A Different Kind of Masculine
According to the Oxford dictionary, masculinity is defined as possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men: "handsome, muscled, and driven, he 's a prime example of masculinity" synonyms: virility, manliness, maleness, machismo, vigor, strength, muscularity, ruggedness, robustness, testosterone. Today masculinity encompasses more synonyms perhaps but not too many. Boys are still teased for letting their mothers kiss them, preferring the cello to football, writing poetry instead of not writing at all. This definition leaves out a whole range of men sensitive or not. This definition is putting men into a narrow category that needs to change. The fight for feminism is still being fought and has
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Whether right or not these stories are what young men have as examples of what to be. Masculine culture has warped the attitudes of boys for centuries giving them one path to follow on their way to manhood. Ireland is famous for its rich folklore and stories. One of the most popular is that of the war hero and god-like masculine Cu Cúchulainn. During a great battle with his kinsman and army he is gravely wounded. He is gutted and his entrails lay before him on the ground. He knew he was going to die but did not want to die lying down. As legend goes Cuchalainn put his bowels back into body and tied himself to a boulder in order to finish the fight and die on his feet. The story of Cuchilainn’s death is just one of many like it representing brave strong Irish men that would continue to give Irish boys a figure of excellence to aspire to. There are plenty of tales of super heroes, war heroes, knights and men doing masculine chores but men who discover create and teach seem to be overlooked and cast aside as feminine.
Stories and literature of the time was written by telling events to drive the story onward. For example in the story of Cuchalainn’s death, each action of the story lead up the his actual fall and death. It was rare to read a novel driven by thought and emotion. James Joyce was part of the early modernist movement of the twentieth century. A prominent characteristic of this movement involved rejecting the
Historically, masculinity in the United States has been constructed as being White Protestant Anglo-Saxon, furthermore heterosexual and in charge of all matters, and this definition sets standards against which other men are measured an evaluated. Michael Kimmel provides a good definition:
The definition of masculinity; Is the fact of being a man or having qualities considered typical of a man.
The traditional definition of masculinity include such qualities as independence, pride, resiliency, self control and physical strength. It can be change into qualities such as competitiveness, toughness, aggressiveness and power. For example, he says that the boy who doesn’t show these qualities and might be called a “fag”. The boy is most likely becoming aware of having feminine qualities.
1. In “Many Boys Today Define Masculinity Negatively”, the author Leonard Sax writes about how the meaning of masculinity has become redefined in a negative way. Sax states that the phrase “Be a man!” didn’t always mean to not be feminine, the phrase originally meant to be courteous, respectful, and competent. The original intention of this phrase to have boys emulate the wholesome family men in popular culture but in recent years the men portrayed in pop culture have become less principled. This change in role models has led masculinity to be seen as a negative aspect in society today. Sax believes that the best solution for this issue is to give young boys the guidance they need by connecting them with gentlemen from past generations who actually learned what it meant to be a man.
The concept of masculinity has been around for an eminently long time. However, the qualifications for being
What do you think is masculine? Masculinity is somethings that can greatly be changed depending on a person's viewpoint. For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus has a very different approach for being masculine and being someone somebody can look up to. Seeing as Atticus has a good shot but doesn’t use it and uses other methods such as knowledge and fairness rather than stubbornness or racism to condemn someone. This idea of being masculine in another way is looked down upon my many people and you might agree, however, Atticus shows us in many ways that this way of taking on things is a lot more mature and respectable than the old strong brute that the town thinks is masculine. Throughout the story, Atticus and Tom Robinson try to act different and shows us how change is difficult to accept, being alone is something that affects people greatly, and even how change can affect those around a community.
What is masculinity? Answers may vary depending on who you may ask, C.J. Pascoe’s ethnography titled Dude, You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School targets high school as being the important location where the term masculinity is asserted, defended and defined by the students who roam the halls of River High. High school is a difficult time for anyone, especially when we bring up the ideals of sexuality and gender identity, all topics which are explored in this ethnography. Pascoe spent around eighteen months of fieldwork in the racially diverse working middle-class River High School. Dude You’re A Fag sheds a new light on masculinity as a meaning as well as a set of social practices. C. J. Pascoe 's unconventional approach examines masculinity as not only a gendered process but also a sexual one. Pascoe demonstrates how the threat of the word fag becomes a disciplinary mechanism for regulating heterosexual as well as homosexual boys and how the "fag discourse" is as much tied to gender as it is to sexuality.
Cultural attitudes towards masculinity have transformed in recent years. Boys are taught the “values” of this attitude early on and it is reinforced throughout their lives. As a result of these changes, the pressure to display and assert one’s masculinity has been amplified. The “traditional” definition of masculinity requires males to establish homophobic attitudes, be clean shaven anywhere below the neck (much like women) and have rippling muscles. These expectations can greatly affect a boy’s self-esteem and well-being as he is growing up in a society that is increasingly obsessing over the concept of the “ideal man.”
What defines masculinity is the traits and values that are considered to characterise the male gender at any given time. Consequently, the definition of masculinity keeps changing as people change their views of what characteristics a man should require. The biggest influence of the definition of masculinity is media. It is where we receive information about what is “normal” and “cool”. Films and television shows have a huge impact on how we view the world and they can alter our opinions on different topics.
What makes a man, a “man”? Is it how much money he makes? The car he drives? The life he lives? Or, the amount of “Masculinity” that he shows? These are some of the stereotypical question that becomes the ideas of what men should have or strive to achieve. In Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, they bring forth the ideas/thought of what the characteristic of men should be, by the overly influential control Disney and Pixar have on us and our future generation. Similar to what Matthew Immergut, in his article Manscaping: The Tangle of Nature, Culture and the Male Body, they both share ideas on the thought of man. The argument addressed in the question is either the way we view masculinity should be changed or not to determine us as men. In which the answer is, yes it should. Male or man, is a gender identity which show/ categorize, us separate from our female counterpart, Female or woman. But then are criticized on their place a “males” by getting in situation the emasculate them. Just because men independent or allowing for help, either overly sensitive or possess a lack of emotion, or whether or not “he” shaves his body or not should deter what the worlds thought on his masculinity
All men have some so-called feminine traits. Masculinity has certain characteristics assigned to it by our culture. Men are primarily socialized into believing certain characteristics are definitive in determining their manliness and masculinity. These characteristics range from not crying when they get hurt to playing violently. Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender.
Plenty of times, women face countless unavoidable stereotypes. Everything ranging from their hair to their toes is grounds for ridicule, but that’s only the appearance portion. Issues like motherhood, marriage and pregnancy, are just some of the areas that they face; but, what about men? Surely men must have a set of stigmas that we face. Father-hood, demeanors and “grooming”; just to name a few. But, is masculinity truly challenged by these thoughts or is it just an acceptable redefinition?
The well-known concepts of masculinity and femininity run rampant in our society. We live in a world where men are told to be masculine, women are told to be feminine and those who do not do as they are told, will suffer the societal consequences.
Standards of masculinity vary from time to time, from culture to culture. However, masculinity always defines itself as superior and different from femininity. For example, gay men and househusbands exemplify "subordinate" masculinities in our culture. They are not considered to be "real
Masculinity is also different along intersectional lines of race. It is not a overgeneralization that all men have to follow the same masculine identity or they are not considered masculine men. In the chapter Dude You’re a Fag written by C.J. Pascoe, he goes to a high school where the term “fag” is being thrown around loosely among the male sex of the school. However, this is more dominantly seen in the cis-white men of the school and not their African American counterparts. With being a man