...Bush From the 1970s to the early 1990s, there were many anxieties regarding shifting gender definitions and roles in American society. Ronald Reagan’s attempt to “re-masculinize” the country was during a time when communism and terrorism posed real threats to our nation. After these problems were resolved diplomatically rather than through physical action in the early 1990s, the definition and representation of masculinity began to shift. This was directly reflected in the media in “critical dystopias”, or films that envision an apocalyptic future. Essentially, these Science Fiction productions are artistic critiques of contemporary issues in society. Terminator 2 (James Cameron, 1991) and Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993) are both critical dystopias from the early 1990s that exemplify the social commentary of such films. The protagonists of both films completely redefine the white, heterosexual male super-body version of masculinity that was popular in the 1980s. By examining the narratives, the characterization, and the cinematography of each critical dystopia, one can see a clear cultural shift in the definitions of masculinity and a growing critique of contemporary masculinity within these films of the early 1990s. Following the Vietnam War, the nation experienced a period of feminization. This can best be depicted in the creation of the “New Man” in men’s magazines; the “New Man” is sensitive, fashionable, and clearly feminized. He also is romantic and expresses emotions...
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...challenges that women have but you can’t forget that men also go through the same. With everything on the news being about feminism people often forget that men also have problems. This leads me to say that one of the main troubles that young men have today is how society defines masculinity. Society plays a huge role in a young man’s life due to all the social media outputs so how all these outputs portray masculinity is a huge problem for the young men of today. To begin with, the way society portrays masculinity is in a sort of fashion that oppresses young men by not only making young men act like emotionless robots they are also judged in the material that they study and read. A good example of this is how society used the cowboy to portray a “Man” (source 1) what today’s society expects from young men is a person who will be tough all the time and do all the hard work with no complaining but clearly that is nothing how a cowboy’s life really is as a true cowboy are mostly all the time caring people who work with animals and care for them (source 3) so not only is society keeping young men from expressing themselves they are giving false portrayals of true manhood....
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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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...The idea of exploring what is masculinity is an exercise mostly conducted by white, heterosexual men in North American and European societies (Blais and Dupuis-Déri, 2012), and seems to be based around the ramifications of feminism and the historic domination of women, both in public and private spheres (Petersen, 1998). Indeed, Petersen (1998) recalls that the basic assumption of the spokesmen for masculinity is that women, women’s values in general and feminist in particular, dominate men and the male identity. With men currently engaged in an identity crisis where they often depict themselves as victims of feminist struggles (Blais and Dupuis-Déri, 2012; Faludi, 1992). Often this crisis has led to warning that the feminist movement has...
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...message of the play, does not make sense. To many’s disbelief, Dutchman is not about a search for blackness and defining a socially distinct identity, it is about becoming a man in America. Masculinity defines the ideologies of black nationalists during this time and this is the character that Jones/Baraka is trying to articulate in Dutchman. In Dutchman, Lula and Clay mention the topic of manhood during the dialogue on the train. Clay questions what they are going to talk about “endlessly” and Lula replies “your manhood”. From this exchange in conversation, we can see that Baraka is trying to construct and define black “manhood”. This type of masculinity can be described as tough, assertive, uncompromising and virile in addition to separating ones self from weak and effeminized men. Baraka and the leaders of the Black Power movement associated themselves with such definitions of manhood in order to recuperate some degree of power over long time notions of subordination created by racism. In Clay’s monologue we see how he rejects and separates himself from the less masculine men. Amidst his rant of telling Lula how he is going to kill her, he also threatens to kill the “weak-faced ofays”. Clay recognizes that these “weak-faced ofays” are separate from him and by doing so he asserts a definition of...
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...development of eating disorders and lower self-esteem. Moreover, gender is a routine, methodical, and recurring accomplishment that actually surfaces in everyday human interaction (West and Zimmerman, 1987), and gender relations are learned through these advertisements, which essentially serve as a distorted reflection of the real world. These sexualized and stereotypical gender images are teaching the viewers a vast array of social cues, a certain way to interpret social reality, and are eventually reconstructing the definition of femininity and masculinity. Various studies have been done regarding the covert ways that magazine advertisements construct masculinity and femininity. Assuming that significant differences in the portrayal of men and women would be found in terms of magazine type and its target readers, a content analysis will be used to examine and compare the selected fashion magazines to determine how contemporary advertisers define or portray masculinity and femininity to different readerships. Literature...
