A Sample of Factors to Define Modern United States Masculinity

A Sample of Factors to Define Modern United States Masculinity | Introduction During the twentieth century there have been several leading studies, findings and theories to attempt to rationalize and explain masculinity and gender roles in the United States. Some have been based on biblical reference, others on pure animal instinct and some based on modern research. In the following pages I will describe my own factors and qualities that define what it means to be man; that is to understand modern masculinity in the United States.I will highlight and further explore the common theme of hegemonic masculinity and how it threads into our modern culture. You will see a â€Å"frameless framework† evolve; one that is not visible directly, rather it becomes visible only through the absence of tangible visual clues. In addition, I will explore the intersectionality of several roles the Western culture uses to define ourselves as men. Along the way I have included historical references to show how this has changed.In the end you will have a better understanding about intended, conscious choices as well as those unintended, more subtle elements which define modern Western masculinity. Hegemonic Masculinity When pressure is applied and the outcome is not written, verbalized or otherwise directly expressed as hegemonic. This likewise can be applied to gender roles, and most specifically to masculine gender. The dominant discourse of masculinity characterized by physical and emotional toughness, risk taking, predatory heterosexuality, being a breadwinner, and so on.Elements of hegemonic masculinity are commonly set up in binary opposition to their alternatives, so that anything other than the hegemonic form is immediately non-masculine (Divisser, 597) There are numerous unrealistic expectations placed on modern men; often fraught with conflicting values and outcomes. Often men are defined as men by actions, visual clues and memberships to social (non-visual) cliques. Throughout recent history gender (masculine and feminine both) have evolved, as they should have, and n some ways modernized to fit with current cultural standards. Theorists have historicized gender and detached it as an analytical concept from patriarchy, emphasizing instead the performative and discursive features of regimes of gendered power. (Nye, 419) Several theories have been introduced to understand how conflicts incur stress or â€Å"strain†. One such theory is Gender Strain Theory which roughly states how genders differently experience various aspects of life, including their gender.In an important sense there is only one complete unblushing male in America: a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual Protestant father of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent record in sports. Every American male tends to look out upon the world from this perspective, thus constituting one sense in which one can speak of a common value system in America. Any male who fails to qualify in any one of these ways is likely to view himself—during moments at least—as unworthy, incomplete, and inferior. Phillips, 407) Additionally, men and women experience war differently even with the same uniforms, leaders, directions and mission the outcomes and experiences for each gender are distinct. The men who made the transition from citizens to soldiers were obliged to leave behind a sense of manly competence as heads of household for a life in which they lived rough, submitted to discipline, and survived on their fighting skills and personal courage. (Nye, 417) One important note is the sense of pride that an act, such as fighting for one’s country can inflict on a man.As much as he might love and identify with his country, the citizen-soldier fought for and under the scrutiny of his comrades in arms, out of the need to defend his personal honor and that of the fatherland, or—which am ounts to the same thing—to avoid shame. (Nye, 421) Some actions, either socially, publically and in some cases privately, also perpetuate an unrealistic gender stereotype. As an example, vendors of all types market to gender-specific audiences; one of the most gendered is beer manufactures.They spend an incredible amount of effort (and money) researching gender, role and the perfect campaign to stimulate sales. Masculinity may be conceptualized as a problem because of links between hegemonic masculinity and excessive alcohol consumption, academics, health professionals, the media, and the general public should resist the urge to equate (young) masculinity with excessive alcohol consumption. (Devisser, 612) Within the humanities, human and social sciences, there is growing understanding of identity as a normative ideal that is assured through use of categories like sex, sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity.These categories function to regulate and â€Å"develop† ident ity by including and excluding particular characteristics in relation to an assumed â€Å"normal. † (Phillips, 416) Hegemonic masculinity thus refers to the social ascendancy of a particular version of model of masculinity that operates on the terrain of common sense and conventional morality that defines â€Å"What it means to be a man,† thus securing the