...Gender Differences in Perception of Masculinity in Men’s Crying I. INTRODUCTION Masculinity means being inexpressive and unemotional. Men are not expected to cry, to be sad or to be vulnerable (Forisha, 1978). According to the traditional stereotype being masculine means being assertive, being interested in things, rather than people, being analytical and manipulative, and being able to “get things done” (Forisha, 1978) Femininity and masculinity or one's gender identity refers to the degree to which persons see themselves as masculine given what it means to be a man or woman in society. (Burke, Stets and Pirog-Good 1988; Spence 1985) A person with a more masculine identity should act more masculine, that is, engage in behaviors whose meanings are more masculine such as behaving in a more dominant, competitive, and autonomous manner (Ashmore, Del Boca, and Wohlers 1986). Men are more likely than women to feel ashamed of crying. There are variations in degree, but this indicates that social norms restricting male crying may be pretty much universal. Male crying being generally discouraged from an early age, while female crying is accepted or even rewarded (Fox, 2004). Men cry less frequently and intensely than women, and this sex difference is especially marked for crying in response to anger. (Santiago-Menez & Campbelle, February, 2013) The history of men crying, men have always cried. Yet the acceptability of male crying has varied across...
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...Gender and Masculinities A. Lobo 7 February 2015 Journal Entry #2 In today’s reading masculinity was discussed and deciphered. To understand the ideals and beliefs connected to masculinity, Connell starts by explaining the history of the male gender. By first acknowledging that men were considered the bold hunters at the beginning of time, to then recognizing conventional middle class men as the breadwinners, hyper-male attributes that are attached to masculinity can be further understood. Thus, social roles play a significant part in motivating such stereotypes and concepts. Hegemonic masculinity, argued as the most common, also enables men to disregard their complexities and accept such expectations. This hegemony enables a division of labor, resulting in contrasting power relations between females and males. However, recognizing that femininity and masculinity are not just simple opposites further proves the notion that there is no pattern within masculinity. Connell provides extensive research and debates that offer evidence of men experiencing conflicting ideals and principles during their adulthood, as well as different cultures and their diverse ideals of masculinity. I particularly enjoyed the debates brought by the feminist theorists and the gay community. These critical comparisons enabled us to further comprehend masculinity concepts and flawed ideas, such as those brought forward by pop psychologists, who only offered simplified views on men issues. Yet I do...
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...What comes to mind when you hear people say “women should be in the kitchen” or “men should be playing sports and being tough?” Do you agree with this statement? This leads to my extensive question, is gender more than biological differences between men and women? Good afternoon, my name is Marco Loproto and I’m here to enlighten on the issue within in today’s society, gender. Society depicts females and males of having different attributes but some may disagree with this. In many cases women are perusing their dream and participating in task that is perceived to be masculine, whilst males can be portrayed as obscuring their manhood. This is exemplified in the movie Bend it like Beckham and the novel regeneration. In society Gender roles are constantly changing; women are often made to feel inferior to males but it is through one’s talents that they are able to prove their superiority, which is evident in the film ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ directed by Gurinder Chadha. Thus supporting the statement gender is more than biological differences between men and women. Throughout the film, the protagonist Jess who is of Punjabi background is constantly challenging the gender stereotype. This is demonstrated in the extreme long shot which sets the scene for the movie. Within the film Jess consistently contemplates with her gender stereotype within the film. Chandha cleverly demonstrates this when Jess is playing soccer and she makes a run with the ball. The low angle shot, works to...
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...father, being a man who has no space for emotions. Most of these ideas stem from the military concept of what an American man should be like. In the military a man should show no fear, be a leader in addition to being aggressive and wise. The thought of a man having feminist symptoms or showing emotions, threatens the American concept of masculinity. Men overindulge in being more aggressive or violent. Secondly, men fear showing signs of weakness or emotions by leading aggressiveness towards the abuse of other women using violent activities. The military concept has shaped American manhood for the worst. Today many American men are becoming frustrated with the idea of what it means to be a man and trying to find their own identity. Many have fallen into depression; question themselves if they have fulfilled their desires of being a man. In the book “Manhood in America” by Michael Kimmel, the author discusses the roles and struggles that American man faces and how the American manhood roles have changed over time. In Temporary About Myself, Kimmel uses different articles to discuss the responsibility of a man and touches on issues of masculinity...
