Masculinity

The question is, “How is ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ defined in the mass media?” Such a broad question with so many answers depending on the type of media you may be looking at. Not all people think alike but the media persuades us on what to think about certain issues. Many types of mass media can have an impact on us such as lyrics to a song, music videos, or magazine ads. Through my essay I will describe the content analysis I have performed dealing with the lyrics of a song. I believe…

violence plays an enormous problem in society, specifically when there is no set explanation to why it occurs. By analyzing the role of hegemonic masculinity, patriarchy, and traditional gender roles as it pertains to domestic violence, this essay intends to expound on how the three interlace to perpetuate the domestic violence cycle. Hegemonic masculinity rose out of the post-World War II era as the idea of the “real man”, and the idea that the real man is not peaceful, nurturing, or…

Masculinity is term that is heavily influenced by a society’s cultures and beliefs. Masculinity is also a term that could have multiple definitions depending on the way men are portrayed in certain cultures. Masculinity is defined as a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with boys and men. Certain masculine traits include courage, independence, and assertiveness. Men are supposed to be strong, independent and not need help from anyone no matter what the circumstances…

Masculinity Theory reinforces the stereotype that a gay man is feminine and therefore cannot be masculine (Kimmel, 1997). These perceptions help form the contradiction at hand, that a man cannot be gay and play a masculine sport such as football or hockey. In other words since the masculinity theory is stating that in order to be masculine you can’t be feminine, while you also can not be feminine and play a popular male sport in the United States. Ultimately it comes down the fact that a…

specializes in gender studies, states that the major emotion regarding masculinity is anxiety because men have to prove their masculinity at all times. This idea can be applied to understand a number of behaviors exemplified in boyhood. The 2015 documentary, The Mask You Live In, discusses the difficulties that young men experience when attempting to stay true to themselves while feeling the need to fit society's expectations for masculinity. In Matthew Immergut’s, “Manscaping,” he explores how…

Over the years, Disney has shaped and reshaped the image of masculinity through its films. Disney’s portrayal of what masculinity should be has shifted from “knights in shining armor” to “scoundrels turned hero”. The manly, tough “alpha male” has been replaced by the sensitive and considerate “beta male.” “The phrase ‘alpha male’ may stand for all things stereotypically patriarchal: unquestioned authority, physical power and social dominance, competitiveness for positions of status and…

Hegemonic Masculinity Considering the definition offered by Connell (1995) in his book, Knowledge and its Problems, within his third chapter, “The Social Organization of Masculinity,” hegemonic masculinity can be best defined as the “…configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (77). In other words, hegemonic…

position of power. According to Connell (1995), the definition of hegemonic masculinity is “the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees [...] the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (pg. 77). Though it isn’t necessarily a significant part of the show, there are, in fact, examples of this hegemonic masculinity in Jane The Virgin. The main example is seen in one of the main…

Masculinity is an adjective that simply defines something as having qualities traditionally associated with men. Because of this, every subsequent civilization will have a different view of masculinity. Even with a constantly changing definition there is always one constant: men who display traits associated with women are considered inferior to “manly” men. Each culture will develop its own idea of what makes someone manly or feminine, however these definition will eventually serve as insults…

While growing up I never really understood the meaning of masculinity or femininity. It was mind blowing after reading and analyzing advertisements about femininity and masculinity. Then when I looked around and saw how different each person looked, it gave me a different perspective. After entering High school, I noticed that the gender roles have started to change. Freshmen year I noticed that there was only girls in the color guard team. By senior year, I saw a few boys doing color guard.…