Moreover, the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and organizational deviance are also evident in the NASA Space Challenger and Martin Shkreli cases. The Space Challenger Explosion occurred due to a problem with the O-Ring, however, Morton Thiokol Inc. (MTI) management ignored the engineers’ advice and proceeded with the launch (Messerschmidt 1996:35). MTI was under pressure from Congress to launch the Shuttle on time to keep their funding or would be held bureaucratically accountable. Subsequently, both the MTI management and engineers understood the risks when launching the Shuttle, but NASA labeled it as a ‘normal, acceptable risk’. Here, masculinity is perceived as a structured action, meaning that men take certain actions under particular organizational constraints (Messerschmidt 1996:32). …show more content…
With MTI facing pressure from Congress, the managers engaged in risk-taking behaviours to achieve their valued goals, hence a path that was aimed in enhancing their manly performances and corporate triumph. Their status as men was at risk so they had to become ‘risk-managers’ to ‘ascertain’ their worth and masculine identity to others (Messerschmidt 1996:41). The risk involved rational thinking, which was due to the fact that there were nine prior successful launches; hence the risk became normalized and rationalized. In addition, the risk-taking under these circumstances was due to corporate culture promoting profit, as this is an institutionalized addiction. Therefore, by ‘doing masculinity’, the managers of MTI were largely focused on their funding for the Shuttle than the lives of the astronauts by supressing any emotions and rationalizing their decisions in this corporate
In the article “Toxic Masculinity Is Killing Men: The Roots of Male Trauma,” Kali Holloway explains why the ideal of masculinity is so unrealistic and harmful to men. Holloway also gives many studies and writings to back the idea that to be a strong man you have to suppress feelings and pain. In these studies, it proclaims that both men and women start off equally feminine as babies and that these ideas are taught to boys and girls as they grow up learning how to “be a man.” Holloway goes on to say that masculinity is not just taught by parents, but also taught through television and movies that portray men as masculine and strong. There are many examples given showing the ways men release their stress differently than women. This makes it
Ethics should always be the base of any engineering project. There are some instances where people, like Jerry Mason, become self-interested and forget that at the core of engineering, lies the responsibility to act with the public’s welfare in mind, above all else. The Challenger incident shows us how Jerry Mason acts contrary to the standards that the public expects professionals engineers to stand by. His sole comment to Bob Lund, “to take off your engineering hat and put on your management hat,” speaks greatly about what the Challenger meant to him. Jerry Mason viewed the launch as a business transaction that would allow him and Morton-Thiokol to benefit greatly at the midst of a contract renewal. Success brings advancement in managerial positions, but in this
Have you ever wondered why all men act the same? In the reading “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code”, Michael Kimmel critics what it means to be a man and the “Guy Code” they are expected to follow. According to Kimmel, masculinity is a problematic social construct that invokes behaviors that men tend to follow unconsciously. The unconscious behaviors that men tend to follow is know as the “Guy Code” that is passed down to them when they were young. Kimmel informs the audience, mainly women about the negative effects inflicted upon men due to following the “Guy Code”. Kimmel uses pathos and logos very effectively to paint an image of why men act the way they do and how it hurts them.
In their research, they found that many researchers in the field of men’s studies presumed a complete separation from women that they did not even take them into consideration and only “analyzing masculinity by looking only at men and relations among men” (Connell 837). Many of the arguments on the idea of masculinity are over who in the world actually represents hegemonic masculinity. The two competing concepts that they present are whether societies use a fixed type of masculinity or that a society reverts to whatever type of man is dominant at a particular time and place. They agree that the ambiguity of what it means to be masculine, is important because it allows researchers to identify the mechanisms of hegemony more easily. They point to how regions develop models of masculine conduct which are spread by the media and celebrated by the state (838). Connell and Messerschmidt use the example of the USSR’s celebration of the Stakhanovite industrial worker, named for the coal miner Aleksandr Stakhanov who in 1935 hewed a world record 102 tons of coal in a single day, triggering a scramble by other workers to beat the record. The reality of it is that the claimed feats of Stakhanov did not acknowledge the contributions of his coworkers in his record setting day of work. In the final section of their paper Connell and Messerschmidt lay out how they believe that the idea of
In Paul Theroux’s article “The Male Myth” Theroux makes a point that he does not like the stereotypes placed on men in today’s society. Theroux’s article is focused on exposing the stereotypes that men face and the reasons for their occurrence. He claims that writers and many others are directly affected by the expectations of masculinity that are thoroughly incorporated in America. The ideas of masculinity are deeply rooted in high school sports, in the view of the president, and in many other areas. Theroux attempts to prove that being a man in American is, “…pitiful, a little like having to wear an ill-fitting coat for one’s entire life.”