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...questions needs to probe by the researcher prior to the process of beginning the research: Why ask these questions? Has anyone else done something similar? Will the answers and ultimately the results be relevant? All these answers will be better answered through the process of reviewing literature. This essay will provide a mock interpretation of how the given literature reviews on masculinity can be used to extract the interview schedule. This will be done through examining the existing phenomena in the body of research on masculinity and to further close the gap between themes that have been addressed and the need thereof to expand on the existing theory should the need arise (Et al). 2. INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 2.1 Section A: Understanding masculinity in the 21st century Franklin describes masculinity as those behaviors, language and practices existing in specific cultural and organizational locations, which are commonly associated with males and thus culturally defined as not feminine. This line of questioning will seek to interrogate the understanding of respondents on the concept of masculinity and various groupings of masculine ideals. Questions:...
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...101.01 Individual Research Paper Dr. Gillespie Violent Masculinity: How American Society and Media Glorify Violence in the American Youth By it’s anthropologic definition, masculinity is anything that men think and do. It is anything that men think and do to other men. And lastly, it is the idea that some men are innately, or are acknowledged to be, more macho than other men (Guttman 93). When we consider those in their childhood and adolescence stages, even though they aren’t men, they are nevertheless affected by the constructs of masculinity. In this paper, I intend to show how American Society and popular media combine to construct a masculinity norm that glorifies violence, especially among teens, adolescence, and children. Before we look at how masculinity can lead to violence in our culture, we must first unearth how masculinities are constructed, both by mainstream media and by societal norms. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of masculine and feminine studies is that gender is a perception that is socially constructed (Craig 2). Academics are cautious to separate sex—a purely biological difference—and gender—a label that is used to illustrate the essential qualities that society attributes to members of a particular sex. As a result, masculinity becomes a term that we must explain. It is widely recognized that American society and popular media are responsible for shaping masculinity, so it is only logical to that these two institutions be of...
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...MASCULINITY: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF A VISUAL ARTIFACT Visual Culture Essay 2 Module 2 Wessel Viljoen 090029 Genieve Eloff Thursday 14h00 Word Count = 860 TABLE OF CONTENT Pages LIST OF FIGURES…………….....……………………………………………iii 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..1 1.1 What is Musculinism…………………………..………………………..1 1.2 Branded Masculinity…………………………………………………….1 2. MASCULINISM AND ADVERTISING………………………………………...2 3. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..3 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………...4 LIST OF FIGURES Page Fig 1 Old Spice, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, 2010. ………………….2 INTRODUCTION 1.1 What is masculinism? Masculinity is a word that describes an idea generated by the media of what it entails to be a man. According to Cohen(2001:5) “a gender is formed by shared beliefs or models of gender that majority of society accepts as appropriate”. Gender ideals are socially constructed in specific historical and cultural context and changes over time and location. As identified by Brannon (1976) being a hegemonic masculine male entails four main themes: (i) No Sissy Stuff: men must never resemble women or display stereotypical characteristics of a woman. Kimmel (2001:35) suggests that “Homophobia is a centralised principle of our cultural definition of manhood.” (ii) The Big Wheel: the ability of real men to obtain wealth, fame, success and status. Typically determined by occupation. (iii) The Sturdy Oak: manliness...
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...Abstract: This study attempts to investigate the representation of masculinity in the printed advertisement of Mens Biore Double Scrub. All phenomena in the advertisement are described. To present more analytical description, the signs found in the advertisement are analyzed based on Barthes’ orders of signification. Besides that, this study also employs Kress and Van Leeuwen’s method of reading images and intertextual analysis in order to obtain more comprehensive analysis. The result of this study shows that Mens Biore Double Scrub advertisement represents two different concepts of masculinity. The first one is the traditional concept of masculinity. The second one is the new concept of masculinity offered by the advertisement. Generally, words that are used to represent both concepts of masculinity are power, confidence, aggressiveness, competition, challenge, and bravery. The connotative signified success, financial independence, and physical attractiveness are emphasized to change the concept of traditional masculinity to be in line with the company’s need. Keywords: advertisement, semiotics, masculinity Abstrak: Penelitian ini berupaya untuk menganalisa representasi maskulinitas dalam iklan cetak Mens Biore Double Scrub. Seluruh fenomena dalam iklan tersebut dideskripsikan. Untuk menyajikan deskripsi yang analitis, tanda-tanda yang ditemukan dalam iklan tersebut dianalisa berdasarkan gagasan orders of signification milik Barthes. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga menerapkan...
