Masculinity As Homophobia Summary

When leaders teach young men about masculinity they show that they must be strong, emotionless, and confident. The patriarchal society we have built has taught men to be ashamed of the feminine ideal. In his article “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity”, Michael S. Kimmel states that “fear of being seen as a sissy dominates the cultural definition of manhood” (Kimmel 214) The moment society tells young boys to “man up” becomes the instant fear of the feminine ideal. In his article “The End of Violent, Simplistic, Macho Masculinity”, Thomas Paige Mcbee argues that healthy masculinity is making its way into society because men want to change what it means to be a man. Both articles argue …show more content…
When a woman who is working in the STEM field has a hard time to show her skills because men do not believe her work is correct, till another man approves her work. “It is other men who evaluate the performance” (Kimmel 214). When men have to assess people’s work it shows that men have the final say to everything. This is harmful because men begin to learn to not value the voice of women. When men do not value anyone voice who is not a male it creates an unhealthy lifestyle where they believe they are superior because they are afraid to lose …show more content…
The coach from Gridiron Game showed two sides of masculinity, but he was able to use more positive masculinity to guide the young men into a better lifestyle. Depending on what we say to men will determine how a young man will express their masculinity. Society needs young men to learn only healthy forms of masculinity to end the violence against women. The movie was able to show how masculinity can be evolved and actually keep most of them alive. Their healthy masculine behaviors kept most of the juveniles from returning to prison. Healthy masculinity was the most useful method to change the boy’s attitudes on their destructive