Male Masculinity : Gender Roles

A gender stereotype is a generalized view or perception about characteristics that are or should be possessed by, or the roles that are or should be performed by women and men. A gender stereotype is harmful and can lessen women when it limits their capacity to develop their personal abilities, chase their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans. The obvious biological form of men and women arise the challenge of the hidden language metaphors in science. While women have begun to earn acceptance in the workforce in the past decades, men have not yet seen societal acceptance in politics, let alone as caregivers and homemakers. Gender roles exist exclusively because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are supported by the media.

As we have seen gender stereotypes and the subsequent gender roles which they encourage can often serve a good purpose but they do become problematic when the lines are blurred and we can no longer distinguish between nature and nurture.

In 2014, twenty-four-year-old football player, Michael Sam, was the first openly gay man to be drafted into the NFL. The country rejoiced at the fact that not all gay men were “sissies”. The feminine man stereotype is perceived as bad and negative; yet, most gay men have most likely had at least one “feminine” experience. However, no one knows why, exactly, that is. Why is it that there is a very evident stereotype that all gay men, do traditionally feminine things? Even more so, why is that stereotype mostly true? Where does this stereotype come from? And finally, why is there such a negative stigma? The feminine gay man stereotype has lived on for centuries, and will most likely continue for many more. It is

As I grew up, my childhood was heavily surrounded in a boy's world where all of my cousins and my two younger siblings were all males. A household full of males taught me to embrace the "masculine" way of life because at a young age I was exposed to sports and play fighting as a way of displaying strength and superiority. On the other hand, part of embracing the masculinity of being a male also meant respecting females -- a lesson that was taught to me by my mom. In addition, Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes by Aaron Devor stated, "The clusters of social definitions used to identify persons by gender are collectively known as femininity and masculinity."(505) It is said that gender roles is characterized with great differences and both genders

Per Ismail Aysad Güdekli (2014), “[a]dvertisements have been criticized for showing woman as a stereotype for years and as a result creating difficulty in understanding the changing role of women by society” (p. 3, para. 2). Characteristics that attribute to this stereotype include, but are not limited to, being: size zero, large chest, flawless skin, weak, clumsy, dumb, helpless, sex objects, and overall just lesser than their male counterpart. Natalie Peters, Lucie Holmgreen, and Debra Oswald (2015), stated that it advertisers frequently use stereotypes due to a lack of time and space, and that stereotypes allow for the most basic information to be transmitted to the audience. They also found that “stereotyped depictions of women in advertisements are often effective marketing strategies . . . [an example being that] advertisements portraying women with communal traits (e.g., holding an infant) were evaluated more positively than were advertisements portraying agentic women (e.g., businesswomen)” (p. 161, para. 2). To summarize the Peters et al. article, advertisers use stereotypes and humor towards the portrayal of women because it results in effective campaigns; people have continually responded to it. It results in an over-saturation of the general advertising market with images of women being shown in a poor light. This is

Firstly, one of the aspects of gender role is the distinction of roles based on masculinity and femininity or sex and gender. Before Blanche’s arrival, for Stanley being the masculine and the head of the house who is in absolute control and Stela being the woman of the house who takes care of the house: their relationship was happily as both know their part and were comfortable with it. As a motif, Stanley brings the food symbolizing that he is the man of the house and Stella cooks the food that Stanley provides and in this simplicity, their role is clear and defined. As Stanley and Stella conversing;

How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.

Before diving into the current state of male roles in advertising, it is necessary to review past gender stereotypes and how they have developed in the past. Looking at advertising through the media from a social determinist standpoint, the existing cultural and social values and progresses are what determine how gender roles are portrayed in media. This would go against the cultivation theory notion that the media used to portray men and women are what shape our cultural and social ideologies. Grau and Zotos (2016) establish this “the mirror versus the mold” debate and note that this debate “is a continuum” (p. 763). Existing social values may impact the strategies of advertisers, but at the same time, the advertisements we are

Since the time of Florence Nightingale nursing has been popularly understood to be a highly gendered profession based on abilities of caring, helping, and nurturing – which are characteristics stereotypically identified with women and not men in the Western world (Cottingham, 2014; Rajacich, Kane, Williston, & Cameron, 2013; Stanley, 2012). Nightingale’s profound influence on nursing was filtered through the rigid Victorian cultural concepts of her time that viewed women as carers and helpers and men as active doers and experts, with white women of the middle class being the ideal helpers for knowledgeable and powerful male doctors whose primary function was scientific excellence and technical mastery and not the human dimension of caring, showing empathy, or serving others (Andrews, Stewart, Morgan, & D’Arcy, 2012; Cottingham, 2014). After Nightingale, the identification of femininity with nursing continued as the essentialist notion that women are carers and men are doers went essentially unchallenged (McMurry, 2011; Rajacich et al., 2013). This construction was based upon gendered notions of the characteristics of masculinity – defined as “hyper-heterosexuality, control, technical/physical competence, autonomy, and rationality” that are constructed as superior to “feminine” characteristics and deserve more respect, celebration, and recognition by society (Cottingham, 2014). In essence, to be a male and a nurse was therefore to be