dominance of some men (and the subordination of women) within the sex/gender system. (Craig 190) At the most basic level, masculinity can be understood as the outward expressions of being biologically male.In this way, male (and female) behaviors are accounted for through a form of genetic and/or biological determinism. The Y Chromosome, testosterone and other hormonal influences, are seen as creating a drive toward particular behaviors in men – hunter(breadwinner), being territorial, sexual promiscuity – that are expressions of evolutionary mechanisms designed to ensure the survival of the species and the procreation of the strongest genetic pool. (Robertson, 27) The model of the male hegemonic sexuality tends to presume the idea of a male heterosexual identity. This, in turn, implies some sense of sameness, commonality, and continuity.If not actually present, the search is nevertheless at least on for an identity—a project of knowing how one is a man. (Hearn, Connell, Kimmel, 190) Another theory that has evolved is the Psychoanalytic Object Relations Theory of Masculine Identity. It helps explain that a boy’s innate and fixed maleness is inadvertently undermined by the mother’s innate and fixed femaleness that emanates from the mother in the early mother-infant relationship. This undermining occurs, according to Pollack (1995), through the mother’s unconscious and conscious dis-identifying behavior. He describes it as â€Å"more than just a subtle emotional shift. (Phillips, 409) In a related, yet quite different approach, the Self-In-Relation Theory of Men and Masculinity Development that encourages sons and fathers (or mothers and sons) so ultimately not stay connected. Although painful this necessary coming-of-age does help complete the parent role and begin the maturity of the son. According to the self-in-relation theory of masculine development, disconnection from relationship is reinforced by cultural forces. Gender role socialization and gender stereotypes, for example, pressure boys and mothers to disconnect in the name of â€Å"normal† development and achieving maleness. Phillips, 411) This pressure to define oneself as a man has been a historically difficult and painful experience. During the early portion of the industrial revolution men no longer worried only about controlling their own passions; now they were fretting that the new crowds surrounding them would put them in a straitjacket. And sadly, at least to many of them, escape was increasingly difficult. (Kimmel, 86) Therefore in many cases men had to f ind common ground among themselves. For the first time they could help identify themselves as individuals by first define themselves as a group.Gender socialization, in this theory, provides the interactional component between individual and society in gender role identity formation. (Phillips, 410) Race and Age Marginalization For some men identity definition comes about by marginalizing other minority groups. By minority I mean other races, ages, social classes, economic groups, religions, etc. By downplaying others’ images it makes the man feel stronger. By comparison a hegemonic masculinity is asserted by denigrating ‘others’ who are not present. Mullen, 152) Although seemingly subtle this assertion has put countless marginalized groups further under power and further separated from a dominant class. External appearance and physical functioning are considered reflections of the self and symbolize social status. Thus, people whose body does not comply with the ideal rank lower in the hierarchy. Specifically, whereas the young body is a central definer of the ideal person, the aged body symbolizes the unwanted and turns into a subject of collective stigma. (Mersel, 74) This case of ageism pushes a lifetime of experience and expertise aside for the sake of ego and self righteousness.Interestingly, the division between two ‘kinds’ of people is supported by opposing stereotypes. Whereas youngsters are perceived as productive, independent and dynamic, elders are regarded as non-productive, dependant and static. A similar reversal relation is found in gender traits as well. In contrast to the gendered young and middle-aged adults, older persons are conceived of as devoid of gender. (Mersel, 75) In addition to the general relationship between aging and gender, the specific intersection between aging and masculinity further deepens the interruption in the masculine key-plots.One major reason is older men’s transparency. As a result of the aging demography, older men are constructed as pre-death. (Mersel, 76) Power Over Women with Pornography Another factor to help define masculinity is the self-centered and sexual pleasure derived from pornography. Specifically from pornographic web sites since the selection is so wide for individual tastes, the availability is as ubiquitous as the Internet and privacy does not usually become an issue. No discussion of these Web sites can ignore the attempts to devalue women in text and images presented.The sites objectify women, relegate them to means for satisfying â€Å"normal† (pathological) desire, and present them as sources of financial reward. While these women are represented as interested in sex, no matter how interested or willing these women are, they remain things to be used and left