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...Masculinity in Hip Hop Introduction In their discourses on the same, Frith and McRobbie (1990) tackle the issue of sexuality in popular culture. As they tackle this issue, the authors focus specifically on the issue of masculinity as depicted in imagery, songs, videos, and concert tours. In the course of their work, Frith and McRobbie (1990: 374) observed a prevalent trend, which they referred to as ‘cock rock’ in their initial scholarly account. This was the reference to the dominant pattern of masculine chest-thumping as well as the aggressive and explicit portrayal of male sexuality. Later scholars also used the term hegemonic masculinity to sustain this viewpoint. Besides hegemonic masculinity, Frith and McRobbie (1990: 375) identify ‘the soft sentimentalist’ as another form of masculine sexuality, essentially a subtle evolution of the former. Sentimental masculinity appeals more to female vanity and the need for affection. The sentimentalist is charismatic and charming full of sensual flirtation aimed at luring the superficial audience. Critical observation indicates that both forms of masculine sexuality are still present in the world of Hip Hop today. In a detailed overview on the same, this paper tackles the issue of hegemonic and sentimental masculinity as evidenced in the world of Hip Hop today and the pervasive trend of aggression and sexuality in popular culture. Sexuality in Popular Culture The issue of sexuality continues to dominate the world of popular...
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...every American. We are trained from childhood the concepts of commerce, throughout our early school years we are told we have to get good grades to get a good job or to prepare for college so we can get a better job. Once we obtain the job we’re told we have to do it well so we can either keep it or get promoted so we can make more money. We do this so we can have a more comfortable lifestyle and to be able to afford retirement. Historically the corner stone of the foundation of this financial enterprise has been the western male. Ironically this resource has been exploited in the media and has become easy prey for both liberal and conservative power brokers. Keeping him productive and under control, even at the expense of confusing the issues, is key to maintaining the status quo of a system on the verge of imploding. Richard Setter’s study: "Fathers' Accounts Of Struggle And Growth In Early Adulthood”, found: “Securing attachment to the labor force is central to both the process of becoming an adult, and the provider obligations of fatherhood. This task is particularly challenging for men from low-income and working-class backgrounds. The work-related responsibilities men carry, and are expected to carry, bring significant strain. Fathers talked in pointed, and even painful, ways about their struggle to find time for children in the face of their work...
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...Imane Rhaleb English 132-23 Mr. Scott Still 2 May 2013 Achieving Society’s Prescribed Definitions of Femininity and Masculinity: Is One Harder to Accomplish than the Other? In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” and Sharon Olds’ “Rite of Passage,” both authors discuss the roles that a female plays and the roles in that a male plays. “Barbie Doll” describes the implications and consequences of society’s definition of femininity and how the character was affected by it. Contrasting to that poem is “Rite of Passage,” which serves to portray the coming of age of a young boy into manhood, all set within the backdrop of a birthday party. While each of these poems describe the different roles in which men and women can act on, both Piercy and Olds make the point that there are pressures that come with fitting into the right character. Furthermore, both poems’ messages extend into today’s society as many young adolescents struggle with achieving the fixed notions of femininity and masculinity. Both women and girls are socialized into society’s definition of feminine behavior. The innumerable social pressures that are put onto women to be conventional to certain ways of looking and behaving are consequentially destructive. In Durham’s research, she examined and observed a group of girls’ conversations in a middle school in the southwest region of the United States. She noted that many of these young girls are influenced by what they see on magazines such as YM or Seventeen...
