mind. While constantly thinking about Martha, Lavender continues to be briefly mentioned then after, Jimmy Cross starts blaming himself for the death of Lavender, but the platoon knows they must move on, as the emotional effect of this story begins to lean towards the physical state of mind on the war, such as the weapons and explosives. This starts to calm down the narrator and his emotional level, however the constant reminder of not seeing Lavender, triggers his emotions and finally continues to bring up more detail about what happened after the death. This brings out the more emotional side of the story and the narrator explains what Lieutenant Cross thinks about the death of Lavender since he could not stop thinking

In the war, it often thought that soldiers, go to a country to keep peace in that part of the world. Unfortunately that is not always the case;during these tours ,soldiers die everyday from cultural violence,and misguided information by their superiors and in this story that has occurred. Jimmy Cross is characterized as a man who is filled with emotion and the loss of one of his men. “Cross carried a compass, maps,...He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.” (Tim O’Brien pg. 4) Cross felt directly responsible for his men. Death lead Cross to the realization of who Cross truly is, and who he will become. Jimmy Cross has to find himself one way or another, when he is ready to face the truth is completely up to

In the first chapter in the book, titled The Things They Carried, Jimmy Cross is one of the many examples throughout the novel in where a soldier has a way to escape from the realities of war. Cross, who is a lieutenant in his company, carries two photographs of a girl named Martha whom he truly loves and wishes nothing else but to be with her in the end. Along with the photographs, he carries letters from Martha herself as well as her good-luck pebble in his mouth. Martha’s letters has a huge impact on Cross’s escape on reality because those letters do not mention war at all but for him to stay safe. All of these items comforts Cross and eventually reminisce about the times when he was back home with Martha away from any war. He relives a moment when he was with Martha at the movies, and then remembers that he touched her knee but Martha did not approve and pushed his hands away. Now while he’s in Vietnam, he does nothing but fantasizes taking her to her bed, tying her up, and touching that one knee knee all night long.

In the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, Lt. Cross is a young soldier who like many others was drafted into the war. Though he is the leader of the Alpha Company, he doesn’t show it, he is not emotionally nor patriotically devoted. Lt. Cross was distracted from the war that was going on by his feelings for Martha whose letters and photos were a fantasy to him. “Whenever he looked at the photographs, he thought of new things he should’ve done” (O’Brien 470). As the war goes on Cross becomes a dynamic character. The death of Ted Lavender served as a reality check to Lt. Cross and he began to

Masculinity is not a single-definition trait; it relies on an ever-changing spectrum which can never be truly measured because of all the different factors having to be considered. The “manly” man of the 1800’s, who’s emotions were hidden to display strength, would no longer be considered the “ideal” male in society. As shown in the ads of Suistudio; feminist ideals have permeated into the “thick coating” of the masculine archetype. No longer is “femininity” in need of the male protectorate as a sturdy platform to build a steady life on in an ever-changing world, for they are becoming one in the same. Suistudio’s recent ad campaign shows that preferred-masculinity is changing from its traditional firmness to a strength shown by a man’s emotional comfort within an evolving world while protruding the outward appearance of physical health.

Like Celie, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross continues to struggle with his past. Despite Jimmy’s emotions hindering his judgement and his ability to stay focused, Lieutenant Cross is still a strong soldier because he is enduring the phycological weight of war. . It takes a strong man to be actively fighting a war for his country. However, being madly in love with his crush Martha is negatively affecting his ability to lead his battalion of men in the Vietnam. Cross’ love for Martha made him feel “paralyzed.” (302) Because of Lieutenant Jimmy’s mentally emotional love, he is not able to physically lead. Lieutenant Cross’s lack of attentiveness results in Ted Lavender a soldier in cross platoon to die. Soldiers see the dead and wounded members of allies,

‘All men are afraid in battle,’ said General Patton. ‘The coward is the one who lets fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.’ How do Pat Barker and Kurt Vonnegut address the theme of masculinity in war?

Our society refuses to give men a chance to be themselves and to be connected with their families. Society’s roles have been described by Mahler as “in our culture, the values associated with masculinity require that male children renounce their ties to the mother and reject dependence and neediness” (23). Society’s expectation about a man is to be independent and self-sufficient. Men has to hide to all their emotions and suffer, because the society wants the men to be strong, mentally and physically. Often time, men never understands the pain that their family go through because of their disconnection with their family. As a society, we have to accept the fact that men don’t have to live certain lifestyle to prove their manliness. To make changes in the life of men, our society needs to redefine the male role.

Cynthia Enloe’s concepts in Masculinity as a Foreign Policy Issue highlight a deeper problem reflecting the systematic separation of sexes and its’ impact on international affairs. Enloe claims that “Stalling progress towards bringing feminist analyses into foreign policy decision-making processes has been the conventionally naïve belief that international affairs – trade, immigration, high tech weapons dales – have nothing to do with gender. They do.” Feminist movement in 70’s and 80’s have had a profound impact on formulating final decisions regarding our involvement in wars in Southeast Asia for instance, so deeming international affairs as gender exclusive is a conscious choice which is only hindering peace prospects on global scale.