for the next object-commodity. (Cook, 52) No matter the sexual preference the center of this situation is another power-over situation. Rarely has pornography been produ ced that does not provide a point of view for a dominant male.Even with B&D pornography with a female dominatrix the woman is simply performing the man’s duty with â€Å"male gaze† enabled. Sex is then no longer the source of a truth, as it was for the moderns with their strong belief in science. Instead human sexualities have become destabilized, de-centered and de-essentialized: the sexual life is no longer seen as harboring an essential unitary core locatable within a clear framework (such as the nuclear family), with an essential truth waiting to be discovered. (Hearn, Connell, Kimmel, 188)Job Identity For numerous reasons men typically use a job as a major contributing factor to their identities. It can fulfill a sense of pride, satisfaction and other purely tangible benefits which are hard to combine in other scenarios. Clearly success here can be defined as a raise, a promotion, recognition and other benefits of a defined â€Å"job well done†. When pe ople of either sex success or fail at a task they typically attribute their success or failure to some cause—their ability, effort, luck or the difficulty of the task.Which cause is attributed in a particular circumstance is a result of such factors a gender stereotypes and neurotic pressures. (Steinberg, 98) Historically airline companies portrayed the pilot as rugged, schooled in wartime flying, courageous, and loyal. Passengers were made to believe that, in the event of danger, they were in the safe hands of experienced and courageous flyers. Stories of pilot heroism and courage were repeated throughout company publicity materials. (Mills, 175) In addition, there have been notions of a hegemonic masculinity that have also been threatened by the rise of the global post-industrial economy.This has ushered in different patterns of employment, resulting in the decline of heavy industry and the increase in service-based employment leading to the progressive fragmentation of cla ss-based communities. (Mullen, 153) For the sake of pilots flying had become associated with two types of danger – combative warfare and aircraft pioneering – both of which were associated in the public mind with men. (Mills, 176) Rapid industrialization, technological transformation, capital concentration, urbanization, and immigration—all of these created a new sense of an oppressively crowded, depersonalized, and often emasculated life.Manhood had meant autonomy and self-control, but now fewer and fewer American men owned they own ships, controlled their own labor, owned their own farms. More and more men were economically dependent, subject to the regime of the time clock. (Kimmel, 82) In addition the public had started to be trained to see heterosexual imagery in corporate materials was subtle and indirect – with references to the individual male employee or passengers and â€Å"his wife†. Mills, 179) American men started to feel themselves be leaguered and besieged, working harder and harder for fewer and fewer personal and social rewards. Women have not only entered the workplace but demand entry into men’s social clubs. (Kimmel, 299) In the end some men chose their careers easily and some chose them with qualms about the manliness or the morality of their choice, but the time came when each of them â€Å"first made trial of his talents† in a profession. Many years of hard work and even more of grand dreams had been spent in preparation for this moment.Young men often felt as if an audience of friends and family watched their first efforts at success. (Rotundo, 174) Relationships with Other Men One of the most visible factors which help define masculinity is male/male friendships. Generally men’s friendships are marked by shared activities. Their talk usually centers around work, sports and sharing expertise. Men also trade complaints and concerns about women, along with talk of exploits, but most o f the time their interactions are emotionally contained and controlled. Craig, 95) Peer friendship groups may be beneficial to men in terms of mental well-being, masculine identity is often (re) affirmed in such groups through misogyny, homophobia and violence that reinforces hegemonic ideals and can result in the marginalization/subordination of others. (Robertson, 110) One could consider groups of men to be â€Å"gangs† in a purely denotation sense, due to the habits and bonds formed between members. But in addition there are actions (passages, if you will) which may include drinking alcohol in gang life.Alcohol acts as a social lubricant to maintain the solidarity of the gang and also to affirm masculinity and male togetherness. It is a significant part of a number of gang rituals: initiation, funerals and fighting between members. (Mullen, 152) The central theme of masculine leisure activity in a beer commercial, then, is challenge, risk, and mastery—mastery over n ature, over technology, over others in good-natured â€Å"combat†, and over oneself. To that end beer functions in leisure activities as it does in work: as a reward for challenges successfully overcome; it also serves another function, never explicitly alluded to in commercials.In several