Characteristics Of Hegemonic Masculinity In The Entertainment Industry

Film, television, and the media are a huge part of our culture. Especially in the modern age of technology, it is impossible for us to avoid being exposed it. It is on our phones, computers, and TV. It is our entertainment, a part of our education, and it serves as a reflection of our society. The problem with media, however, is that has the power in manipulating us to feel certain ways. The most problem of which is the way we perceive our own bodies. Leading media industries such as Hollywood sets. An example of the ideal body that we are expected to have in order to look good and be perceived as handsome or beautiful by society, but, behind the scenes, actors and actresses of Hollywood go to extreme lengths in order to attain that ideal look.

The media has become a powerful source for changes in our society. There are so many factors and reasons for our society changing. Today I find most people obsessively worried about their body image. We all have a body and at one time or another, we worry about it. Women and men are both being affected by media sources such as television, advertising, magazines, music, and video games; not to mention the photo manipulation that goes along with it all. Questions can be asked; such as, “Is this the way our society should be leaning [obsessing over our bodies]? What could happen from here? Are there any solutions?”

This research looks at the association of masculinity with violence, racism, power and the objectification of women, which has been around since early civilization. This study also shows how these concepts are still evident today in the media. Masculinity in the media is portrayed as muscular, violent, angry, aggressive, dominant, and warrior like. The rhetoric in media, as it relates to masculinity, has influenced the amount of violence in the world.

Hatfield states, “Fictional television can be seen either as an influence on, or reflection of, culture—the shared norms, values, and beliefs held by a society. Yet many groups exist within a society and multiple value systems may be at play” (p.530). On television and in movies there are very few forms of masculinity shown. The majority of male masculinity usually ranges from gun toting hard asses, to a playboy, to the effeminate man that is often there for comic relief. Men in society do not always fit into these three categories. Masculinity is a much more complex and complicated identity to develop. There are shows like 24 where the main character, Jack Bauer, is a governmental agent going around the world in twenty-four hours to stop terrorism. He is unattached emotionally and highly dangerous. This does not represent a real form of masculinity that we have in today’s culture. There are men that probably do fit into the same category as the fictional character, but they are very unlike the average males in society today. A second common type of masculinity shown on television is the playboy style masculinity: men that have multiple sexual partners and seem to have the ultimate bachelor lifestyle with no worries or concerns. According to Ward, Merriwether, and Caruthers “ because men do not live in isolation, their beliefs about masculinity are likely to influence not only

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

Over time, the perfect body image has changed in many ways. This is very evident in the female sex, especially through media. “Americans spend about 68 hours per week exposed to various forms of media” (US Census Bureau 2009). This media exposure through outlets such as t.v., radio, music videos, movies, and the internet, all influence the way people think about gender. The media influence is very evident in the way people view women and think about women in different cultures. Media influence on women creates negative viewpoints with how women view themselves and even how men view themselves, in turn making it hard to break certain beliefs and stereotypes instilled on society.

In a systemically patriarchal society that encourages and enforces the gender binary, we as a public are conditioned to accept and cooperate with the heteronormative paradigm. Pop-culture and the media are large contributors in the ways in which the gender binary is perpetuated. Gender norms are constantly marketed towards

In the media we see today, and movies that are continually coming out all have a central idea in common. They all show and represent the idealistic perspective of male versus female in society. From cartoons to chick flicks to romances and comedies we notice identifiable differences and trends represented between the two genders. In the movie I watched, “Clueless,” there are many examples illustrating male superiority over female, ideas of what femininity should be, and female appeal towards the male figures in the film.

Jenifer Siebel Newsom’s documentary, The Mask You Live In, is about the struggles young men and boys face while they are figuring out their identity in a stereotyped America. The film highlights the negative psychological and sociological implications that stem from society’s expectations of “masculinity.” According to Dr. Caroline Heldman, masculinity is defined in the U.S. as a rejection of everything feminine. American culture has classified masculinity as a strong, hardened, domineering, powerful, and controlling state of being. There are typically three lies that boys learn at a young age that plant the idea that they have to be masculine. Those lies are 1) You must have superb athletic ability and be fast and buff, 2) in order to be a “true” man, you must have

The “Me” decade of the 70’s experienced a sexual revolution which lead to the emergence of risqué discotheques, sexually fueled lyrics, and allowed for gender-bending artists to come into existence.

For example, the images and celebrities in the media set the standard for what we find attractive. As a result of, leading people to go to dangerous extremes to have the biggest biceps or fit into size 2 jeans. Today, more than 66 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. In the American body, the media idealizes images of the male and female bodies. But, at the same time the media in the form of television, the internet, movies, and print publications is more powerful than before. “We live in a day and age where people make it IMPOSSIBLE for women, men, anyone to embrace themselves exactly how they are. Diversity is sexy! Loving yourself is sexy!” (Strecker, 2015, para. 2).

the winning and holding of power and the formation (and destruction) of social groups in that process” (644) such that it is crucial that the ruling class establishes and maintains its domination. Moreover, it includes persuasion of a big part of the population, especially through the media and the organization of social institutions. Homophobia and heterosexuality form the foundation for hegemonic masculinity and all comprehension of its meaning is predicated “on the feminist insight that in general the relationship of men to women is oppressive” (644). Hegemonic masculinity is grounded in form of the hero and displayed through forms that deal with heroes, e.g., sagas, and westerns, in television, books, and movies (Connell qtd. in Donaldson 646). To define a specific form of masculinity as hegemonic, it is important to note that “its exaltation stabilizes a structure of dominance and oppression in the gender order as a whole” (Connell qtd. in Donaldson 646).

The notion of hegemonic masculinity has altered the field of gender studies and many academic arenas. An idea popularized by R.W. Connell, hegemonic masculinity has played an integral role in the emotional development of American men, articulating the impact that this societal construction has had on the concept of American masculinity. It is a contested topic, yet the impacts that it has in terms of sexuality, struggles for power and political leadership, and gender identities are valid (Connell 830). Although difficult to fully achieve, it acts as a guiding force for the stereotypically masculine. Hegemonic masculinity assumes the subordination of all other forms of masculinity, placing it at the top of the social hierarchy. At the same time, the idea of hegemonic masculinity has served as a bridge between the growing field of men’s’ studies and female studies (Connell 829). Several authors share the premise that men in American society conform to the standards of the social construct of hegemonic masculinity.

If a girl begins to demonstrate some signs of male characteristics, she is referred to as a ‘tom-boy’. It is like a taboo to show such kinds of signs in a girl. On the other hand, if a male does not have masculine features, he is seen as an outcast. All of these perceptions are obtained from the media, and especially televisions and movies. According to Mehta and Hay (2005), media houses have for a long time helped to construct and reinforce stereotypical ideas about masculinity and men. From what is portrayed in the media, it is possible for people to dismiss others on the basis of whether they have masculinity or are feminine (Ferrey, 2008).

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