Resonation Between Masculinity And Femininity And Gender Identity

Generally, there are not as many documented physical abuse cases for men as there are for women. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline (2014), men are less likely to seek help when it comes to physical abuse. “1 in 4 women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) aged 18 and older in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime” (National Domestic Violence Hotline, 2014). The stigma revolving around masculinity and how society views men teaches them not to express their feelings and see themselves as victims. The common stereotype is that men are seen as the abusers and women are seen as victims, therefore men who express their feelings are seen as weak and incapable of being a “man”.

Almost every person has heard the quote “the first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club”, a line from a film that’s widely known for its mind-bending plot that’s a blend of dark comedy, psychological thriller, and drama (Linson & Fincher, 1999). Despite its entertainment value, many fail to see the films in-depth social commentary on life in post-modern America. I saw that the film subtly skewers many aspects of life today such as consumerism, morality, organized religion, pop culture; and the focus of this essay; the portrayal of masculinity. In Fight Club, masculinity is portrayed as an essential merit of identity, absent in the average postmodern American male due to the consumerist nature of society. Consequently, the

In this paper I will present an analysis of two fitness magazines, Self and Men’s Fitness. Having read a lot of fitness magazines myself, I am used to the way women’s magazines look and what approach they have, so I find it interesting to compare that to how fitness is presented in a magazine for men. The feature I have chosen to look closer at is food, how it is presented to reach a male and female audience

When I took the “BEM Sex Role Survey” I got 62.5 masculine points, 69.167 feminine points and 54.63 androgyny points. I would never say I have been the ‘tomgirl’ or the stereotypical ‘girly girl’. These points seem accurate to describe my femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. I have never thought of myself as super feminine, I don't wear makeup, I don't normally wear dresses or high heels, I usually always wear my hair up in a ponytail. I have never considered myself ‘girly’ yet I have always considered myself feminine.I may not be the stereotypical feminine which is why I agree with my scores all being relatively close together for masculine and androgyny.

From Schrock, Schwalbe, Pyke and Johnson, we know that there are two subsections in both masculinity and femininity: hegemonic, and subordinate. The hegemony in both gender identities is typically associated with the white, middle class individuals, while the subordination is associated with anything other: the people of color, the economically marginalized, and the non-heterosexuals. Because it is hard to fit into the hegemonic masculinity/femininity, those of people who do not have membership to the hegemony makes “adjustments”; through these adjustments, the definitions of specific subordinated masculinity and femininity are re-inscribed. (Schrock and Schwalbe, 2008)

Womanhood is often associated with femininity while manhood with masculinity. Masculinity is the idea that men are tough both physically and mentally. Femininity, a term associated with being women is used to describe a women’s comportment and attitude. A gentle individual male or female, who wears dresses, skirts, high heels, makeup, and has long hair would be identified as feminine. Unfortunately, society judges and criticizes a women who do not depict feminine characteristics. Such women are regarded as either homosexual or queer. I chose two pictures of Grace Jones to compare in this essay since she happens to be a gender bender and victim of alike persecutions. Additionally, Grace Jones is a supermodel and singer from Jamaica, who’s renowned for cross-dressing and artistic fashion styles (Williams). The picture titled, “Grace Jones/Nightclubbing,”was derived from the National Portrait Gallery,while the other from, “Essense” website, Jones demonstrates that women can be feminine or soft in one picture and masculine or hard in the other picture through her appearance.

I think you did a great job of explaining which narrative you chose and shared your favorite line. Like yourself, I also enjoyed how Perrin discusses how society interprets feminism and masculinity. I also was admired by the fact that he enjoyed nurturing his family and exhibiting emotions such as love to his daughter’s cat. To me men and women should be able to share their feelings, likes and dislikes without the world condemning them as something out of the norm. What is normal? In today’s society, the media portray numerous examples of how men and women should represent themselves in the sense of actions, behavior, and appearance. Too many people in today’s society worry too much about meeting society’s standards

“[Masculinity/ femininity] refers to the extent to which a culture values aggressiveness, competitiveness, looking out for yourself, and dominating others and nature versus gentleness, cooperation, and taking care of others and living in harmony with the natural world.” (Wood) Toula is pressured to marry a nice greek man, while her brother is expected to marry a greek virgin but does not receive the same pressure. Gus also has some expectations of Nick to partake in masculine activities unlike Toula where he is accepting of Toula wanting to take “pottery classes.” Evidence of this is when Nick is trying to show Gus his drawings for the menu and Gus completely disregards his efforts, always responding with, “Where did you get this?” And when Nick says that he drew it, Gus responds with a grunt. “Long term/ short term orientation refers to the extent to which members of a culture think about long term (history and future) vs short term (present).” (Wood) “Individualistic cultures generally rely on low-context communication style, which is direct, explicit, and detailed.” (Wood) “Collectivist cultures typically rely on a high-context communication style, which is indirect and indetailed and which conveys meaning more implicitly than explicitly.” (Wood) Gus is very oriented around the future and therefore follows along with the principles of long term orientation. Even before his children have grown old enough to date, they are already taught that Greek women are to grow up

