12/13/16
English 120
Professor Progar
Men in Society
Men go so far to prove what they fear than acquire what they truly desire. Throughout life, men are taught to be tough and to not express their true thoughts or emotions. The article “Bros before hoes,” written by Michael Kimmel, an American Sociologist specialized in gender studies, goes along and asks a number of men from different campuses and states what it simply means to be a man. What sorts of phrases or thoughts come to mind when someone instructs them to be a man. Richard T. Evans, a researcher of interdisciplinary studies, in “Faggots, Fame and Firepower” describes how most male shooters have been dismissed by their classmates/peers, both before and after their crime, as “fag, wuss, queer, sissy, girly man, woman, the standard straight-boy arsenal,” which lead them to commit such acts and act in such a manner. In the article, “The politics of gendered emotions disrupting men’s emotional investment in privilege” Bob Pease, an analog engineer as well as a staff scientist at National Semiconductor corp., had stated that, “men are lonely and isolated from close emotional attachments. After years of devaluing and denying their feelings, they are said to end up being unable to feel anything.” I intend to extend Michael Kimmel’s argument in which men are overtaken by the idea of masculinity. In society, men are afraid to show their true feelings, they believe that they will be lowered in the society ranking, and often times it leads to physical health illnesses and emotional breakdowns. Men have a masculinity rule that they are expected to live by, they are expected to hide their true emotions to be considered a real man. …show more content…
In the article, “ Bros before hoes” many men are asked to define what they feel when they hear the phrase, “Be a man” and they listed off a number of things that they felt made them a true man ”. Some of the response included, “ don’t ask for directions, show no fear, never give up” and many others. These are the rules that men are expected to live by and are considered, “ The Guy code”. Often, men are taught these at a young age, and many are taught as young as the age of 3 by their fathers or older brothers and are called names if they do not give in on doing what they are told. If men are found complaining of pain during a game or even an injury, most of the time, they will be teased. As Michael Kimmel stated in his article, “American men want to be a "man among men," an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like "man 's man," not a Fabio-like "ladies ' man." Masculinity is largely a "homosocial" experience: performed for, and judged by, other men.” In the mind of a male many words are considered to be a put down some include, “ faggot, dork, gay, loser, wuss” and many more. These words are commonly used and are words that men frown upon and try their best to avoid. A fear that many men have is being called gay. To avoid this, they try to behave differently by avoiding what they believe is seen as gay. This includes walking a different way, dressing a different way, or even communicating in a different way. A young black women was spoken to, she had a concern that her husband was not going to allow her to spend as much time with their three and a half year old son. This all occurred when the young boy was taken to a barber shop and started to cry when the barber had prepared painful chemicals for his treatment. The barber then yelled, “ This boy is a whimp”. Which had given the father the chills and had him declare that he wasn’t to spend too much time with his mother. It is believed that the only way a man can learn to toughen up is by spending less time with the mother and more time with the father. I agree that many men dislike being called gay because it lowers their masculinity in society but being in the society we are in today many men don 't care what they 're called, although many men still tend to hide in their feelings others tend to use it to their