It's an interesting subject actually. While for the
most part I believe that the media has not tried to influence men to lose their
masculinity, the more I think about it, I can see some instances where this is
true. The example Chaudhry used of the "metrosexual" man is what
really opened my eyes to see what is happening to men nowadays. It's all too
true that men are now displayed as being materialistic over masculine. I saw a
commercial just the other day for a TV show about a metrosexual father and his
family… really people? That's what we've resorted to for influencing today’s
young men? I should have expected garbage like this to happen eventually, I
only hoped it wouldn't be in my lifetime. Men used to be fearless warriors that
accomplished great feats. Society no longer glorifies warriors anymore, they
would much rather have a sensitive nice guy. You might be shaking your head
while reading this, but really think about it. Using just your general
background knowledge of what men were like throughout history compared to the
present can lead you to conclude that men are becoming pansies. The media seems
to say that women want an emotional guy to be able to connect with and share
their feelings with. Well guess what ladies, now y'all can have a guy that
listens to your feelings, goes shopping with you, and even gets their nails
done together with you… it's called a homosexual. You wanted guys to be more
like you and now you have your wish. As for me, I'm going to continue to fight
the degrading image the media paints of a man in the 21st century. While typing
this I actually just saw a commercial for Dr. Pepper Ten where there is a super
manly man doing crazy manly things out in the wilderness like fishing with his
bare hands and carrying a whole tree under his arm. It's advertisements like
this that give me hope for the future of men.
The role of masculinity is still the same in today’s
society despite women becoming increasingly autonomous. Honestly, I don't
really know what this question is asking so I'd like some input from you guys.
Masculinity is always going to be important and play a big role in society, but
what is the role it plays? Look at me asking a question inside my answer to
another question, that's some Inception stuff right there.
The author of "Why You
Shouldn't Have Children" brings up an interesting theory about motherhood
not being the noblest call for women. Isn't that a big part of femininity
though? Nurturing and raising the youth of tomorrow is no small task that women
are in charge of doing. Femininity doesn't hold much value or meaning anymore
if women want to be rid of what makes them feminine in the first place. It's a
personal choice whether or not you want to bring a new being into this world,
but it's a norm in today's society that women are to eventually have children. Actually
that's a norm that has been expected from women since the very first humans
walked this earth. It's not like some crazy sexist concept that originated
recently by evil men wanting to degrade women. So I'm not exactly sure what the
author was going for by saying that women shouldn't be expected to have
children.
In current TV show’s there aren’t the same types of characters as men that are being showcased to modern boys. The male characters are emanating “the objectification of women, inability to connect or communicate” (Chaudhry) which is constantly being pushed as the main characters of TV shows. Boys are seeing this as the “norm” and role models because these are the characters that are getting the latest toy or the most girls. As young boys, these are the same kinds of things that they value as important. There are rarely any male leads that re virtuous family men who are happy. Or at least seem happy in their choices to be the admirable kind of guy. They reek of regret and reminiscent desires and this is the image that boys are given. Who would want to live their lives unhappily? SO they are much more influenced by the men who are selfish and self-serving with all the cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteMasculinity, in today’s society, plays this role of dominance but not the same way it did in the 50’s. There really isn’t much virtue. There really isn’t much honor. It’s about getting ahead and preserving this machismo when women are making more choices for themselves so that they can keep their territory, so to speak. A man’s masculinity doesn’t need to be in competition with a women’s femininity. They are supposed to be equal halves to a whole. If there is always going to be a competition of who’s essence is better in charge then the correspondence between men and women won’t work. They were made to work together but they are both acting against each other by pulling what they feel to be the quality one has into their own so the “don’t need” the other.
Femininity has the connotation that there is this sense of gentle, caring helpful and cooperative in many instances. For the most part this is true, as far as I’ve seen. Women don’t need to have children to be feminine. There are plenty of women who cannot have children, but that doesn’t make them any less feminine. As I’ve said previously, masculine needs it’s counterpart of femininity to keep the balance. Where there is an absence of gentle approach or helpful nature the masculine counter can come with the assertive and problem solving nature to satisfy all kinds of problems. There can’t be just one way to do things. If everything were one way or another then there would be only one way to see something or process it. There just need to be two ways to consult issues and everyday life. Children don't necessarily make a woman more gentle or helpful neither does it make her more assertive and dominant or successful as Moran pointed out.