...The purpose of this paper is to explain the following terms in detail: radical feminism; socialist feminism; rape; masculinities; violence; sexual harassment; biology is not destiny; and negative feminist stereotypes. I have chosen to discuss the two feminist theories that were previously mentioned due to the fact that they both focus heavily on the oppression of men in society, as well as the evident gender division between the sexes. I have chosen to focus on the six concepts that were previously mentioned because they focus on how women are oppressed, and mistreated in society. Radical Feminism Radical feminism supports the idea that patriarchy is the main form of oppression women face. The goal of radical feminism is the elimination of patriarchy. From a radical feminist perspective, women are oppressed in three main ways or areas: the state, the nuclear family, and through reproduction and mothering. Radical feminism also suggests that the lack of control women have over their own bodies and own reproduction is central to oppression. Radical feminists aim towards eliminating sexual, as well as physical violence against women (Calixte et al., 2009). The significance of radical feminism is that it focuses on what is seen as the major oppressors in our culture. Moreover, radical feminism opens our eyes to male dominance and how it has been highly normalized. It alerts us to how ‘normal’ or common images from pornography reduce women to sexual objects. Moreover, it makes...
Words: 2415 - Pages: 10
...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. Mariana: I saw in YM that...
Words: 1905 - Pages: 8
...became the first open gay player to enter the NFL draft and eventually would be selected in the draft by the St. Louis Rams. He announced he was gay back in February and ever since them he was the main focal point of the NFL up until the Draft. The main point of this paper is to take basic ideologies such as masculinity, violence, Race, Gender, sexuality or meritocracy, and use these ideologies to analyze how the media portrays Michael Sam. Another point that will be touched upon is how the news media and sport media have different ways of portraying Michael Sam in the media. Methods: The first thing I did to conduct my research was to find 10 media sources that were related to how the media portrayed Michael Sam. In these 10 media sources I was looking for different types of ideologies and how the media used these articles to describe Michael Sam. Once I found 10 media Articles I needed to find 2 more Academic articles. It was going to be hard to find an Academic article on Michael Sam because he announced he was gay in February, so I improvised. When searching for my academic articles I searched for sources that would be associated with Michael Sam such as black masculinity, or an article on changing the way sport reporters examine gay athletes. These articles don’t necessarily talk about Michael Sam but they help give a better...
Words: 3218 - Pages: 13
...Summary the video Some people wonder whether gender is genetically based or they just learn 2 be feminine or masculine. It is very important to know what gender we are since birth because each of us has very perceptions of what each sex is like, how they should be treated, and even what value they have for society. Therefore, sex is the most basic way in which we categorize people throughout their lives. There are differences between two genders at birth which are biologically congenital, universal, and essentially reproductive. As we know, males and females are different in sexual organs, genes and hormones. While daughters are described as beautiful, delicate, and weak, sons seem strong, coordinated and alert despite no differences between them in weight, health and strength. What makes sex categorization significant goes beyond the biological characteristics. Gender is different cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity, different expectations and experiences, and psychological and social meanings attached to the categories of male and female. We define women or men by their sexual organs, the way they behave, how they look and dress, what they are supposed to do in order to be acceptable and appropriate and what roles they are allowed to do. Gender roles, as basic as femininity and masculinity, are two sets of traits and behaviors to distinguish men and women and based on socially-prescribed expectations about ideal sexual types. However, it is...
Words: 1819 - Pages: 8
...Kenechukwu Igweze Mrs. Armstrong-Sanchez English 110 9 September 2011 Life, who makes the choices? you or the media Most people think that they are completely in control of their own thoughts, emotions, actions, basically their whole lives and the way they see other people. However, in actuality, they are not. In the society we live in today, we are all brought up on stereotypes and expected to fill the supposed roles of the child, the woman, and the man. All we see on TV, in commercials, magazines, and on the internet is the stereotypical person. The big strong male figure, the mother or the sexy and thin female figure, these are some of the types of characters portrayed in everything that we intake from the media. The media is a massive information network that connects people to the world, which is beneficial, however , it also misrepresents different groups of people which in turn warps the minds of its audience. It forces us to prejudge, and we grow up on these often false representations of the world. The representation of women in the media has changed a lot in the last couple decades, Many of us would agree that some strides have been made in how the media portrays women in movies, TV and magazines, and that there has been an increase in the presence and influence of women in media. Nonetheless, female stereotypes continue to expand in the media we take in every day. Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women's bodies are used to sell everything...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
...acceptable outlet for hostile and aggressive feelings, and the role sport plays as a cultural element to bring meaning to life. Additional attention will be given to aspects of extra-sport character behavior and a determination of whether or not such behaviors support sport stereotypes and/or deviant characteristics. Through internet research, library study, and the use of periodical articles found in the ProQuest databases, I intend to apply the functionalist model of society to show that the fictional football team “The Miami Sharks” highlighted in the movie supports stability and equilibrium in the community of Miami based on common interests and convictions. The world of professional sports, especially professional football, is a world that most will only see on the television or through movies. “Any Given Sunday,” by Oliver Stone, is one such movie. It highlights a portion of a season for the fictional team The Miami Sharks with the interpersonal struggles on and off the field experienced by the characters related to the team. This paper explores the movie “Any Given Sunday” and attempts to discuss the movie in detail by focusing on the socially acceptable outlet for hostile and aggressive feelings, masculinity and gender roles, religion in sport, race in sports, character examples of the personal functions of sport such as feelings of belongingness and social identification, and the role sport plays as a cultural element to bring meaning to life. Additional attention...
