Construction Of Masculinity

Society’s current structure of masculinity is unforgiving in form. It cuts out other forms of masculinity, it physically and mentally demanding, and its ill effects extend far beyond the men it infuses itself in. Yet what would we do if we were given other options for masculinity, ones that allowed for unique blends of attitudes and perceptions? Looking in to the lives of homeless men we can see the forced strategies which create new masculine codes created for the adaption against patriarchal pressures. They are made out of survival need to circumnavigate the painful mental and physical reality that is only made worse by harsh masculine standards. Yet these new masculinities hold out a form of hopefulness for society. They offer up new discussion to what it means to be a man, the potential for change, and what we can expect from changes in male identity over time. Using what we learn from the disadvantaged, we can hope to improve the lives of people, although the process will take time, effort, and careful mediation.

To read Babio without recognizing the gender politics at work in the play would disregard much of how the play itself creates meaning. So much of the play’s plot and character dynamics are related to the way gender functions in this play. One major theme of Babio is the idea of masculinity and how masculinity is defined. Through the portrayal of Babio as an effeminate character, Babio is able to define masculinity through absences in Babio’s Character. Consequently, Babio makes the additional point that lovesickness is not an intrinsic aspect of medieval masculinity, despite the fact that love sickness is often attributed to men.

Looking tough, sagging your pants, big muscles, baritone voices, and being homophobia do not characterized what masculinity is. Masculinity is biologically constructed and consists of traits such as aggressiveness, non-emotional, competitiveness, and tough skinned, strong, and hard. However, over the decades of our time, men that are queers (homosexual man) have now been identified as “queering masculinity”. Men such as; Ellyn Harris, best selling open gay author, Alvin Ailey, CEO and founder of the, American Dance Theatre in New York City, Langston Hughes, famous African American Poet, James Baldwin, civil rights activist and author of, “Go Tell it on the Mountain”, and the “Fashion Queen” himself, Mr. Andre Leon Talley, former editor and chief of Vogue magazine. These philanthropic men have all been influential in our societies and communities. Their pioneer abilities has transcended them as visionaries and are the voices through the lens of, “Queering Masculinity: Manhood and Black Gay Men in College”. Which is also known as “BGMUs”. This was a qualitative study that explored the lives and experiences of BGMUs’ and how they identified with masculinity and manhood affecting them socially and academically.

Patriarchy, a system in which the father or eldest male is head of the family, has defined manhood ever since the American Revolution. "Men were socialized to think of themselves as breadwinners,” providing for the family’s physical, and financial needs and “women with the round of cooking, house cleaning, and mending,” performing all the domestic chores, including child-care. This difference was essential in creating an image of the Ideal American man. However, the Great Depression heavily challenged and complicated this culture of masculinity. The stock market crash wiped investments clean, businesses failed to function and

The idea that manhood represents a fixed, inevitable; some natural state of being is a myth. It is a twist in its origin: Men created the concept of “masculinity” in order to cage himself in it. What became a norm for “masculinity” in a society is largely a made cultural frame, not something a male’s shared trait. One way to understand the

A cowboy, the strong and silent “man’s man” is the iconic figure of masculinity. The same cowboy also has a certain fragileness. The perception of a man usually does not reveal the fragile side. However, Gretel Ehrlich reveals this underlying soft side of cowboys in About Men (1985), and Paul Theroux explains in Being a Man (1985) that the idea of manhood is pitiful because there is a fragile side to every man.

The school principal and assistant school principal from South Forrest Attendance Center met with Tristen and his teacher after comments made to her. Ms. Bailey stated during the meeting, Tristen told them he is not allowed to say the word "mom" at home or Gina will go to jail or the family will have to find a new place to stay; Tristen told the reporter Gina is not suppose to be in the home. According to the reporter, if Tristen or his brothers tell anyone Gina is in the home, their father will whip them with a belt or wooden back scratcher. The reporter stated she was told that law enforcement has been involved with the family and Mr. Landrum is hiding Gina. Per the reporter, on 04/16/16, Bradford watched dirty movies; the movies had women and men acting in a sexual manner.

Since the day you’re born, society has told you what you can and cannot play with, wear, and even say.The United States has designed an unrealistic definition of American masculinity. For men, society has told them how they are to fit into society’s mold of masculinity. They are bombarded with rules and restrictions, and are told that if they do not conform to fit the picture of the ideal man, they are deemed “different”, a misfit. Being a “real” man has never been harder, and many people and companies are starting to see that. In recent news, Mattel, the worldwide company that is behind the Barbie doll, is a symbol for young girls and feminism. Recently, the Barbie company has embraced that not only young girls like to play with their dolls but also boys can enjoy them without feeling like their masculinity is being challenged. They released their first commercial that features a boy playing with their newest barbie, “Moschino Barbie.” Their ad allows men of all ages to change the way society defines their masculinity through changing the way “female” activities are viewed. Boys are born loving creatures, but at a very young age they are taught the traits, diminutive language, and mindset that aligns them with society’s concept of what it means to be a man.