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...Disney character, he isn’t the handsome hero saving a princess from a monster but rather Disney portrays him as the self-centered and arrogant male who will go above boundaries to get what he wants. An interesting role swap by Disney that adds to the realism and authencity carried out by the villain itself. The Gaston song is one scene that not only caught my attention instantly but also played a crucial role in defining Gaston’s normative traits and portraying his egocentric personality. The Gaston song accurately highlights the conventional traits of masculinity however also portrays the heteronormative path society incorporates suggesting that as a society we need change our outlook on representation of masculinity and its desired traits. Heteronormativity can be defined as what people perceive or believe is the ‘normal’ thing to do in life. Heteronormativity certainly comes with some subjectivity and has been a growing issue that determines the action and portrayal of our society. Gaston song itself...
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...2. Men's Language (Excerpted from The Men's Bibliography: A comprehensive bibliography of writing on men, masculinities, gender, and sexualities, compiled by Michael Flood. 19th edition, 2008. Home URL: http://mensbiblio.xyonline.net/) a) Men and Language Note: Works on boys, literacy and language in education are listed under "Growing up Male" above. Coates, Jennifer. (2003). Men Talk: Stories in the making of masculinities. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. 1. ‘We was Playing Naked Football the Other Night’: Introduction. 2. ‘Good Story!’: The Formal Characteristics of Male Narrative. 3. ‘So I Thought ‘Bollocks to it’: Men, Stories and Masculinities. 4. ‘Bad as My Mate’: Stories in Sequence. 5. ‘She’d Made Sardines in Aspic’: Women’s Stories, Men’s Stories and the Construction of Gender. 6. ‘I’m Quite Good at Mexican Food’: Men’s Narratives in Mixed Conversation. 7. ‘Still in Shock Weren’t You Darling’: Masculinity and the Heterosexual Couple. 8. ‘There are Problems’: Men’s Talk and Contemporary Masculinities. Cowburn, Malcolm. (2004). Men, masculinities and what men do: the relationship of critique and change (invited review essay). Sexualities, 7, 4 497-501. Edley, N. (2001a). Analysing masculinity: Interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor & S. Yates. (eds.), Discourse as data: a guide for analysis (pp. 189-229). London: Sage Publications. Edley, N. (2001b). I. Conversation analysis, discursive psychology...
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...Routledge, 1997. Brodkin, Karen. “How Jews Became White”. White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. 3rd ed. Ed. Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Macmillan, 2008: 35-48. Crane, Betsy and Crane-Seeber, Jesse. “The Four Boxes of Gendered Sexuality: Good Girl/Bad Girl and Tough Guy/Sweet Guy Sexual Lives: A Reader on the Theories and Realities of Human Sexualities. Eds. Robert Heasley and Betsy Crane. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003: 196-217. Crenshaw, Kimberle Williams. “Traffic at the Crossroads: Multiple Oppressions”. Sisterhood is Forever: The Women’s Anthology for A New Millenium. Ed. Robin Morgan. New York: Washington Square Press, 2003: 43-57. Enloe, Cynthia. “Nationalism and Masculinity”. Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000: 42-64. Enloe, Cynthia and Joni Seager. “Snapshot of America”. Interview with Sasha Lilley. Against the Grain. KPFA-FM, Berkeley. 27 July 2011. Foley, “Becoming Hispanic”. White Privilege: Essential...
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...A Analyzing a Major Issue: Bullying Starts at Home Week 8 Assignment 2 Submission Alexandria DeAngelo June 15, 2014 People argue that bullying starts in the home, but what if it’s bigger than that? Some cultures are known for their hierarchy of the family model. The man is at the head of the family; he and his sons are of the most importance, and the mother and children are secondary. This type of hierarchy often leads to bullying that begins in the home, and leaks out into the community, sometimes even an entire culture. What evidence the literature available to date demonstrates ethnic groups, or culturally identified customs that promote bullying behaviors in men? When someone thinks of bullying, a typical image that comes to mind is a school hallway, a bigger kid throwing a smaller kid into a locker, and some belittling phrases. However, bullying can occur in many different forms, and on different levels of severity. In some cultures, men are taught growing up that they are dominant over females. “Many have debated the definition of culture. Overall, most agree with the definition that culture is an acquired and transmitted pattern of shared meaning, feeling, and behavior that constitutes a distinctive human group” (Ayman & Korabik, 2010). As these young boys grow up, become husbands and fathers, these men begin to treat their wives poorly, often bullying them verbally, mentally, or even physically. This bullying can lead to violence. When young children...