The purpose of this research paper is to prove that using gender stereotypes in advertising makes sense financially for those advertising. It argues that by using stereotypical examples of the “in group” of it’s target audience the goal of the advertisement will more likely be achieved. This paper addresses but does not dispute the idea that using stereotypes in advertising can have negative effects on its audience. However if selling an idea or product is the end goal it makes sense to present the ideal situation to whomever your target is.

Masculinity and femininity refers to the gender based roles assigned in a society. Masculine societies have clearly defined gender roles while gender roles overlap in feminine societies. Masculine societies place value on achievement of material wealth and competitiveness while feminine societies place value on maintaining good relationships, caring for the weak, and quality of life. As per Hofstede’s masculinity index, Italy is a fairly masculine society and ranks slightly higher than the US (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Even to this day, most Italian men still treat women with value machismo and gallantry. Even though women are allowed to enter the workforce, their numbers are low and few exist in the upper echelon positions. Households are

Masculinity deals with the value of gender differences in society, or the distribution of the emotional role between different genes. The values of masculine dimension (masculinity) contained the value of competitiveness, assertiveness, materialistic, ambition and power. The feminine dimension (femininity) places more value on the relationship and quality of life. In the masculine dimension, the distinction between gender roles appears to be more dramatic and less flexible than the feminine dimensions that see men and women share the same value, emphasizing simplicity and concern.

Gender is very crucial element in the American popular culture. What comes in mind when we talk about gender in the American popular culture so many questions go through the mind. The questions will go back to the gender roles and issues concerning feminisms and masculinity. One may question any advantage of being a male to a female because this is where stereotypes are arising especially in the American popular culture. Many scholars have written on gender and culture; most of the highlighted discussions are based on gender and culture during the post war to 1970 and then to present. In gender and culture as topic also brings to light how women and men are represented. Above all the major thing that is argued in the report is role of gender. There are effects of popular culture on the people on gender as exposed in intimidation and stereotypes in the American culture, which this research paper will look into in length.

Looks are a part of masculinity too. They play an important role for transgender people who are expected to look a certain way in order to pass as their gender from others (Schilt, 2006). Schilt mentions that it’s extremely problematic for transgender men when it comes to looks because sometimes their bodies do not match with the masculinity traits of what the society expects. Peralta (2007) includes another important quote from Connel and Messerschmidt and Messer support— “body-reflexive practice” where the body is seen as both an active agent and as an object of practice used to receive and produce gender differences” (p. 743). The body is important, it is what categorizes male and female based on their physical appearance It is the image display of gender, a person wants to portray them as either male or female. Many transgender males are able to pass as men by appearance cues like their hairstyle, clothes, and mannerisms without testosterones (Schilt, 2006). But there a lot of times when trans men who do not have facial hair, or a visible stubble and are often mistaken as young boys. Schilt (2006) also mentions that body structures is also another category where a lot of trans men feel like they lack and feel uncomfortable due to it. Body structures are important and for men, being tall is the ideal structure and part of the cultural construction of hegemonic masculinity. Unfortunately, many trans men, cannot achieve the ideal male tallness and sometimes they are “small”

According to Lipsyte (1977:59), “sport is the single most influential currency of mass communication in the world ... sport cuts right through the differences of age, education, language, gender, and social and economic status, all those differences that tend to divide us“. Yet when it comes to advertising these differences are not put aside, especially in terms of gender and race. According to Schroeder & Borgerson (1998), advertising is quite significant when influencing, building and illustrating consumers vision of the good life, which includes sexual attraction. Domzal & Kernan (1993), added that, advertising images represent an essential part of the experienced visual world. Reality and advertising are not separated and affecting one another, but instead advertising and the mass media contribute to the visual scene that shapes reality. Advertising shapes identity, especially gender identity. In other words, the way women are portrayed in advertisements should represent their images and identities in the real world. A study by Knoll, Eisland, & Steinhagan (2011: 878-879) established that compared to men, women were seven times more likely to be stereotyped. This is due to the fact that men’s roles haven’t changed as much in society and at work place, thus they are not as regularly stereotyped. Moreover they added that in adverts, usually, women are younger than men and likely to be under 35