Gender And Social Institutions And The Construction Of Masculinities

Their main job is to take the trash out and help their dads if asked. When it comes to behavior, more is expected from the girls meanwhile they boys can do whatever they want to do. The girls are expected to be modest and well mannered because God forbid that a rumor gets around in the family or the neighborhood and then everybody begins talking badly about the entire family. God forbid that your own family starts to wonder if your mother ever thought you any good because of the way you talk, or dress, and especially if you want to take a different path in life. The girls in the family will determine everything. They will determine how the rest of the family will be perceived. The girls will determined whether your mom and dad did right in raising their children based on the standards of the culture. The girls are the ones who will determine if that cultural chain will be broken or be intact for the future generation, the future generation that you girls will

Society’s current structure of masculinity is unforgiving in form. It cuts out other forms of masculinity, it physically and mentally demanding, and its ill effects extend far beyond the men it infuses itself in. Yet what would we do if we were given other options for masculinity, ones that allowed for unique blends of attitudes and perceptions? Looking in to the lives of homeless men we can see the forced strategies which create new masculine codes created for the adaption against patriarchal pressures. They are made out of survival need to circumnavigate the painful mental and physical reality that is only made worse by harsh masculine standards. Yet these new masculinities hold out a form of hopefulness for society. They offer up new discussion to what it means to be a man, the potential for change, and what we can expect from changes in male identity over time. Using what we learn from the disadvantaged, we can hope to improve the lives of people, although the process will take time, effort, and careful mediation.

W.E.B. DuBois once said, "Children learn more from what you are than what you teach" (DuBois). Established gender roles are taught early on and are adapted to because of what children see. Men are seen as the providers, protectors, and backbone of the family. Women are often the more domestic breed, taking care of the children, softer, and more submissive. When it comes to parenting, these roles are instilled into the children in numerous ways. More importantly, the child is watching and mimicking the behaviors instead of actually listening to what the parents actually have to say. “For example, children learn that women and men (should) act differently when they observe that mothers spend more time on care-giving and fathers, on leisure

The women in my family seemed to generally follow the traditional role of submissive homemaker all the way down my maternal line until we came to my mother. She was spoken of with some awe after adventurously joining the Navy as one of the first women admitted as a sailor and then later taking a male dominated career as an Air Traffic Controller. I came to view traditional female roles as weak and undesirable. This example of social learning theory influenced my actions and thoughts, though not necessarily in the traditional way for most girls. In my younger years, to my embarrassment now, I saw myself as “not one of those girls” and loved the title of tomboy. My family seemed to encourage these behaviors and encouraged me to pursue an education and career that would fulfill the role of a “bread winner”. I think that this, in many ways, taught me that it was acceptable to diminish other women, especially those who were more traditionally feminine.

This chapter first establishes the discursive approach to gender as the foundation for conceptualizing masculinities. Next, it introduces some recent conceptualizations of masculinities and the types of masculinities propagated within the Singapore context. Following that, it explores how advertisements produce and transfer meaning before looking at some of the masculinities present in the advertisements within men’s lifestyle magazines.

The gender based expectations are taught and the sometimes subtle, often overt lessons begin at a very young age. It starts with the color of the blanket a baby is wrapped up in, the toys bought for them to play with, and extends to the pretend play they engage in. So from the earliest ages of social awareness, society reinforces the ideals of masculine and feminine throughout life. Consequently, it is perfectly acceptable for a girl to put on a purple tutu and twirl about granting wishes to her stuffed animals, while it would be discouraged for a boy. He should be outside in the sandbox setting up his toy soldiers in a mock battle. In spite of the entrenched idea of gender, some mothers and fathers aspire to a more gender-neutral parenting style, that doesn’t restrict their child to specific societal ideals. However, the pressure to conform to the gender binary is ever-present and difficult to deconstruct. The boy that cries when he gets hit by a baseball is called a “sissy” and told to “man up” by his coach. The girl who tells her high school counselor, she wants to take auto

It all starts from the moment a child is born. The doctor happily shouts “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!”, a pink or blue hat is slapped on the kid, and a celebration of the new life begins. It is not only the beginning of a new life, but the beginning a childhood of the pressure to conform to gender norms. The general understanding of what it means to be male or female is very cut and dry, and to challenge the norm is often met with ridicule. Growing up with the pressure to conform and restrain yourself from being who you truly are is an unnecessary struggle that children do not need. The effects of societal gender roles enforces negative stereotypes and does more harm than good to children.

To read Babio without recognizing the gender politics at work in the play would disregard much of how the play itself creates meaning. So much of the play’s plot and character dynamics are related to the way gender functions in this play. One major theme of Babio is the idea of masculinity and how masculinity is defined. Through the portrayal of Babio as an effeminate character, Babio is able to define masculinity through absences in Babio’s Character. Consequently, Babio makes the additional point that lovesickness is not an intrinsic aspect of medieval masculinity, despite the fact that love sickness is often attributed to men.

Male gender roles in contemporary media that are negatively portrayed through masculinity greatly effects the physical, psychological, and behavioral image of men. The social construct of masculinity in society and its relationship to males is generally reflected in male media consumption. The popular concept of women’s feminine image in the media is vastly overshadowed and more predominantly acceptable in subtle society in comparison to male’s image of masculinity.

Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades,

Within the American culture, our youth are taught that the masculine roles of the male has traditionally been associated with their role of being strong and dominant and the feminine role of a female has traditionally been associated with their role of being the follower and the nurturer. Children learn the gender roles beginning at birth through the socialization process. Historically our society has always identified male infants with blue and female infants with pink, however, with the turning of the 20th century more neutral colors are being thrown into the mix. More expecting parents are adventuring away from traditional blue and pink and choosing the neutral colors such as green and yellow. Children learn gender socialization through family members, education, other children and social media. Each reinforces the gender role by displaying and maintaining the normal expectation for each genders behavior. Our youth are taught at an early age of the separate expectations of each gender. Parents often teach the role not knowingly but through association. Boys are associated with trucks, toy guns and superheroes that teach them motor skills and independence, whereas the girls are associated with baby dolls, dress costumes, and toy kitchens which teaches them nurturing and social

How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.

One of the biggest ways why gender expectations have a huge impact on our lives is through family. Parents tend to

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

Throughout time our subjectivity is constantly changing and so is our identity. Our identity is shaped by the discourses through culture and what others identify us as being. According to Robinson and Jones-Diaz (2016), children from a young age are generally fixed within categories according to their gender through discourses and social practices. Once we start experiencing things in our life, we start taking up the position of discourses which impacts us and also the people around us. Jordan (1995) indicated that girls are expected to achieve high marks at school, they get pressured to refrain from masculine activities and behave in way that are feminine in order to keep their family and the society happy. Women have never given the power to be strong and are always pressured by the societal expectations.