When defining the term ‘manhood’, many people may use terms such as courage, strength, or bravery. Throughout history there have been many pressures on men to be as stereotypically manly as possible. If men don’t conform to those stereotypes, they may be looked down upon by society as a whole. Richard Van Camp’s short story ‘The Night Charles Bukowski Died’ is a prime example of the dangers of nonconformity to stereotypically manly traits. The story is an intense first person stream of consciousness from the point of view of an unnamed narrator that follows the narrator and three of his peers: Mikey, Jason, and Scott. The use of metaphor, point of view, and setting in “The Night Charles Bukowski Died” exposes how stereotypical expectations of manhood can lead to dangerous situations not only physically, but also socially and emotionally.
In today’s society, and throughout modern history, masculinity has often taken the role of defining how men should act, and be seen amongst everyday living. Throughout Michael Kimmel’s excerpt from his critically acclaimed nonfiction Guyland excerpt published 2008, he addresses, and researches these social queues and aims to put perspective on why, and how the rules of masculinity define manhood. He does this through his vast use of credible resources, and stories of effected individuals which further support his claims and credibility. Not only does he provide several examples of well-known psychologists whose own ideals support those that he writes about, he also uses a variety of other professions ranging from psychologist, anthropologist, poets, and even well noted playwrights to show that his views and ideals of masculinity can be observed across all aspects of careers, and
In “Before Manliness Lost Its Virtue” (2017), David Brooks (a New York Times Op-Ed columnist) claims that we are living in a “crisis of masculinity” (15). David Brooks backs up his claim by comparing and contrasting manliness of the men in the White House (the “”I don’t care what you think” manliness” [2] and the “the look-at-me-I-can-curse manliness”[2] ) to men in ancient Greece (“real men defended or served their city”[6] the “The manly man… risks death and criticism.”[8] and “They are constantly picking fights”[9].) to the ideal man (“The magnanimous leader… uses his traits… to create a just political order.”[11]).
The heavy masculinity presented through the lifestyles of the executives where the audience gets mesmerized by hearing about private jets and fancy cars. Amanda Martin, a high ranking female employee, describes Enron as a “boy’s locker room.” With this quote, the authors build up a point on the sexism in the corporate world. While studies show that there more male are CEO’s than female, it is unclear why
Enron’s use of informal or social control as a means of guiding employee actions contributed to its illegal actions forwarded by a pervasively negative culture and led to the ultimate downfall of the firm. In order to examine how Enron made a greater use of social control than formal control, this paper will first propose frameworks that describe what social control are formal control are. Then, it will use key details from the documentary to show how Enron’s culture fit the a framework of social control that generated its actions. Finally, the paper will discuss how formal controls were in place but, display how these formal controls were minimized and not the primary catalysts through a discussion of espoused values. These arguments will then show how Enron’s greater use of social control to direct the actions of its employees led to the bankruptcy of the company and loss of the employees’ pension and life savings.
In the case of “Thomas Green: power, office politics, and a career in Crisis”, it describes the dilemma of Thomas Green who works in a company called Dynamic Display. Thomas was recruited as an account executive, and then five months later, he was promoted as a Senior Market Specialist directly by the President Shannon McDonald. Thomas’s boss Frank Davis hadn’t expected to choose Green as the new senior market specialist, and he was very dissatisfied with Green’s work style and performance three months after the promotion. After being informed that Frank Davis had emailed McDonald about his concerns about Green’s performance, Green was getting really worried about his situation and not sure how to explain his perspective to
Countless women in the 1980s were discriminated based on their gender alone, so they believed in order to establish themselves they needed to act like a businessman to be heard. “Being used to having successful executives being, and therefore acting like, men teaches managers and leaders to expect women to model the same behavior.” Women that related to Kathrine Parker’s character believe they need to act like their dominate counterpart in their business, since the attitude men were giving gave them
The Ivanovics, although not formally educated in managerial leadership, realized that with their multi-cultural team members an indirect management style would grow the production output and would raise the morale and motivation of the workers. When McRae’s team tried to change this dynamic, especially as soon as they entered the corporation, their method backfired and was resisted by all of the employees and confidence in the leadership continued to decrease in the firm.
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
The corporate ownership of the male extends to how much his life is worth. Ed Norton works in a claims department for a large car manufacture. His job is to decide what a manufacture does in case of a design flaw. Take for example, if a carburetor runs a risk of exploding after 100,000 miles; ED Norton’s job is to investigate the probability of this happening. Then take the number of vehicles on the road and multiply them it by the probable rate of failure and multiply the product again with average price of an out of court settlement. If the end result is less than the cost of a recall, there is no recall.