Analyzing Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, And Nite Owl

More often than not, analyses of John Rollin Ridge’s Joaquín Murieta interpret the novel as a demonstration of male bravery, and regard the female characters as counterparts that exist to remind the violent men of their humanity. However, an analysis that only considers women for their roles as sentimental beings is one that fails to detect their true significance in the work. Instead, it is essential to recognize that the female characters of the novel diverge from traditional, confining expectations of womanhood, and embody traits of masculinity as a response to their social situations.

The emphasis of these characteristics coupled with the prevalence and narrative authority of superheroes constitute a type of hegemonic masculinity, defined as the “culturally exalted form of masculinity,” which is linked to institutional power and the subjugation of women (Aulette and Wittner 527). Hegemonic masculinity suggests that there is one correct way to hold power, and that it is hypermasculine, a standard reinforced by dominant trends in comic book portrayals of superheroes. Any grand deviation from these stringent ideals creates a subordinated masculinity, one that challenges the dominant narrative of hypermasculinity, though often throwing into question the identity of the man in question (8). On the surface, the characters in Watchmen seem to bend to these ideals, but as each of them lack or challenge key aspects of hypermasculinity they serve to question both its importance and the misogynistic basis of hegemonic masculinity.

Superheroes can be defined in many ways by many experts. Clare Pitkethly’s academic background consists of comparative literature, culture and communication as she also speaks and writes comic books and superhero, defines a superhero to be different. In Pitkethly’s article “Straddling a Boundary: The Superhero and the Incorporation of Difference,” talks about

breakdown of how society views what it is meant to be masculine and feminine. He bases them upon

The concept of femininity and masculinity is mentioned many times throughout the essay to highlight it

The representation of diverse people and experiences in comics is important to expand the thoughts and minds of readers. Yang and Wilson, the minds behind American Born Chinese and Ms. Marvel, use the medium of comic books and graphic novels to help bring a new sense of belonging and acceptance to marginalized people. They do this by applying a “millennial mindset” to their respective stories. What this means is that the characters they have created, whether they are based off real people or are fiction, address the problems of race, religion, or sexuality that we are facing today. These characters also act to threaten the current atmosphere of the comic book industry. Typical comic book characters and superheroes, before now, were mostly white and from a typical American background. Heroes that were women were generally over-sexualized and unrealistic. These two authors hope to challenge the current status quo of the comic book industry by creating characters whose background is much different than previous superheroes.

The Rorschach inkblot test is one of the most widely known psychological projective test of personality, and the most controversial. In general, projective tests are psychoanalytically based tools that assist clients to reveal their unconscious conflicts via responses towards ambiguous stimuli, and can also help psychologists to determine psychological disorders. Specifically, the Rorschach allows individuals to interpret a series of abstract inkblots based on their emotional and cognitive function, as well as interaction (Barlow & Durand, 2009).

In a society plagued by misogynistic and sexist overtones and beliefs, many have fabricated preconceived ideas on the right and wrong ways a person should act depending on a socially constructed gender. In Dr. Kathleen Young’s words, “Our culture over-values men and masculinity and devalues women and femininity in ways that are destructive for us all” (“Tough Guise”). This is the story of Jax, a fictitious character whose life is used to outline the hypermasculinity and sexist ideals pressured onto boys and young men by society and the effects of these pressures on them. Note that the reactions and end result may be stressed for dramatization, but are not wholly unrealistic outcomes.

Hegemonic masculinity is Mr. Dalton (white, middle class (and above), over 35, married, heterosexual, college educated) he is control of the woman and demands the force of hegemony on women. Jan and Max have the characteristics of what determines as a “man” however, he chooses to go against it and fights for communism. They express the Marginalized masculinity (everything of a hegemonic male but one factor is missing, usually race). In this case, they are missing the factor of supporting capitalism. Max in particular uses his knowledge to emasculate characters especially in the court scene. Subordinate male is the total opposite of the hegemonic man, he is the ”woos” and have all the characteristics opposite of the hegemonic male. Bigger performs different forms of masculinities based on his environment. This is a form of psychology that they act differently around different people. Bigger for example acts differently around his black friends, he’s comfortable, loud and boisterous around his friends, yet when he is around Mr. and Mrs. Dalton and he is unable to have an identity and he fits what they want him to, he is emasculated by them. Similarly when he is around Mary and Jan, they are in support and want him to feel comfortable, but because of society emasculating him, his masculinity is defined for him when he is in certain situations like this.

Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her

In the article, Bros Before Hos by Kimmel he discusses how the most important thing to a man is their masculinity and how it is defined. They define their manhood by three key concepts: the culture of entitlement, silence, and protection. This also consists of a collection of attitudes, traits, and values that contribute to what it means to be a man. This is called “The Bro Code.” In this essay I will be explaining the concept of “The Bro Code” and how it relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love on many levels, and how the main male characters in Crazy, Stupid Love show their matrix of masculinity. Furthermore, I am going to be explaining how Bros Before Hos relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love, and how it explains masculinity and what a man

As Judith Butler once said, “Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.” Throughout history and even today, being too masculine and being too feminine affects society's views on people. Individuals can’t be too much of one thing or they will ultimately be judged. Throughout, City of Thieves, characters are illustrated as withholding subversions and conformations to the established gender roles. Consequently, David Benioff uses City of Thieves to illustrate subverting and conforming gender roles through the main characters, Kolya, Lev, and Vika.

Author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”. When one thinks of comic books, it is very likely that the subjects that come to mind are Marvel’s Spiderman or DC’s Batman. Although comic books are stereotypically thought to be mainly about super heroes, there are a wide variety of subject matter they could be written about, such as romance. In the 1950s – 1960s, it was common for these romance comics to exploit the social norms of that time and emphasized the subject of gender roles. While the men in comic books were usually illustrated in a brave heroic manner, the women would be portrayed to be what would now be considered a stereotypical “trophy wife”. As a young child reading these comics and taking in these images, they are slowly molding their ideals to believe that what they are reading and seeing is what is accepted and normal in their society. By coding gender norms into the texts, authors are helping mold the ideology of its readers to believe that it is acceptable for both genders to follow specific rules that accommodate to the believed social norms of the time.

The Rorschach is a projective personality test, which measures personality functioning and assess personality structure. This instrument was published originally in 1921 by Rorschach. Although there were inkblot tests existed prior to the Rorschach, this was the first empirically based system. The assessor interprets the client’s responses to 10 bilaterally symmetrical inkblot images (Groth-Marnat, 2009). The images are ambiguous and non-figurative in nature. Some of the images are in black and white and others contain colors. The Rorschach differs from other projective tests such as Thematic Appercepetion test (TAT). The Rorschach is known as a type of associative or structural technique whereas TAT is a type of construction technique (Campos, 2011). The scoring of responses is done according to the location (or the

Masculinity, a seemingly simple concept. Yet, when examined more closely, it is clear that masculinity is constantly changing in its definition as well as in its most basic essence. Throughout the years, one can see this evolution firsthand by looking back at the men who have been portrayed in popular media in the United States of America. From the suave Don Draper types of the 1950s to the more casual, educated, and easygoing men- with perfectly chiseled abs, of course- that are portrayed in media today, the difference is clear. This drastic, yet unsurprising, shift in ideals, as well as the exponential increase of media consumed every day, has led to a change in how “masculinity” is perceived, as well as how it is enforced by society in the modern day. Alarmingly, this trend has led to the birth of so-called “toxic masculinity”, a bastardization of the original ideas behind masculinity which has created an enormous, detrimental effect on society as a whole. As defined in the article The Difference Between Toxic Masculinity and Being a Man, toxic masculinity is “manhood as defined by violence, sex, status, and aggression. It’s the cultural ideal of manliness, where strength is everything… where sex and brutality are yardsticks by which men are measured,” (O’Malley) This is a clearly displayed truth, and it’s astounding to see how even from a young age boys are taught not to show emotions other than anger, conditioned to believe that being “like a girl” is the worst possible