Words: 5135 - Pages: 21
...Violence There are many battles in Macbeth; it features the murder of men, women and children; suicide and beheading Macbeth shows that once one violent act is done, it only leads to another, and this does not stop. This means, violence usually does not fix anything. In Macbeth, as soon as his ambition took over and he became a serial murderer, it didn't turn out well in the end - Macduff killed Macbeth. This is similar to many problems of society today, especially in teenage boys. Many people believe physical violence is the only way to fix their problems, which actually, it will most likely only cause a bigger one. Fights can never end up good - someone will always come out of it second best, and the other may even be caught out by the police or teachers! This leads to my next point, masculinity. "Dispute it like a man I shall do so, but I must also feel it as a man, I cannot but remember such things that were most precious to me." This is a quote from Macbeth (IV.3.26) where Macduff is ready to prove he is the more 'manly' one of both him and Macbeth. Even Lady Macbeth is willing to become more masculine so Macbeth can become king, shown in the quote under Ambition. Like Macbeth, Macduff and Lady Macbeth, people nowadays still 'need' to prove their masculinity by violence, especially teenage boys, and that is why the theme of violence is so relevant in today's society. Ambition and Power Ambition is the most obvious theme seen in Macbeth. We see ambition...
Words: 447 - Pages: 2
...declare that this Assignment is my original work and all information obtained from other sources has been cited accordingly. Turnitin Similarity Index _______________________ Signature and Date Course Instructor: Shirley James % Literature Review “Eroticized as a woman and masculinized as action heroine” (Smelik, 2009) – this seems to be inevitable for any woman who ventures into the world of cinema, occupying nontraditional roles particularly in the action-genre because such films have become synonymous with a cardinal male figure. What then is left for females in this male-dominated genre? Can a female action-heroine, considered unconventional and non-traditional, exist without ultimately emphasizing a more dominant male, hence re-articulating gender stereotypes? I will, by discussing how gender patterns in films affect gender identities, argue that this is not likely, simply because of hegemonic masculinity. Eschholz & Bufkin (2001) established the difference between (biological) sex and gender and how they were linked to criminal violence in films, concluding that film depictions of a “structural hierarchy” emphasizes women (femininity) being physically and emotionally subject to their masculine counterparts. Gilpatric (2010) however, focuses on violent female action characters (VFACs), claiming that although VFACs appear to breakaway from stereotypes, it is albeit a masculine manner. Hence such claims are superficial because VFACs are most commonly depicted as dependent...
Words: 2353 - Pages: 10
...From novels to history, males have always played a pertinent, and occasionally overbearing, role in the world around us. In the past, they have been depicted as domineering social figures in a patriarchal world. Now, as times change, people are trying to look more into the struggles that men face regarding their own identity and masculinity. One such person is Dr. Michael Kimmel, a sociologist who works to uncover the dynamics of becoming a man and what it means to be a man. He documents his collection of such experiences in Guyland and analyzes the thought process of many young men go through when determining their own worth. These complex encounters of sociability, sexuality, and masculinity parallel to Richard Blanco and his memoir, The Prince of Los Cocuyos. Richard must battle with his family’s immigration, conforming, and all the negative repercussions of doing so, or not. His thoughts of maintaining a strong mental and physical appearance, to friends and family, troubles him as he tries to explore his differences. Although everyone faces...
Words: 1831 - Pages: 8
...of Japanese popular culture. Darling-Wolf suggests that SMAP's popularity is due to its careful construction of appeal and masculinity. SMAP is not well-known for their talents in singing, but rather for depicting Japanese personalities. Darling-Wolf refers to SMAP members as 'life-sized' pop idols (Aoyagi) who personifies a typical Japanese boy or girl which allows audiences to relate to them well. This is supported by Yano's research which highlights that fans form emotional bonds and connections with celebrities due to their charisma and personalities. Darling-Wolf that SMAP is popular is due to its intertextuality from appearing in TV shows, movies, talk shows and many more media forms which allows fans to feel a proximity or closeness. Intertextuality allows SMAP to be able to portray their personalities better and reach out to more audiences, which enables them to connect with their audience. Darling-Wolf argues that SMAP's fame is highly due to its constructed appeal of masculinity, which creates the 'perfect female fantasy'. SMAP members portray pluralities of masculinities which involve masculinity as a sensitive man and also a violent one. It is important to note that SMAP is always portrayed as the victim in a movie and though they may use violence, Darling-Wolf identifies that their violence is mitigated by their sensitive side of masculinity. An important argument made by Darling-Wolf is the hybridity of SMAP. They portray different racial characters, genders and...
