Gender Roles In Devil In A Blue Dress

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Michael Nguyen Nguyen 1 Professor Moore English 1C July 7, 2008 What does Race and Gender Coding have to do with Masculinity? When people think of masculinity they probably think of big strong guys who love to work out and those with a strong will--body and mind. That may be true; however masculinity goes way further than tough guys who love to workout at the gym. For instance, men usually overcompensate when their masculinity is threatened. When men are presented with something they are uncomfortable with, for example, one is more masculine than the other; they display more homophobic attitudes to assert themselves to others that they are real men too (Aloi). This issue of masculine insecurity is explored in the novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley, in which males, either…show more content…
In Gibson’s book, “Warrior Dreams,” he describes the aftermath of America after the Vietnam War and finds out those American males have been living a war amongst themselves within their own male identity. As Gibson puts it, he “began to dream, to fantasize about powers and features of another kind of man who could retake and reorder the world” (Gibson 504). For instance, there have been a rise of action movies that involve violence and guns as being the answer to solving problems. Many American men are buying guns because they feel that they need to protect their families with it, only thinking that it makes a bigger man out of themselves, like Albright in Devil in a Blue Dress. Also, games like paintball have been created to simulate battles and wars, and to make the average American male as if he can still feel dominate. With the defeat in the Vietnam War and with women asking for rights and equality, American males feel less dominant and ought to do things that Gibson has

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