Masculinity Research Paper

Improved Essays
Before I give you the mind-exploding facts about gender roles, let’s back up and ask how we even accumulated the expectation of society? Also how these expectations influence our gender sense? As stated in my introduction, gender can be defined as society’s understanding of how to organize sexual differences among the genders. How does society emphasize the gender’s differences? Despite the fact that there are obvious biological differences between the sexes, society categorizes the genders into two specific groups, femininity and masculinity. Masculinity
As the world’s population continues to grow, culture’s view of masculinity might also change. American culture plays a role in assigning traits to both sexes. According to David Wexler, masculinity
…show more content…
The first category is called, “the no sissy stuff”, meaning not showing weakness, vulnerability, and weakness or face rejection of society. The next category “The Big Wheel”, which refers to the pursuit of a better life, such as fame, success, and wealth. The third category, “The Sturdy Oak”, as it refer to it name, the sturdy oak mean someone who can you lean on; which involve traits such as stoicisms, confidence and competence. Then finally the fourth category, “give em hell”, which refers to the machismo effect, which displays the perception of …show more content…
Some of these traits include words such as nurturing, passive, emotional, and dependent. Similar to the men, female also have two dimensions. The first dimension being that of a mother figure, relying on their intuition, and passivity. The second dimension being that of the sexy, seductive, whore figure. With these two extremely different views, women go through innuendos of femininity. Just as masculinity differs in society, femininity is also influenced. For example, Marilyn Frye’s essay titled “Oppression”, explains how culture and values impact women, often having conflicted feelings between the two norms. For example, if she isn’t sexually active, she is considered to be prude, but if she is too sexually active, she is considered to be a whore, slut, and or a vixen. Females are aware that there are many derogatory adjectives, use to describe the individual, often with an emphasis on sex. This constraint is call double bind; which according to Frye is the securitization of women. Frye stated, “Women face restrictions which, on-balance, are harmful to them, they are imposed by social structures and expectations, and even within the law; women face them because of their status as women; and men both impose these barriers and benefit from

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    These examples of underlying sexism and misogynistic ways of thinking can be traced back to the morals established by Puritan religion. Men were thought to be the head of household, with no exceptions, and a challenge to a male was seen as a challenge to God’s authority. As women were acquiring more independence, this was seen as a challenge to male power. In response, women who acted outside of their gender roles were seen as threats to the…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most dominant ideologies in contemporary societies, is that women are more emotional than men, thus the notions of the "emotional woman" and the "unemotional man". Butler (1990) and Connell (1995) argues that femininity and masculinity are a matter of performance in nature, meaning that they are both subjects to heterosexual norms that are created and imposed upon us through education and social relationships. Due to gender emotions behaviour being socially constructed and the fact that society changes over time, it is fair to say that the way men and women expressed their feelings in the past might not be the same as it is today. The aim of this essay will therefore be firstly to discuss the gender differences in the expression…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He blames men acting out with violence on the loss of masculinity in our culture and concludes that a revival of masculinism is what will curb the tragedies he believes are a result of this. He urges men to find pride in the traditional traits that make them inherently…

    • 2174 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Also, when it comes to physical appearances, females need to be small and well put together while men are tall and broad-shouldered. Similarly when people say “act like a girl”, they associate…

    • 1242 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Male Role Models Vastly Shape Young Men’s Views on Masculinity Where does one’s masculinity come from? This is one of the key questions addressed in Wes Moore’s book The Other Wes Moore. This book contains the coming of age stories of the author and another man named Wes Moore, who begin in similar circumstances but ultimately have two vastly different fates. The masculinity portrayed by Wes Moore and the Other Wes Moore’s male role models as they grew up led them to develop very different views of manhood, and their stories show that in the United States familial male role models play a large role in the construction of young men 's masculinity.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the article Ben Atherton-Zeman (2008) states that: “Rejecting some of traditional masculinity, we will embrace what is useful to us and sometimes create new definitions of what it means to be a man.” Is it necessary for a man to reject traditional masculinity in order to become a feminist man? Or could feminism be incorporated into the traditional understanding of masculinity? The study conducted by Anderson (2009) indicates that feminist men were more associated with typical feminine characteristics than feminist women.…

