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Masculinity In Step Brothers Summary

Decent Essays

In his article "The Screwball Bromance: Regression, Bisexuality, And Reconfigured Masculinity In Step Brothers" R. Colin Tait offers a close look at the movie Step Brothers arguing that despite its “low” form, the movie represents a brave attempt to redefine the concept of masculinity and normalize homosexual relationships among men in the eyes of wide audience. The author expresses this point by claiming that the movie represents a “critique of capitalist and heteronormative ideology” (Tait 2). However, this claim is not supported unambiguously throughout the article. The key question about the writing under discussion can be formulated as follows: on what basis has Tait concluded that the relationship between the main male characters of the movie has romantic rather than merely friendly character? At a first …show more content…

Therefore, the author refers to the fact that while Step Brothers ended with marriage, the main focus is placed on the reunion of two males between whom a romantic relationship has developed. Another point Tait uses to support his claim about the romantic rather than friendly relationship between the two main characters is that both of them show clear characteristics of being in the preoedipal stage of bisexuality in terms of the theory of Sigmund Freud (Tait 5). However, this statement is problematic because it refers to a fairly early stage of human development and allows suggesting that this stage will be later replaced by either strictly heterosexual or homosexual orientation. For example, the author supports his point by referring to the fact that Dale’s first sexual encounter with a woman has left him “traumatized rather than invigorated” (Tait 13). However, this outcome can be associated with Dale’s emotional immaturity and lack of experience in the

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