ways drinking, in itself, is a test of mastery. (Craig, 82) To further perpetuate these values in advertising, nature is closely associated with both masculinity and beer, as beer is presented as equivalent to nature. Often, beer is shown to be a product that is nature and pure, implying that its consumption is not harmful, and perhaps even healthy. (Craig, 83) What conclusions could someone draw from this? What lens might these ads be using to sell their products? Yet again, we see masculinity, gender identity and other values (by their filtered definition) sold along with the product.Sexual Identity When sociologists, historians, feminists, and anthropologists began to study human sexuali ty they soon realized that it was often profoundly unlike that found in other animals. Of course there is a biological substratum that connects us all to animal life, but what is distinctive about human sexuality is that it is both (a) symbolic and meaningful and (b) linked to power. (Hearn, Connell, Kimmel, 187) Despite feminist progress the majority of modern men are still focused solely on the hunt.Today American men are still doing only a fraction more of the work in the home than they were thirty years ago. (Walker, 198) Several of the major factors in sexual identity are phallus-driven (for the sake of this discussion I’ll use â€Å"penis† to mean physical and â€Å"phallus† to mean symbolic). The problem is that the phallus-self immediately refers to the penis-self and the fundamental question of Western heterosexual masculinity (â€Å"am I man enough? †) refers directly to the possession of a â€Å"man enough† penis. The problem is twofold. It reflects a failure to imagine women’s pleasures in other than penile (phallic) terms. It also makes the penis the sole bearer of the possibility for women’s pleasure. (Cook, 58) Heterosexual adolescents may experience coming to terms with their questions about conventional gender ideologies and that the struggles may be keen and unseen by others. It also opens the possibility that the salience of these questions and the ability to resolve them may occur at different times in the development for girls and for boys. Striepe and Tolman, 529) Heterosexual masculine identity is an ongoing production of self that is underpinned by an unfulfillable desire to produce a centre and to generate a self that represses the initial primary identification with the mother. In short, heterosexual masculine identity can be understood to be performed against anxiety. This anxiety is a function of the (failed) repression of femininity that is central to the production of male identity. (Cook, 48) Two principal sources may be asserted of the (phallic) anxiety that is fundamental to Western heterosexual masculinity.One is the basic psychological process of separating from the mother, which is an essential feature of Freudian psychoanalytic theory, and particularly object relations theory. The second is the anxiety caused to men by the presence of the female, both as the unknowable female body and as the feminine within the male body itself. This anxiety has been intensified by feminism. (Cook, 50) To this end there have been expected â€Å"scripts† written for both male and female roles in society. These are expected, subtly, to be played out. Deviation from these scripts can prove damaging to one’s image.An example script for girls is to please their boyfriends but not to show any signs of their own sexual desire; the punishment for straying from the script is earning a negative reputation, that is, being branded a slut. (Striepe and Tolman, 524) Like wise an example script for boys is that they should always try to have sex, fueled by the anticipation of an uncontrollable surge of testosterone, and that becoming a man means having sex with girls. (Striepe and Tolman, 524) In both cases these scripts are written with a complete male perspective with the female role witnessed with the male gaze.Marriage and Masculinity Throughout history men and women in love felt driven toward a complete and shared understanding, they set an extremely high value on candor. Candor was something that connected two people who inhabited separate sphere. It moved lovers past the stereotypes of the opposite sex and confronted them with the real people obscured by the larger images. (Rotundo, 111) Again historically by marrying, a woman lost her name, her home and in most cases, the control of her property. She surrendered her social identity and put in its place a new one; essentially, that of her husband.Much of who she was became submerged in who her husband was. (Rotundo, 134) Today men and women can chose to embrace or repel this philosophy. Modern relationships should be built on flexibility and mutual respect; not solely on cultural expectations. It’s often said that both men and women â€Å"let themselves go† after marriage. This context-specific quote can mean letting their standards down—meaning losing quality metrics, or letting their bodies go—meaning not taking care of themselves physically, mentally or spiritually.This settling down may be marked by a change in the nature of one’s embodiment. The normal everyday body may increasingly be perceived as a functional, indeterminate shape body rather than as a physical, defined shape body. (Watson, 