    • 104 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    The article, “Men, Masculinities, and Feminism” explains that men can be privileged in society but still lose privilege because of certain characteristics that oppress them. The authors, Christopher J. Greig and Barbara A. Pollard (2017) elaborate this explaining that even though men have power based on their gender, their privilege is challenged and ranked within their sex. This can be seen by a social hierarchy that oppresses those who aren’t considered to be as masculine as other Men. Men are pressured by other men to perform actions that are masculine, such as displaying dominance by being aggressive, to secure a higher status. Throughout their life, they are constantly fighting to prove their masculine standing in society so that they…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The idea of gender roles is a construct of society. Throughout the existence of the human race, the genders have been expected to do two very different tasks in order to uphold society. There was generally no deviation from the roles, however, in modern society, it is no longer necessary for the genders to stick strictly to their expected jobs. A woman, as opposed to a man, can now be the supporter of the house. A man, as opposed to the woman, can now raise the family and care for the children.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Masculinity In Women

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the past women changed their last name from their father’s last name to their husband’s last name when they got married. Women changed their last name to show a change in ownership from one male, the father, to another, the new husband. Men did not change their last names because they were viewed as the owners. Throughout history women were viewed as property rather than as individuals. In today’s society many women still change their last names when they get married, however it is not necessarily because they are being “traded” as property.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Self-determined Black masculinity was killed the moment Africans became slaves for the Americas. During slavery, Black men were forced to be laborers and breeders with little to no autonomy for their destiny. Post-slavery, Black men who "Stirrin' up the good nigras" were often hanged as a fear tactic to control Black folks. Jim Crow laws forced Black people as a whole to continue to be view on differing levels of 'separate but equal' or better yet, the haves and the have nots. Over the years, Black were legally afforded integration, but oppressive systems continue to exist today in our schools, housing, and professions.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Masculinity is, by definition, qualities and/or the appearance traditionally associated with men, especially strength and aggressiveness. This makes men have to appear to be bellicose or tough to impress society and prove themselves as being ‘manly’ men. Making it very difficult for young men and boys to truly express themselves and let others into their personal lives. Crying, self expression, and asking for help are healthy traits for the growth of young boys and men. Without them, young boys could very potentially not be mentally healthy, and may become hostile and unable to connect to other human beings later on in life.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    While masculinity may vary in culture, there is a general consensus that all men must live up to being competitive, successful, and desirable. However, the ideology of masculinity is not inherited in ones genetics, it…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Alexandra Duma Professor Helen Kapstein LIT 316 Defying the Gender Binary in Luna Gender identity is the subjective understanding of one’s gender (Morrow 7). The way in which an individual forms a gender identity relies heavily on the socio-cultural environment in which one lives. Gender identity is different than biological sex and sexual orientation. Luna by Julie Anne Peters follows the coming of age story of Luna, a boy who struggles with gender roles and expectations imposed on him by his family from a young age.…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Hyper Masculinity

    • 2397 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Hyper Masculinity and Its Effects Without advertising, most companies would not be able to sell their products, but the visual effects they use in advertisements to make their point, affects the society in many bad ways. Most clothing companies hire attractive models to advertise their products and they convert these people to something they are not. They mostly use men as aggressive and masculine and by doing this, they awaken the hyper masculinity trait in men when they watch these advertisements. Hyper masculinity can cause harm to both men and women but women are the ones who become victims the most because it can result in domestic violence. Hyper masculinity spoils the esteem of the society, fuelled by faulty advertisements which trigger…

    • 2397 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Masculine Identity Essay

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The idealized form of masculinity in a given place, time, and culture is intentionally used to connote the hegemony involved in the patriarchal system of gender relations. Moreover,…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics