Who 's Got No Game

Connell (1995) developed this concept to describe how masculinities are always relational and, thus, one’s identity is continually constructed in relation to “otherness.” Crucially, Connell sees masculinity as integrally connected with power and constantly negotiated.

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.

We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity becomes this hard, small cage, and we put boys inside the cage. We teach boys to be afraid of fear. We teach boys to be afraid of weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to mask their true selves because they have to be, in Nigeria speak, ‘hard man’ (Adichie).

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

Masculinity has changed and evolved since the beginning of human creation. Males have had to adhere to the social norms of their time to survive without undue persecution. In the beginning of the 19th century, there was a shift in the way men could attain manhood. It was no longer easy for a man to enter into manhood with straightforward expectations and rituals. The state of manhood became difficult to obtain because of its precarious nature. During the same period, the industrial revolution was in full bloom giving birth to mass information outlets like newspapers, magazines, and advertisement: media. This set a prevailing state where boys and men alike could gain material on how to become or be men

Harris’s interest was the representational dialogic of racial difference within film and the real/representation dialect of cultural, gender, and sexual identity (Harris, 51). But the new images of black masculinity are problematic and limited. This was an operation of sorts, of “recoding masculinity from established, now historic, Hollywood codings of black men and black masculinity visualizes a more ambiguous, more discursive image, producing the meanings of an intricately constructed masculinity, more complexly dimensional than the submissive, docile Tom, or the morally corrupt, conniving, sexually threatening drug dealer” (Harris, 52). But these aggressive and politically charged black masculinities, now turned into these difficult ideological metaphors- they construct themselves from the existing “pop cultural and filmic representations of masculinity” (Harris, 52). Basically, Harris stated that black masculinity turned into a “fixed” culturally familiar/consumable construct; masculinity became reinforcement of singular, monologic meanings, only within different popular images. According to Robyn Weigman’s Feminism, The Boyz, and Other Matters Regarding the Male, Newsweek asserts, “Hollywood fades to black.” The primary images

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 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

The movie surveyed a wide array of the troubles faced by boys and men as they try to navigate the realm of masculinity. A common theme was the command “be a man” and the cultural baggage that comes with living up to that ideal. To “be a man” means to not cry, to not be sensitive, to not let people mess with you, to respond with violence, to be angry, to drink, to womanize.

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 today’s society, masculinity has changed throughout time. Fast forward one hundred years ago, masculinity is defined as being strong and having a good paying job. But as the world is changing so is the representation of manliness. You don’t have to show your dominance over men or women today, but you should support your family nowadays and we have all been brainwashed by the thought of masculinity from our ancestors. As men our reputation is always being valued but now it isn’t so much about our reputation but about caring for one another and especially for our families. Perspective of manhood is also a significant factor in portraying what masculinity is in the eyes of other people. Masculinity has been shown through money, appearance, and providing protection for your family members but as we shift into the modern world, masculinity is not seen as displaying the most discipline but caring for one another by taking out some of your time to help one another. Throughout the paper, I will be writing about my interviews from a broad spectrum of ages from one of my younger sisters to my dad with not friends not at Seb’s in between so I can get what it really means to be a man from all ages.

In the excerpt from the 2008 book, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, by Michael Kimmel titled, “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code,” Kimmel describes the standards men are expected to conform in today’s American society using his four rules of being a man. The first rule, “No Sissy Stuff!” tells men to never reveal their weaknesses; the second, “Be a Big Wheel,” implies men need to flaunt their wealth and power; the third rule, “Be a Sturdy Oak,” describes how men should always be reliable; and the fourth, “Give ‘em Hell,” states how men need to be aggressive (Kimmel 541-542). In addition, Kimmel also discusses the “Gender Police” (Kimmel 544), where men criticize other men when they are not up to par with the set standards. This also leads to homophobia, depression, and even suicide. Kimmel’s piece clearly illustrates the societal standards men are pressured to reach, bringing along severe negative side effects, using a multitude of support as well as effective writing style and tone.

In order to fully understand a more in depth evaluation of both why and how men conform to this social phenomenon, one must know how hegemonic masculinity is defined. This term was made popular by Connell’s work Gender and Power which critiqued the male social role and how hegemonic masculinity has developed (Connell 830). Scholars agree that hegemonic masculinity is characterized by “being emotionally detached and

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).