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...Sociology of Gender Gender is defined as the social distinctions between masculinity and femininity. People often use the terms gender and sex interchangeably. The former is defined above, whereas the latter is defined as a determination of male or female on the basis of a set of socially agreed-upon biological criteria. Music Videos such as Stupid Girls and If I Were A Boy by singers Pink and Beyonce respectively demonstrate clearly the assumptions or categorizations we evoke simply by using the terms girl or boy. Although the topic of gender in sociology is vast, this paper focuses on how gender is reproduced and how the gendered body is displayed in society. There are three ways in which gender is reproduced in society. It is reproduced through the family, education and the media. From birth begins gendered expectations. According to the social norm, the color pink is mainly associated as a feminine color and the color blue masculine. Family and friends who go to see the birth of a baby girl fill the hospital room with pink balloons, teddy bears with pink ribbons and if a boy was born the room would be filled with presents which are blue in color. Growing up, girls receive presents such dollhouses and kitchen sets which reinforce their femininity. Parents raise their boys and girls differently. Even though research shows that boys at an early age (around 2 years) are just as interested in playing with the same toys girls play...
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...The concept of female masculinity not only show that there are alternatives to the typical male masculinity, but the term suggests that the idea of masculinity can be different based on cultures and it is not a strict, absolute definition that most societies make us believe. Female masculinity, most importantly, is a sign of rebellion since the women are rejecting the expected gender roles that society expects of them. The females portraying masculinity are going against the ideals of being a female either by wearing masculine clothes or acting masculine. However, the concept of female masculinity not only help explain the ideas mentioned above, but also explain how masculinity is not synonymous to just men, how there is a standard to masculinity, and how society sets standards as to who fits in a certain gender....
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...The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1756-6266.htm Situating the subject: gender and entrepreneurship in international contexts Fidelma Ashe University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, UK, and Gender and entrepreneurship 185 Lorna Treanor Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a perspective to further the understanding of gender entrepreneurship. This paper considers the situatedness of the gendered entrepreneur within diverse international contexts marked by different constitutions of gender identities and networks of power, both within the context of contributions within this special issue but also more broadly within the field of gender and entrepreneurship research. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopt a feminist perspective and analyse the different framings of identity within gender and entrepreneurship literature and their contributions to our understandings of the concepts of both power and gendered identities. Findings – The paper finds that power and identity are configured in different contexts in ways that open arenas for future analysis. Originality/value – The paper highlights the importance of considering masculinities within gender and entrepreneurship research offering support for further analyses of entrepreneurial masculinities by examining two studies that expose entrepreneurial masculinities as shifting subjectivities...
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... Advertisers not only just sell products, they sell ideals, values and normalcy. They also help to create or express consumers' identity, including gender (Van den Bulck, Van Hellemont 623). Gender roles are defined as the behavioural patterns indicating to others you are a male or a female. In other word, this is also linked to masculinity and femininity. In North America, advertising labels masculinity with traits such as dominance, assertiveness and independence. In contrast, we have femininity in which advertising labels as passive, beautiful and co-dependant. These two images advertisers try to paint normalize the stereotypes of different gender roles. Different companies use different strategies to sell products and encourage consumers to part with their hard earned money. Advertising reinforces particular gender norms. Through an analysis of a case study of anti-aging cream aimed towards women, this paper will argue that all advertising fundamentally plays on dominant ideologies to make people believe that in order to be “normal” or “successful”, they must buy product X. In particular, it will focus on how dominant norms surrounding masculinity and femininity are encouraged. These norms suggest what is considered an acceptable male and female appearance. It will also focus in particular on gender norms which female attractiveness is above all else, while men are valued for their other characteristics. The following case study is on the analysis of women and the use anti-aging...
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