What Defines Our Gender? : Development Of A Societal Standard For Men

In Dave Barry’s reflection. “Guys vs. Men,” he introduces the idea that the term “man” presents more negative qualities, unlike the term “guy,” which gives males free reign to indulge in stereotypical characteristics. He characterizes “guy” as a gender that likes “neat unnecessary stuff, who engage in pointless competitions with each other, and lack moral and social graces.” Barry argues the idea that “Men” is a term that holds too much responsibility and unwritten expectations for guys-who function on less complex regulations. Dave Barry creates a humorous satire based on what it means to be a “guy,”combining common stereotypes and their everyday habits.

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.

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

In the article “Bros before Hos: The Guy Code”, by Michael Kimmel he writes about many different standards and ideals that young men must live up to, to be accepted in today’s society. The article talks about genders, at different ages sixteen to twenty six and how it is directed towards anyone that wants to know more about genders and how it can relate to masculinity and men. It was also based off of a book that he had written in the late two- thousands. According to (Kimmel) young men must live and abide, by a set of rules known as the spectacular “Guy Code”. The “Guy Code” was created to help understand why young men feel and act the way they do, and how masculinity may be perceived in their cultures. The code has been instilled into many young men around the world by their peers, family, and media at the age of four, or maybe even when a child has developed somewhat of a understanding. Being taught how to be masculine at a very young age is important to teach your child, it helps them discover who they are as a person, and who they are supposed to be perceived as, and how to find their inner virility as a young male. Kimmel also uses exemplification to help explain how the “Guy Code” is a collection of attitudes, values, and many traits that are together to help compose what it really means to be a man. The code lets us know how men are not suppose to cry, and how they are not suppose to be or act like sissies. But how men must be very

In Michaels Kimmel's article, Bros before Hos: The guy code. Kimmel is a professor at of the state university of New York. He identifies the key components of how masculinity is formed, in American society. Kimmel analyzes how the guy code implies to the development of a young child to a grown man and how the ideal man should be shaped. He explains how this idealistic ranges to the ages of sixteen through twenty-six. Kimmel starts off in the article addressing the problem he sees and four main rules of masculinity, based on the findings of a psychologist, Robert Brannon. Kimmel enforces how the guy code can create emotion barriers for men to show emotion because of the renfecomnet of society and the difficulty of not breaking the code’s rules.

The myth that boys in today’s society are encouraged to follow this “Guy Code” in order to be accepted amongst their peers, friends and family members can cause great emotional side effects. In “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code” by Michael Kimmel, he did a survey amongst college campuses and the question was simple “what is a man?” and the responses were pretty predictable. A few phrases stood out amongst this “Real Guys Top Ten List”: “ Boys Don’t Cry”, “Size Matters” and “Take It Like A Man” (Kimmel 462). All these phrases feed into this myth that men are to be aggressive and strong at all times. This “Guy Code” that is spoken of is a gathering of values, attitudes and traits that describe what a man is to be (Kimmel 462). Boys in todays day

In Guyland, Michael Kimmel chronicles the journey of young males and the issues they face while trying to exert their masculinity and prove themselves to their peers. Based on interactions among North American males between the ages of 16 and 26, Kimmel has found that at an age where young men had previously prepped for a life of work and committed relationships, they are now living in “Guyland” where they spend their time drinking, playing video games, and having immature relations with women. Kimmel explains that these young men are “frighteningly dependent on peer culture” and “desperate to prove their masculinity in the eyes of other boys.” (30) These young men live in constant fear that they will not measure up to the ideals of

Dave Barry, a humorous author writes “Guys vs Men” to try to enlighten the term “man”. He focuses on certain aspects that separate guys and men to separate stereotypical characteristics. Barry entertains readers as he uses funny comparisons, analogies, and entertaining punch lines to support his what he thinks the distinct differences between guys and men really are. Barry argues the idea that “man”, is a term that comes with responsibility and unwritten expectations for guys. The intent is to stress that there is another way to look at males, perhaps not characterize as characteristically masculine, but just as a “guy”.

In, Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code, Michael Kimmel investigates the values of men. The ideal young man is imposed to live up to society’s expectations through a set of rules called the “guy code” which is instilled into him during adolescence. Family, friends, and the media teach young men how they should act and feel since the guy code is what culture perceives as masculinity. Moreover, Kimmel defines the guy code as “a collection of attitudes, values, and traits that together compose what it means to be a man.” Men are not to cry, men must be strong, men must achieve great feats and obtain wealth and power; these examples of the code are well represented through media as well as the community. For example, men in movies as well as in society

In Kimmel’s article, the purpose is to inform young men that the “Guy Code” is not the way to prove masculinity, and can be dangerous in doing so (Kimmel 483). Kimmel presents to his readers that society’s understanding of man-hood is foolish through various interviews with different guys (Kimmel 479). One interview Kimmel did was with Mike, a 20 year old at Wake Forest (Kimmel 479). Mike says, “My older brothers were always on my case, calling me a pussy if I didn’t want to play football or wrestle (par 10).” Through listening and understanding Mike's interview one could find it offensive the way his brothers were calling him a “pussy” just because he did not want to play football or wrestle, which

The author of the essay “Guys vs Men”, Dave Barry is a well-known humourist author of many columns and thirty books. Dave’s thesis is that men are by his definition stupid and have bad behavioural tendencies resulting in men having a bad name because such behaviours cause war, violent crime, spitting and ice hockey. And so Guyhood is the other type of ‘man’ out there and he is using this essay to describe them. Dave’s main points are that guys like neat stuff, guys like really pointless challenges and that, guys do not have a rigid and well-defined moral code. The intended audience for this essay is mostly males ranging from 16-50; females whose interests are peaked by the essay could range from the same age group. The diction is at a high

In the article “Bros Before Hos” Michael Kimmel addresses the guy “rules” that society pressures men to follow. Explaining the four main rules of masculinity “No sissy stuff, Be a big wheel, Be a sturdy oak, Give em hell”(Page 610). Kimmel argues that society has set guy code requirements for boys to become men. In addition, Kimmel mentions the completion of masculinity between males. Kimmel says that “the lowest degrading thing you can say to a man when you’re battling him is to call him a faggot and try to take away his manhood”( Page 612). He states that society tells us that males aren't men unless they have their masculinity, so men degrade other men’s sexaulity inorder to feel masculine. Kimmel concludes that guy code rules are disconnecting boy’s from their emotions and cause boy’s to be prone to “depression, suicidal behavior, and various other forms out of control or out of touch

In the article, Bros Before Hos by Kimmel he discusses how the most important thing to a man is their masculinity and how it is defined. They define their manhood by three key concepts: the culture of entitlement, silence, and protection. This also consists of a collection of attitudes, traits, and values that contribute to what it means to be a man. This is called “The Bro Code.” In this essay I will be explaining the concept of “The Bro Code” and how it relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love on many levels, and how the main male characters in Crazy, Stupid Love show their matrix of masculinity. Furthermore, I am going to be explaining how Bros Before Hos relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love, and how it explains masculinity and what a man

The notion of hegemonic masculinity has altered the field of gender studies and many academic arenas. An idea popularized by R.W. Connell, hegemonic masculinity has played an integral role in the emotional development of American men, articulating the impact that this societal construction has had on the concept of American masculinity. It is a contested topic, yet the impacts that it has in terms of sexuality, struggles for power and political leadership, and gender identities are valid (Connell 830). Although difficult to fully achieve, it acts as a guiding force for the stereotypically masculine. Hegemonic masculinity assumes the subordination of all other forms of masculinity, placing it at the top of the social hierarchy. At the same time, the idea of hegemonic masculinity has served as a bridge between the growing field of men’s’ studies and female studies (Connell 829). Several authors share the premise that men in American society conform to the standards of the social construct of hegemonic masculinity.

Masculinity is a term that is often associated with strength, power, control, and dominance in men. However, many texts support the claim that masculinity can be perceived as “socially constructed” and available for systematic discrepancy, similar to femininity. For example, in Michael Kimmel’s “Men, Masculinity, and the Rape Culture,” Kimmel identifies the “traditional masculinity” in which men exclusively can experience the “right to manhood” and the “dare and aggression” that is rightfully theirs (Kimmel, 142).