Social Construction Of Masculinity And Femininity

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.

“Tough Guise” examines the relationship between the social construction of masculinity and the images we see in mass media and popular culture. The central theme in Katz’s arguments in Tough Guise revolves around the notion: violence in America is a gendered associated phenomenon, and in order for us to understand violence, we must focus on its relationship to our

To read Babio without recognizing the gender politics at work in the play would disregard much of how the play itself creates meaning. So much of the play’s plot and character dynamics are related to the way gender functions in this play. One major theme of Babio is the idea of masculinity and how masculinity is defined. Through the portrayal of Babio as an effeminate character, Babio is able to define masculinity through absences in Babio’s Character. Consequently, Babio makes the additional point that lovesickness is not an intrinsic aspect of medieval masculinity, despite the fact that love sickness is often attributed to men.

Male gender roles in contemporary media that are negatively portrayed through masculinity greatly effects the physical, psychological, and behavioral image of men. The social construct of masculinity in society and its relationship to males is generally reflected in male media consumption. The popular concept of women’s feminine image in the media is vastly overshadowed and more predominantly acceptable in subtle society in comparison to male’s image of masculinity.

Social construction is defined as “a socially created aspect of social life” (Board of studies, 2009, pg.52) and has played a significant role in the way gender roles for males is perceived in society. Masculinity is “the meaning and expressions given to being male and the social organisation of men’s lives and relations” (WHO, 2010, pg.10). Masculinity has adapted throughout the years in regards to how the society that we live in has socially constructed standards for males and how it has affected masculinity. Therefore it has allowed individuals to conform to what society requires males to be. Factors that play a role in the social construction of masculinity are parents/friends, the media, ethnicity and the government.

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.

According to Brescoll et al. (2012), mention the issues men come across when trying to enter a feminized occupation like preschool education, or nursing. These occupations are viewed as less masculine, thus the penalty is being viewed as lower status individuals (Brescoll et al., 2012, p. 354). If we reflect on the norms of masculinity, our common understanding is that men are high achieving individuals that must sustain their family and most importantly their status within an organization is profoundly viewed upon. Brescol et Al (2011) puts forward that males, who work for gender deviant supervisors, are subordinate thus having a diminished status and respect to their gender identity. This is to say that within organizations there is an

Masculinity, from the very beginning, was associated with the set of attributes, behaviors, physical and emotional strengths projected by men. There were a certain qualities which were observed and reserved for men. The more such qualities men possessed and the stronger they were, the more masculine they were considered. When traits which did not belong to the so called masculinity were observed in men, they were expressed as "unmanly behaviors". Gender assumption were made during the olden days, which was part of the labeling ceremony of the society. Some believed that masculinity was linked to the male body, whereas others suggested it to be a cultural construct, which was initially influenced by the biology. In many cultures, boys have to

In the past Britain used to be a patriarchal society, however, now it is hypothetically equal. The gender-role identity is the extent of masculine or feminine self-appreciation of an individual (McNeill & Petersen, 1985, cited in Fromme & Eccles, 1996). Masculinity and femininity described by Deaux (1984) as personal characteristics, activities, behaviours, dispositions, appearances which are acceptable for males or females and established by sociocultural factors, while sex refers only to the physiological dissimilarities. Per biological supposition, gender is fully defined by biology, particularly, by the physiology (work of the nervous system) and inheritance (genetic factor) (McLeod, 2014). On contrast, psychodynamic paradigm primarily focused on conscious and unconscious stimuli within the individual and psychosexual development with an emphasis on early childhood experiences, like the main factor of gender formation (Brannon, 2016). In this essay, biological psychological approach to the formation of an individual’s gender role identity compared with the psychodynamic approach.

Your list between the stereotyped traits of femininity and masculinity. was very interesting The idea of women being loyal is significant because I think that is what fuels the idea of monogamy, and the ostracism women get for choosing non-monogamous relationships. This also fuels slut shaming and the fact that women are mostly condemned for having a lot of sex, while men are praised for this same act. It is interesting that you listed “independent,” “self-sufficient” and “individualistic” as a feminine trait. This is because when I think of stereotypes of women, I think of them as seemingly more dependent, especially on the collective unit of the family, as they are often characterized as the homemakers, and instead I would pair these traits

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

Many boys are raised in a home where there is a dominant male, most of the parents and psychologist agree that young men need more feminism, even in their homes. Young men do need to be more concerned about women's right on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality of men. There are many examples of women being superior to men, and yes men do need to be raised so they have more “Rugged masculinity”But they also need to need to learn how to respect and try to gain more rights for woman. There needs to be more of a change in the way we raise boys. Women are being disrespected and the men involved have slower brain development.

“[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

I learned how the traditional perceptions of masculinity and femininity are restricting to both sexes, but in different ways. Men are told to stay inside their man box, but doing so would make them sacrifice important human qualities, like emotion expression, sensitivity, and empathy. Because masculine men are supposed to be strong and have no weak emotions, men are constantly pressured to be tough in order to validate themselves. On the other hand, femininity devalues women to subordinate and inferior roles to men. This makes strong, independent women seem like anomalies since women are supposed to be weak damsels in distress. This is important to me because having grown up as a tom boy who loves sports and being active, I occasionally felt dejected for not being more “lady-like” like the other girls around me. However, the faulty, sexist natures of masculinity and femininity has taught me to appreciate myself more for my strong, athletic self.

Gender. The family is composed of three males, J, O and M and two females, K and A. According to K her parents played an important role in shaping her views on masculinity and femininity. She explained, “my parents always encouraged my sisters and me to be who we were made to be, even if it meant doing things the world might say were boy things. Now, we encourage the same in our children” (K, personal communication, June 1, 2018). Within the family, there are no differences in the roles based on gender. J and K assume equal parental when with the children, including discipline, cooking and bedtime.