Catullus 16, "A Reply to My Critics" is a poem written by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus "that was deemed so obscene it was not published in its entirety in English until the latter part of the 20th century" (Winter). To give the poem some context, this aggressive rebuttal was addressed to two men, Furius and Aurelius, who are also referenced to as Catullus ' "critics" he is replying to. These two men tend to appear in other poetry by Catullus, where he, again, employs the use of abusive language at them. These rather intrusive retorts are based on the Roman contructs of masculinity, as Catullus exhibits the need to portray a dominating demeanor upon his critics in order to deny the claims of Aurelius and Furius, that the nature of his poetry is mollis, meaning ‘soft’ and 'tender ', which esstenially makes Catullus mollis. Because of these accusations, he himself is made effeminate by these criticsims and therefore feels the need to combat these views by aggressive attacks that fortify a perceived masculine persona. Therefore, this poem serves is an attack on these demeaning criticisms and a demonstration of social norms on skewed portrayals of masculinity within the Roman society.

People's conceptions of masculinity and femininity, ideas concerning the fairness of differential treatment  or expectations of women and men, internalized schema that evoke different judgments of women's and men's actions, rules about proper male and female behavior applied to children – all these and more concern the influence of ideology on gender identities, differential treatment of women and men, and the organization and persistence of gender

Variations of femininity and masculinity move along a continuum, in contrast to each other [more of one inherently means less of the other].

Womanhood is often associated with femininity while manhood with masculinity. Masculinity is the idea that men are tough both physically and mentally. Femininity, a term associated with being a women and used to describe a women’s comportment and attitude. A gentle individual, male or female, who wear dresses, skirts, high heels, makeup, have long hair is considered feminine. Unfortunately this term is used to define womanhood, if a women does not portray feminine characteristics she is judged or criticised by the society. Also she is either viewed as homosexual or queer. I chose two pictures of Grace Jones,whom happens to be a bender gender, portrays elements of femininity and masculinity (opposite of femininity),thus, a possible victim of such persecutions. Grace Jones is a supermodel and singer from Jamaica, who’s renowned for crossdressing and artistic fashion styles (Williams). One picture is from national portrait gallery website titled, “Jones/Nightclubbing”, while the other, from “Essence” website, both will be used as my sources of comparison for this essay. These images of Jones demonstrate that women can be feminity or soft while obtaining masculine characteristics or hard through her outer appearance, physique and body expression.

This is a movie where all the main characters are women. It is about strong women who should, based on other films, develop in a typically "feminine" problematic environment, but is instead, viewed from the perspective of women themselves. They are not observed from outside in, but from the inside out. At the same time, Danzon reverses and thus subverts the classic representations of gender, while relocating and challenging gender roles. Unlike the common representation of women in former Mexican cinema, femininity is not defined as being an opposition to masculinity in the film. In fact, men almost rarely appear. When they do appear, they appear as constructed discourse, female imagination, or as feminized subjects. The traditional excessive narrative and visual that usually characterizes a melodrama that manifests through the body of the woman is not the case in Danzon. In Danzon, is it the body of transvestite Susi that is decorated and fetishized; it is the body of Reuben, the young lover of Julia, which appears as an object of desire; and it is not sexual desire of the mysterious figure of Carmelo to Julia that serves as reason to the narrative. Furthermore, Julia occupies and develops the role of seductress, conqueror, and possessor of desire; images that are otherwise a traditional cinematographic male role. Another central element that violates the traditional forms of representation is not only the fact that the female figures replace male and their roles, but the

Chevrolet has created a commercial based on the actions of women who prefer “masculine” male drivers versus “passive” drivers. The message is intended for men, however, it also has a major influence over women due to the severity of their opinion about men. Masculinity and insecurity coincide with each other creating the idea for men to prefer to have the object the leans toward them being the real men women desire. Men who are susceptible to this notion are usually single and looking for a partner, wanting to man up other man, value others opinion about them, and/or creating self-worth based upon the fear of rejection. They feed into what society believes are the things that make a man “ a man,” and strive and/or do anything to achieve the acceptance of not only women but their male peers as well. These men want to fill a social void that is missing in their lives.

Although complementary, the stories told about masculinity and femininity have very different impacts on those that feel pressured to conform to them, or are subject to experience their effects by others who do. A particularly insidious source of these stories comes from advertisements, as noted by Jean Kilbourne in Killing Us Softly 4 (2010). She quotes a statement by the editor in chief of an advertising magazine that “only 8% of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind. The rest is worked and reworked deep within the recesses of the brain”. The internalization of the messages from these advertisements unwittingly teaches men and women what is expected of them, and what is desirable. For women, it is taught that femininity requires flawless beauty, with unnaturally smooth skin (preferably light-toned), shiny hair, dimple-free curves cinched by a tiny waist, and a graceful demeanor. It is taught that women must pursue this image, whether it be through the purchase of cosmetics or surgical procedures, or diet products and exercise programs. These advertisements often depict women as having elegance and sensuality in their passiveness—lounging around as they enjoy beauty products or indulgent foods, or draped upon powerful men. They must act as though they enjoy being objectified; welcoming men’s advances, even in violent or dangerous situations. In contrast, men in advertisements are encouraged to model masculinity through violence, dismissal of emotions in