Masculinity

Masculinity as a concept is attributes, gender roles, and behaviors associated with being a boy or man. It is clear that there is pressure put on adolescent males to embody masculinity in all aspects of life. From playing on a sports team to dealing with bullies Kindlon and Thompson (2000) explain the urge a male feels to mask feminine traits. Perhaps it is because of the pressures of an androcentric society, but it is not shocking these traits are still viewed as less than. Due to the fact men and boys learn different gender roles that are not healthy they suffer. Masculinity connects to gender socialization due to boys lacking emotional literacy, and struggling with emotional intimacy. Emotional literacy as defined by Kindlon & Thompson (2000) is the ability to read and understand emotions and those of others. Many boys are discouraged from developing these skills, therefore lacking the ability put a name to emotions, recognize expressions, and understand situations (Kindlon & Thompson, 2000). This is also connected to Kindlon & Thompson’s (2000)…

side of the coin are cats. There is a stigma that emerges when men and cats are together. Many of the guys I know, myself included, live in a household with a cat in it. This often results in the awkward situation of what to do when the cat comes up to you; if it had been a dog there’s no question in what I would have done, but when it is a cat, your masculinity is in question. Both teenagers and adults alike may spend hours trying to decide if one thing or action is “masculine” or…

Haefner also interprets inclusive masculinity in subculture allow for identity exploration. He notes the importance of communities that foster identity construction because they give young people the space to experiment with their identity and challenge traditional gender norms: While impossible to generalize across the diverse array of subculture, let alone specific scenes, subcultures have provided space for young men to challenge hegemonic relationships. In fact, participants in some scenes…

queer identities. Work on ‘men and masculinities’ are unable to evolve into a discourse in its own right, unlike work on women and femininity, which evolved into the discourse of feminism. Where feminism emerged out of political engagement with women and femininity as an ideological stance, as much…

Theorizing Masculinity: Multiplicity, Embodiment, Politics Feminist theory has sought to undo the binary opposition of man/woman and male/female, to varying degrees of success. What appears to still be intact, if only for its common use by the very theorists who would seek to unravel it, is a third binary: masculinity/femininity. As such, this paper focuses on arguments about the former term, masculinity, presented in two important works: Masculinities by Raewyn Connell and Female Masculinity…

understood the meaning of masculinity or femininity up until I looked around and saw how different each person looked. How different my friends and I looked. It was mind blowing after reading and analyzing advertisements about femininity and masculinity. Up until reading about masculinity and femininity I never really cared much about the topic of sex and gender too much. The world is changing yet some ideals of masculinity is the same. Men must be strong, they must not show their “feminine”…

‘There are many different ways of being a man’ How far do you agree with this statement? I strongly agree with the statement ‘There are many different ways of being a man’, as Miller represents masculinity through contrasting characters; such as Eddie and Rodolfo. Miller portrays Eddie Carbone, the protagonist of the play, as a traditional valued man. Eddie’s status as head of the Carbone household is apparent through his various statements such as “you’re savin’ their lives”, “now don’t get…

committee members for their support during this project. Suggestions provided by all of you helped me produce reorganize the dissertation into a more streamlined argument, primarily that Bronies are changing contemporary concepts of masculinity, well as building a new masculinity framework. Advice provided by all members gave the insight to concentrate on the masculinity issues facing the fandom and removing the editorializing parts that detract from the overall argument. Much of the…

“We must be swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire; mysterious as the dark side of the moon!” These lyrics from the renowned Disney musical Mulan exemplify some of the traditional standards to which men around the world are expected to conform. These standards are impressed upon boys from their childhood, and it is not uncommon for men to feel like they have to be assertive, powerful, and domineering in order to be accepted. This…

Kimberly Theidon: Reconstructing Masculinities: The Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Colombia As you rightly pointed out in your reading prompts, Theidon uses a sophisticated gender lens to explore questions of alternative masculinities, the bodies, and emotion. Nevertheless, a deeper reflection on her article reveals important ways in understanding how different forms of masculinities and formed. Her observations are quite astounding because it is often…