Words: 1243 - Pages: 5
...Explain how theories of masculinity have transformed the sociology of the family? Finbarr Lawton, University College Cork, Department of Sociology. Student Number: 111310236, Module title/code: Sociology of Family, SC2026, Module Coordinator: Linda Connolly Submission Date: 14/1/13 Throughout my essay I will attempt to look at different theories of masculinity and try to show how these theories have transformed the sociology of family in recent decades. I will start by looking at the sociology of family, giving a brief insight into the main theory’s and how it helps us to understand what the sociology of family is essentially about. Following on from this I will look at masculinity giving the main ideas of it and how it has changed and shifted roles in past decades. Before going into detail about masculinity and how it has changed by looking at theories of fatherhood, work, and unemployment and Hegemonic masculinity. Finally I will finish by looking at the main advantages and disadvantages of this change in masculinity in recent decades looking also at how it has changed the sociology of family. When looking at the sociology of family we see that it is an extremely broad field of study and can really be split into four main theories of which to look at the sociology of family, these being: 1. “Functionalist theory: Looks at the essential tasks provided by the family e.g. Socialisation: Regulation of sexual activity. Social placement: Material and emotional...
Words: 2781 - Pages: 12
...In my film analysis essay, I want to discuss about the aboriginal “blackfellas” in Australia, and further the masculinity in the company of the “father and son” relationship which are presented in this film. Mad Bastards, a Paramount Pictures film which was filmed in 2010, written and directed by Brendan Fletcher, and starred by Dean Daley-Jones, Lucas Yeeda, and Greg Tait. In addition, Mad Bastards had been nominated for 12 awards, and had won two. Besides, Mad Bastards was an official selection of 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is an American film festival held annually in Utah, and is the largest independent film festival in the US for American and international independent filmmakers. The festival covers competitive...
Words: 920 - Pages: 4
...Masculinity revolves around the view that men must dominate and control women—in all aspects—and is filled to the brim with double-standards. In his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007) argues on the validity of masculinity. Diaz writes from the point of view of Yunior de Las Casas, a college roommate of our protagonist, Oscar De León (nicknamed Oscar Wao). Through Yunior, Díaz is able to show us Oscar’s struggle between succumbing to masculinity or being true to himself. Through the dichotomy of Oscar and Yunior, Diaz shows that no matter if you abide to the Dominican masculine mold or not, you cannot get out unharmed. Oscar Wao’s plight throughout the story showcases what happens when you do not abide to the Dominican...
Words: 1004 - Pages: 5
...for and against argument • Assess all evidence • Decide which opinions, theories, models are preferable INTRODUCTOIN Research conducted for the national commission on the causes and prevention of violence, ward et al asked ‘are women more aggressive in committing violent crimes today than in the past? Women were viewed as gatekeepers of social morality and the common fear is that women are changing. Ward and his colleagues relied on to document the nature of women ‘violent offences. They have examined whether and how the characteristics and crimes of incarcerated female offenders have changed. This essay also seek to explain the patterns of stability and change over the last third of the 20th century in women’s crimes of violence and the moral panics that explain violent criminality by women. Although boys engage in more delinquent and criminal acts than do girls, female delinquency is on the rise. In 1980, boys were four times as likely as girls to be arrested; today they are only twice as likely to be arrested. In this article, Elizabeth Cauffman explores how the juvenile justice system is and should be responding to the adolescent female offender Reasons why there is less research on female criminality? Smart (1976) stated that throughout history female violence or crime have has been neglected` in criminology theories. The studies show that females were documented to commit less crime, which resulted female offenders being simply conformed within the theoretical...
Words: 10103 - Pages: 41
...victim; they express their contempt for their victim through physical violence and profane language. For these rapists, sex is a weapon to defile and degrade the victim, rape constitutes the ultimate expression of their anger. This rapist considers rape the ultimate offense they can commit against the victim.Anger rape is characterized by physical brutality, much more physical force is used during the assault than would be necessary if the intent were simply to overpower the victim and achieve penetration. This type of offender attacks their victim by grabbing, striking and knocking the victim to the ground, beating them, tearing their clothes, and raping them.The experience for the offender is one that is of conscious anger and rage.[1] Power rape For these rapists, rape becomes a way to compensate for their underlying feelings of inadequacy and feeds their issues of mastery, control, dominance, strength, intimidation, authority and capability. The intent of the power rapist is to assert their competency. The power rapist relies upon verbal threats, intimidation with a weapon, and only uses the amount of force necessary to subdue the victim. The power rapists tends to have fantasies about sexual conquests and rape. They may believe that even though the victim initially resists them, that once they overpower their victim, the victim will eventually enjoy the rape. The rapist needs to believe that the victim enjoyed what was done to them, and they may even ask the victim to meet them...
Words: 3897 - Pages: 16