90) Raising Children and Family Life For many men becoming a father is one of the most rewarding and most challenging parts of a man’s life. The role of father begins not at birth, but rather long before that during the relationship-buil ding phase of the family.A father’s treatment of the opposite sex, his ability to control his own emotions, and his approach to work all play a formative role in shaping his sons’ and daughters’ approach to romantic relationships and marriage, interpersonal relationships, and school and work (Rosenberg, 23) When a boy has a loving relationship with a masculine, competent and nurturing father he develops the masculine characteristics of his father and insofar as the father is representative of his culture the boy develops the behavior and attitudes appropriate for a male. (Steinberg, 75)Some recall seeing very little of their own father because of work shift patterns or longer working days. A reaction to this is to want to spend more time with their children. Evenings and weekends become time for their relationship with the children. (Watson, 91) Fathers need to take an active role in nurturing their children. Many fathers mistakenly see this as mother’s w ork. It is a valuable way men teach their children that they are loved and respected, and it helps ensure that children, especially boys, do not feel the necessity to act out to get their father’s attention.Helping a toddler brush her teeth, reading a son a nightly story (even a father with limited reading) ability can still enjoy books with his child—together, they can look at the pictures and make up a story), and bottle-feeding a hungry infant all help foster a healthy, strong tie between father and child. (Rosenberg, 40) A child’s first few years are crucial. The grandfather must tell the grandson what the child said while still a fetus in his mother’s womb. Then, he must gradually help him build a connection with his father, who will help him with the hard challenges up ahead. Walker, 81) Fathers should acknowledge their mistakes to their children. When appropriate, they should be willing to seek forgiveness from their children. A father who loses hi s temper while disciplining a child should apologize to the child. Many men view apologizing to their child as a sign of weakness that will cause the child to lose respect for the father. The opposite is true. Apologizing shows a man is capable of acknowledging and facing up to a mistake, fixing the mistake to the extent possible, and committing to moving forward—hardly a sign of weakness, much more so a sign of strength (Rosenberg, 23)Boys need structure, they need supervision, and they need to be civilized. When raised in a laissez-faire environment that is devoid of leadership, they often begin to challenge social conventions and common sense. Many often crash and burn during the adolescent years. (Dobson, 230) Children who are deprived of masculine paternal presence are more likely to become defensive and rigidly adhere to cultural role standard or to avoid the behavior expected of their gender. (Steinberg, 73) Your attitude as a parent will shape the future behavior of y our boy.If he sees you acting like a spoiled kid, yelling at the umpire or referee, taunting other players, and throwing tantrums when things go wrong, your son will behave just as badly. (Dobson, 149) When a child grows into an adolescent, he or she must be initiated into adulthood. A person who doesn’t get initiated will remain an adolescent for the rest of their life, and this is a frightening, dangerous and unnatural situation. (Walker, 84) Boys watch their dads intently, noting every minor detail of behavior and values. It is probably true in your home too. Your sons will imitate much of what you do.If you blow up regularly and insult your wife, your boys will treat their mother and other females disrespectfully. (Dobson, 69) Conclusion Based on the various factors I’ve mentioned throughout this writing you may have found both familiar and new factors which have helped shape modern US masculinity. Hopefully you have a better understanding of some of the historical context as well as some context behind masculine gender theories. Throughout this writings I’ve subtly left out portions of text which provide absolute definition and allowed a frameless framework to emerge.This allows me to portray definition without specific parameters. In addition to this you have read about some of the various intersectionalities of man: race, age, power struggle, job, relationships, marriage, and children. Clearly this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, yet it does include many highlights from my own life. Even with that knowledge in hand it was necessary to continuously mention hegemonic masculinity since it gets so little attention in modern media (sort of ironic, right? ).The other key element I felt compelled to include was marginalization of several classes (other races, aged individuals and especially women). I wanted to bring special attention to the meaning and practice of hegemony and marginalization purely for awareness. Both impact all of us either through personal experience, through family, work or education. With this knowledge I hope others will make educated choices on your future interactions with all people.