Bilal Adem Professor Boyle English 111 18 January 2012 Response to the high cost of manliness Robert Jensen writes in his essay “The High Cost of Manliness” that our culture defines the idea of masculinity in a way that it creates certain expectations that have to be fulfilled. Jensen talks about the aspects biology and culture that affect our view of humanity. Jensen says that masculinity is associated with traits such as seeking control, aggression, and competition. Jensen also talks about the consequences such as rape and vulnerability that are connected to the fact that men and women are different, but Jensen later counters that argument by mentioning that men and women are more alike than they are different. Most importantly men can also be associated with the ideals of caring and sacrifice.
It is a known cultural difference that men usually dominate the world. There are many times when women are abused that they do not file charges against their assailants. Some of the governing assumptions that strengthen the mainstream explanation of the intimate abuse that many women face are as follows: First, men batter women because they are privileged, physically, financially, and socially; it is under the assumption in this belief that we need not understand the violence behind men’s violence beyond that point of the patriarchal explanation. Second, women stay in abusive relationships because of patriarchy. Third, the criminal justice system is sexist.
Masculinity is a subjective term, and in most cases it is influenced by one's perception and culture (Cullins, V.2012). According to Connell (1995), Masculinity can be interpreted as a choice in which one is made in respect of dressing, behavior, and physical appearance. This essay will critically examine masculinities as it relates to men's labor perception and his work environment based on the findings of Simon Cross and Barbara Bagilhole. This paper will explore the statutes of men in non-traditional male occupations e.g. (childcare providers, nurses, hair dressers) and will also examine the impact of these “feminine” occupations in men's manhood and how these men view their masculinity as they are doing what is generally regarded as “women's work”.
Sexuality plays a key role throughout: Williams' homosexuality perhaps influenced his interpretation of these characters. The tensions of the play centre on a hidden homosexual relationship of the past and its long lasting effects. Within the timescale of the play we see the negativity of certain gender and cultural attitudes, and Williams' concern with gender and sexual identity within society. These stereotypes, while perhaps seeming over-zealous, are historical and current. Williams was concerned to use strong imagery to investigate human weakness, and Streetcar is certainly laden with obviously stated imagery.
How and why are the male characters in Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk) and Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh) emasculated in order to compare and contrast its significance to the two novels themes and ideas? The OED defines emasculation as “depriving (a man) of his male role or identity”. Within Fight Club and Trainspotting the authors challenge the stereotypical concept of masculinity through the use and manipulation of their characters. Stereotypically, there are two sides to masculinity, one is honourable and brave (a more traditional view of masculinity) another is brutality and death (this is idea of masculinity which is normally liked with tyrants in human history like Hitler or Xerxes I). Through Palahniuk and Welsh’s portrayal of attitudes towards death and danger, readers are shown a brutal side of masculinity where disregard for personal safety is a common leitmotif.
Sexuality has been evoked in multiple ways in the study of gender inequality. It may be considered as a possible motivating cause for inequality, examined for the ways it reflects or is affected by gender inequality, or incorporated as a peculiar tension between women and men that mediates both the causes and effects of gender inequality. Essentially everyone recognizes sexuality as critically important to gender inequality. (Sociology. About) Why have the roles of men and woman changed in today’s society?
Masculinity and femininity differ vastly in a society due to social construction, actions of men and women, and the social norms in a society and so on. Behaviour is a very important role as it defines people. The behaviour of men and women can sometimes not be acceptable as it can be obscene and vulgar to the public, though this
Aaron Devor explores how these factors, gender behavior and various entertainments, potentially affect everyone in “Becoming member of society: Learning the social meanings of gender.” Not only do Kilbourne’s ads ridicule men by showing the obsession of males, but also the other two authors show how other modern society’s entertainments are meant to ridicule men and most importantly women with their acts of violence and sexuality. The males are the majority species that get hurt through music we hear and programs we watch, whereas advertisements hurt females. The entertainments substantially imply most men are violent, and the advertisements imply women as material objects. In A sense, men and women learning the consequences of violence and sexuality in daily life would help them to find a common ground with another built on respect and compassion because both genders are getting hurt
As the way of walking or speaking diverges in male and female, the expression and experience of emotions in different genders also diverges. Moreover, this divergence leads to a hegemonic male chauvinist discourse that classifies man as “unemotional” and woman as “emotional” which has significant effects on social life of both genders . Conceptions of male and female emotions are derived from a deeply influential binary opposition that women tend to be emotional by nature while men avoid expression of emotion which makes them unemotional. In ‘ “The Emotional Woman” and “The Unemotional Man” ‘ Debora Lupton contends that this gendered notion on the expression of emotions is both sourced from and effects the social status of males and females. Although it is acceptable that all individuals are capable of feeling emotions, during the history of western cultures it is perceived to be normal and appropriate for women to express emotions such as fear, sentimentality,grief while expression of emotions such as anger, aggressiveness or rage are less expected to be expressed by women.
The second is defined as “hostile work environment”, which occurs when individuals are feeling uncomfortable because of working in an offensive or sexist work environment. Sexual harassment also have been found to be mainly about men wanting to exercise their power over women because of their disadvantaged status at work (Wilson & Thompson, 2001). It also have been found that sexual harassment is much more present in certain work situations as industries where the power is represented by one sex. If the climate in a company is disrespectful and this ambiance increases, acts of sexual harassment could be seen as normal (Hearn & Parkin, 2005). If somebody is used to that “workplace incivility”, he will be less likely to report an inadequate behavior in the organization and then sort of encourage this to continue (Miner-Rubino and Cortina,