Negative Aspects 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.

According to Jonathan Alexander’s chapter “ Transgender Rhetorics: Sex and Gender” he notes that “acknowledging the presence of the transgendered is useful not only for understanding those who are differently gendered or whose presentation … falls outside our ‘norms,’ but also for helping us interrogate the constructs of gender that we often take for granted as ‘natural’” (Alexander, 2008, pg. 130). Ways that the cisgendered public attempts to normalize gender roles is through literature where “male authors… depict a young woman as frightened and helpless, and the female authors… poke fun of the muscle-bound idiocy of a “macho” man”( Alexander, p. 137). The idea as the female being weak and terrified and the man as muscular moron help to reaffirm the cycle of “gender tied narrations” that are tied to society’s dominant public. This is important because society’s cisnormative narrative teaches that gender expressions have strict guidelines that are “innate” in us at birth. These instincts dictate a lot about an individual; however, the recognition of transgender individuals cause the cisgendered to think that “gender is not necessarily an essential and natural given, but rather a sociocultural construct whose repeated performances—as masculinity and femininity” (p. 131). The transgendered attempt to create a discourse to disrupt these social categories and show that there is more to one’s identity than what is socially constructed and self

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

Traditional American masculinity focuses on a few key concepts. Males are supposed to remain stoic and hide emotions, they are tough, they do not open up or show feelings, and they are not girl-like or feminine in any way (Oransky and Marecek). In a study of masculinity in male friendship and peer groups, Oransky and Marecek found that boys feel “that acting stoic, tough, and emotionally invulnerable was necessary for being regarded manly by their peers. ‘Soft’ emotions such as fear, pain, and sadness, as well as outward expressions of distress or worry, marked a boy as gay or girly” (Oransky and Marecek 225-226). William Pollack found similar views of

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

Masculinity is all about strength and toughness. But behind every man is a soft, tender side. For many years, and even still today there is a social standard for men to be manly. Rugged outdoor work and sports are commonly associated with masculinity, but behind the scenes nurturing and delicacy are just as much part of men as women. To some, the fact that I am writing this paper and I am a male would discredit my masculinity. However, that is not the case. Surveys are beginning to show that males are gaining more respect for females, which is allowing them to open up and reveal their own softer side. Just because a man doesn’t play a sport doesn’t mean he isn’t masculine. Genetics determine male or female. Manliness is

One of the approaches scholars took was studying hip-hop through the lenses of “hyper-masculinity.” Hyper masculinity in terms of the oxford dictionary is described as an exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour such as sexuality, aggression and physical strength.

For many adult males there will come a time when they begin to think back on their upbringing and everything that contributed to them being the man they are today. A specific question for some being, who or what taught them the meaning and role of masculinity in their life. These questions can be very significate to some men that are trying to discover themselves and work towards the person they want to become. This question can also be a very poignant one for those men making the decision to come out and reveal themselves as homosexual men. It can also initiate the internal struggle that comes with embracing a new identity while determining what part masculinity will play in that identity. In my paper I will discuss what I discovered in literature regarding the role of masculinity in the self-knowledge of males and the additional impact that can have on homosexual males. I will show how boys and young men are introduced to the idea of masculinity, followed by how that masculinity is expressed to each other and the rest of society and finally I will discuss how some homosexual males have adapted to the meaning of masculinity for their own self-preservation. By the end of this paper it is my hope that you will gain a different perspective on the role of masculinity in lives of all men, both heterosexual and homosexual alike.

Can you imagine the uproar there’d be if it became the expected norm for men to remove all of their body hair from the eyebrows (which would of course need to be perfectly groomed) down?

Men often receive harsher punishment for breaking gender roles and this may explain why men are more likely to reaffirm masculinity than women are to reaffirm femininity.

Reality is decided by society, and by extension,culture. Individuals are actors, performing a script and were casted by their race, age, and most importantly, gender according to sex. American men are meant to exert traits belonging to the traditional masculine character, while women are expected to express fragile orthodox femininity, all based on the nature of physical appearance. This destructive pervasive concept of classic masculinity infects modern western men through a process societal nurturing-socialization. Socialization is the process of which individuals are taught how to act in the context of their society. This perverted concept of masculinity, better referred to as toxic masculinity, “a specific model of manhood geared towards dominance and control.(Marcotte)”, is perpetuated by several agents of socialization, such as media, authority figures and peers. Toxic masculinity has costly consequences, though before engagement in direct discourse of this subject, we must understand the disparity between sex, based on reproductive organs, and gender, which has its basis in the conscious.

Men are influenced by their upbringing, experience, and social environment which play a big role in determining one’s view of masculinity and manhood. Masculinity is different for everyone. Masculinity refers to behaviour and culture associated with men and the different ways of being a man.

What this discourse about gender has revealed is that there can be no stable definition of masculinity as gender is a structure of social practice, which means that masculinity as a concept is man-made and thus changes with society. Different times value different concepts of masculinity. For this, R. W. Connell coined the term ‘hegemonic masculinity’, which means that at any given time, one form of masculinity rather than others is culturally exalted. Connell goes on to describe this concept

With the constant masculine practices and interactions such as dominance, and control, Forshee interviewed trans men who had a very hard time understanding what it means to be a man for them (Forshee, 2006). A lot of Forshee’s transmen interviewees did not view themselves as masculine and many of them were uncomfortable with the ideal social expectations of being masculine (Forshee, 2006). It does seem that transgender men do not want to continue or play the ideal gender role of being a man. They would rather not have all of those masculine “traits” because they are consistently in search of their authentic selves and for them it will always be a constant battle between what it means to be a man and the practice of living as a guy. Forshee (2006) argues that transgender men want “to be a guy and to keep what works and leave behind the stereotype baggage” (p. 128). Trans men need and want to have certain traits such as bravery and strength to feel and look like a man without any negative effects of masculinity like sexual aggression, risky behavior, or being violent. Masculinity is a complicated situation for trans men because of the number of expectations for them and to resist the negative masculine stereotypes.

Masculinity is the dominant idea of what men are supposed to be—a number of characteristic traits that men have to possess in order to be seen as men. This kind of pressure can be difficult to handle for many cisgender males, so one can only imagine how transgender men are affected by it. The pressure to obtain masculine traits is difficult for trans men because there are a lot of expectations from them in order for them to be accepted as men by the society. The pressurizing ideas of masculinity makes it difficult for transgender males to be accepted as a man and to “pass” one according to society’s expectations. To understand what masculinity means for transgender men and how they have to behave because of masculinity is important. Is it possible to redefine masculinity for trans men?