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...What is the Difference Between ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’? To start this essay I will clearly state definitions of ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’ respectively. ‘Sex’ is described as ‘the biological properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles.’(Princeton University – 2010). Whereas gender is listed as ‘the state of being male or female, typically with reference to social or cultural differences rather than biological.’(Michigan University – 2010). In this essay I will explore and investigate both sex and gender, whilst identifying the differences between the two. I will start by elaborating on the given definitions. Sex is defined on the Princeton University website as ‘biological’. This is a word that has recurred in many other definitions that I have researched for the word ‘sex’. This would suggest that sex is able to be categorized in a straight forward manner. However, there are several high profile cases in the media, when the issue of ‘sex’ has come into question. Perhaps most recently is the case of South African athlete, Caster Semanya. Semanya won the 800m race during the African Junior Championship, with the fastest time of the year. This lead to some spectators questioning her sex. When looking at the athlete she has an incredibly muscular and angular frame, and this coupled with her record breaking run made the International Athletic Association ask for a sex test. This case brought the issue of ‘sex’ into much disrepute. Now, we are...
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...In David Brook’s New York Times article, he argues that trumps behavior and politics is a revolution in the advancement of the definition of masculinity and a rejection of the civility codes created over time He rejects the balance between masculinity and felinity ideal, and he embraces all the identity of masculinity and is also built on misogyny Brooks argues that trumps misogyny is different from historical misogyny which blames women that are corrupted and are monsters. Trump’s misogyny has a commercial flavor, where in the area of male competition women are used to win points in the competition. Trump’s misogyny is to immaculate arrival male competitors by either insulting their women if she is not attractive, or concurring his rivals...
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...Brad Hammor Psyc 381-50; Final Paper April 26, 2015 The Socially Engineered Western Male Identity I believe much of the discussion and opinion shared in our culture today regarding the western male could quite possibly be in error and the result of a fairly simple but subtle agenda of a materialistic capitalistic society. I’m not suggesting a conspiracy, rather a consideration for the realities of living in America. This reality is money, getting it and spending it is the underlying motivation of 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...
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...Abstract This article acknowledges the six dimensions of Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions, and defines five of them for a comparison between the United States and India. This article shows for the most part, the definitions of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are correct, but the article did identify some ambiguities while making the comparisons. Finally, future areas of possible research were identified that would assist in the removal of the ambiguities. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions US vs. India Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions was a result of an analysis of a world-wide survey of employee values by IBM in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This theory describes the effects of a society’s culture on the values of that culture’s members and how those values relate to behavior. This is accomplished by using a structure resulting from factor analysis (Hofstede, 2011). This theory has been used as an example for several fields, particularly in cross-cultural psychology (Hofstede, 2011). Geert Hofstede’s original cultural dimensions theory had four dimensions from which cultural values could be analyzed. These four dimensions were: (a) individualism versus collectivism (IDV); (b) uncertainty avoidance (UAI); (c) power distance (PDI); (d) masculinity versus femininity (MAS). While Hofstede was performing research in Hong Kong he added the fifth dimension, long-term orientation (LTO). In 2010, Hofstede and co-author Michael Minkov wrote “Cultures and Organizations Software...
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............................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract List of Illustrations Introduction Methodology Literature Review Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Historical and Cultural Contexts – Defining the 'Mod' and Youth Cultures in Post WWII Britain Americanisation – Music, Motives and Movement The Signs of Style iv v vi ix xi xi xvii xxi xxii xxiv xxvi xxviii xxix xxxii Interpretative Analysis Photography: Music: Fashion Conclusion Bibliography Appendix iii Abstract The purpose of this research study is to identify the signs of masculinity and European influence that dominated aspects of 'Modernist', or Mod, culture and lifestyle. The Mod is a British subculture which developed in the 1960's. The first stage of this study involves introducing the subcultural theories attributed to the Mod character and the basic roles of masculinity. The second stage introduces a proposed framework used as a methodology in interpreting these signs. A particular reference is the use of Roland Barthes 'Camera Lucida' (Barthes 1982). Following from this, a Literature review will discuss the role of key influences from European and American ideologies that impacted on the style and culture of the...
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