“Masc for masc” (masculine looking for masculine) and “straight acting” (not being seen as a stereotype and being able to be excepted by heterosexual men) are terms used by Gay men to classify the type of man they are looking for in a partner; actively rejecting and devaluing femininity and upholding the hegemonic view of masculinity. Therefor I am researching the “how do gay and straight Latinos construct their masculinity?” Straight men deem anything feminine as less than, thus gay men are ousted. This ousting of gay men is a byproduct of heterosexism in which a men only date women and vice versa, thus gay men are seen as effeminate for the sole reason of dating other men. In an attempt to reclaim their lost masculinity gay men are rejecting effeminate men in an attempt to be seen as “one of the good gays”. The traits of reclaiming what gay Latinos feel is lost is strongly tied to femiphobia, internalized homophobia, and toxic masculinity. Gay men want to be seen as “normal” and “just one of the guys” at the cost of their fellow gay men’s humanity and manhood. They want to be seen as the “good gay” which I define as a gay man that wants to be removed from the stereotype and behaves and present as “straight” I want to investigate how gay Latinos specifically construct their masculinity and if they are contracting it based on their straight counterparts. It is important to distinguish how important masculinity is to Latin men specifically gay Latinos and see if a

Masculinity is a topic that has been debated in society quite often. Many wonder what is means to be masculine and if there can truly be one definition to a term that can vary so widely. Traditional masculinity has certain characteristics assigned to it such as strength, power, control, to be tough, and show no emotion, etc. These traits and thus masculinity have been traditionally assigned to the male body as “the male body is the most common purveyor of masculinity, but that does not mean that masculinity is entirely contained within the male body” (Reeser 17). While the male body might appear to be the most natural element of masculinity “masculinity has no natural attachment to the male body, even if is it commonly considered a male belonging” (Reeser 131). Transgender men, individuals who have transitioned or in the process of transitioning from female to male, embrace cultural ideals of masculinity as a means of being accepted into society as male. In this sense, masculinity can be perceived as a performance that transgender men give in order to successfully move through the world as male. Masculinity offers a sort of camouflage that allows transgender men to function as men without having to reveal their transgender status. The camouflage that embracing traditional ideal of masculinity and visibly passing as cisgender allows a sense of relief and safety for transgender men. This essay will examine how transgender men perform masculinity as crucial aspect

‘True’ masculinity follows a rulebook that explains appropriate male behaviour, especially in contemporary media. Craig (1992) states that the media does not give permission for ‘alternative interpretations of reality’. The beer industry relies on white males to interpret the reality that they wish the public to see. The stereotype of the ‘man’s man’ is utilized to attract a mainstream, predominantly male target audience. Alternative social types – sensitive men, homosexual men, and househusbands – are excluded from these premises. Beer advertisements are thus said to be a ‘manual on masculinity’ (Craig, 1992, p78). Men are often portrayed in a group drinking beer, never alone: they are part of a membership. To become a part of that community,

Masculinity is a topic that has been debated in today’s society extensively. It is defined as consisting of a certain types of behavior, languages and practices which exists in a specific cultural and organizational locations, which are commonly associated with males, thus culturally defined as not being feminine. In popular literature, movies, television, advertising, music and other form of American commercial entertainment, the Western genre has been governed by the traditional male ‘hero’ and its masculine stereotypes. Cowboy has been constructed as the epitome of what is supposedly are archetypal American values of masculinity. The central place of the cowboy in the dominant ideology of gender and what amounts to the civil religion of

What was the most surprising thing you've learned from the readings about masculinities in the past? Do you see traces of these older models of masculinity still around today?

In society, ‘being a man means not being like women’ (Brod, H., & Kaufman, M. (1994). However, the definition of masculinity tends to fluctuate in value. Culture determines what it means to be male or female. It is an essentialist claim about gender: certain behaviours and personality attributes are associated to each gender and thus become what is considered ‘appropriate’. Masculinity is a social construction where the ‘foundation may be biological but the structure is manmade’ (Craig. S, 1992, p79) Nevertheless, masculinity is subject to change over time. Problems with the concept arise form issues of difference and variety. There are studies that have demonstrated historical societies and situations when masculinity is not present as a

Connell (2000) argued that masculinities are multiple, thus differ from place to place, Connell advances by suggesting that masculinities are socially constructed, therefore cannot be fixed. This shows the complexity of what masculinity is, thus how can masculinity be in crisis if there is no fixed meaning. Realisation that masculinities are being socially constructed can be dated back to the psychoanalysis work of Freud, thus the   social-psychological concept, which is the sex role (Connell,2001) the "male sex role”. Connell (2001) argued that the sex role, emphasises the correct norms and roles for male behaviour. West and Zimmerman (1987) “Doing gender” explains that masculinity is not something that boys and men have happen to them, rather, it is something that they do, therefore through socialisation. Academics such as clatterbaugh (1998), argue that the term masculinity is itself an issue, as he suggests there are seven ways in which masculinity can be used. Clatterbaugh (1998) suggests that one of these is the cultural norms and beliefs and what masculine should be, this is advanced by Flood (2002). Flood (2002) agrees that politicians and academic alike are unsure what masculinity is,