Category: Masculinity

Abstract

The approach taken by the young people in North America today is drastically different from what it was barely a decade ago. A lot has changed; the most obvious being the whole concept of what it is to date someone, and the approach taken towards dating.

If a father and son, or a mother and her daughter were to sit down and share the campus experiences, both parties would probably draw the conclusions that they might have been talking of entirely different times of their lives and not the last years of their adolescence and their very first adult years.

So what has triggered these changes on not only the campus scene but also the high school years leading up to campus as well as the few years following up college? Dr. Michael Kimmel (2008), in his book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, tries to figure out the changes that have occurred in the lives of young North American males, specifically those aged between sixteen and twenty-six, and why they are undergoing the extended adolescence phenomenon.

Introduction

Dating: now and back in the good old days

A couple of years ago, so says Tom Wolfe, when it came to the interaction between adolescents, getting to first base was embracing and kissing (quaintly termed as necking). Getting to the second base had to do with deep kissing and heavy petting. The third base was having oral sex and the home plate was going all the way (Wolfe, 2001). This has all changed; in the present day and time, necking is a word that has to be looked up in a dictionary to be understood. What was considered second base is now first base, second base is oral sex while the third base is going all the way. If you make it to home plate, you get to know each others names (Wolfe, 2001). This is just a small depiction of how much things have changed.

Dating on campus had previously meant going steady with one girl for the man and with one guy for the girl for an extended period. It was in most cases a prelude to proper courtship which more often than not resulted in marriage. This is worlds apart from what campus dating is today; if you go out together for a drink or coffee or a movie, that is counted as a date, and not only that, but it is license enough to engage in sexual activity that will most likely go all the way. Previously, this was unheard of and was considered completely scandalous (Bogle, 2008).

Bogle (2008) says that the two major contributions to changing dating as it was known on campus are the growing trend of marrying later in life than was previously the case-though most young people are sexually active by the time they hit their late adolescence- and again the number of young people who spend the earlier part of their adulthoods in colleges has greatly increased. Since young people are not getting married and they still feel the need to have a sexual experience, college becomes a prime place to do this without obligation. It is from this that the term hook up has been coined to define the kind of relationship between young people of different sexes on campuses today. A hook-up, according to Bogle, is when a girl and a boy come together for a sexual encounter that does not lead to further emotional ties or any other obligations. Bogle is however keen to point out that the extent of hook-ups as done by teens and young people is greatly exaggerated by the media (Bogle, 2008).

But hooking up does not come as a problem all on its own; it is associated with other such misdemeanors as excessive consumption of alcohol, the abuse of drugs, and young people acquiring sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

Dr. Michael Kimmel, a sociologist, conducted research to try and determine the values and priorities of young North American men aged between sixteen and twenty-six. In his book Guyland, he interviewed more than four hundred young men over four years and tried to encompass young men from a wide array of social, economic and cultural backgrounds (Kimmel, 2008).

One of the conclusions that Dr. Kimmel comes to is that there is no truth in the theory that has been advanced that feministic advances in education, as well as other fields made in the past decades, have somehow directly contributed to the boy crisis. He says purporting for better education for girls, which has resulted in more girls getting a sound education as well as more opportunities on the job market, should not be in any way prompted as a factor that has lead to the perceived emasculation of young American men. Looking at the matter in this light suggests a certain antagonism between the sexes where there can be no equal opportunity scenario; it is either one sex on top of the other (Kimmel, 2008).

He goes further to refute the argument forwarded in the boy crisis that the manifestation of how boys are being sidelined in education is highlighted by the fact that girls and young women are performing much better than their male counterparts in not only the arts but are also beginning to pick up in the sciences as well. In truth, he says, it is just that girls have finally been given a platform on which they can shine and they are doing so unlike how it has been in the past (Kimmel, 2008).

Dr. Michael Kimmels book has been touted as being the male equivalent of Mary Piphers Reviving Ophelia. Pipher takes a closer look at what kind of environment the adolescent girl in 20^th century America lives in and what she has to contend with. Just as is the case with the boys, there are numerous external pressures exerted on this young girl to achieve the ideal of the all American girl. She has to have the right look, dress in the right manner, hang out with the right crowd, et cetera (Pipher, 2002).

This leads up to the opposite of what was the expectation of the fierce feminism movements of the seventies, eighties and nineties; instead of a confident and sure image of the adolescent American girl of the 20^th century, there is the adolescent befuddled with extremely low self esteem, peer pressure and eating disorders to mention but a few (Pipher, 2002).

He points out that there is now the stage in the lives of young American men which he terms as the Wasteland Years. What Dr. Kimmels observation is, is that while in earlier years young men settled down and took up their responsibilities promptly after college, the trend has shifted to there being some gap years between college and when they get to start families as well as take up serious employment (Pipher, 2002).

The Wasteland Years, as also outlined by Rose, Corcoran and Fleming (2007) which is a desperate attempt by young men to cling onto their boyhood and adolescent years rather than move on to the vast unknown of the adult world encumbered with responsibility and pitfalls, is marked by a few outstanding characteristics. One of them is drifting; drifting from one girlfriend to another, drifting from one job to the another, from one place of living to the next, drifting rootlessly without any true basis. There is a dread of settling down and gathering moss.

Another trait is the excessive partying, drinking and the abuse of drugs along with other illegal substances. This is done although it may be detrimental to the individual involved. Being able to imbue the greatest amount of alcohol is considered cool, as though how much one can drink is directly proportional to how much of a man one is (Rose, Corcoran & Fleming, 2007).

There is the obsession with sports and sports talk, with some sports being more associated with masculinity than others, because they require more brawn and involve more risks. An ardent viewing of pornography, along with other sexually explicit material is also a characteristic of this lot (Rose, Corcoran & Fleming, 2007).

There is the occurrence of what Kimmel terms the three ps: Port, Pornography and play station, which seem to be the only thing that young men are obsessed with nowadays. The fourth p, which is a fad that had gone out and is now making a comeback: poker. These four obsessions have a very negative impact on the young men who partake of them. One is that it makes them feel detached from a sense of reality. It is a way in which they escape from the real world in which they are meant to be living in and participating in. it shields them from taking up the true responsibilities they are meant to be handling. In short, it gives them an excuse to be lazy (Schwyzer, 2008).

However, the most detrimental of this can be said to be pornography, which greatly distorts what sexual intercourse between adults is. Most pornography is debasing of women and portrays violent non-consensual sexual acts. Many young men are lured into carrying out these acts in real life as the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred (Schwyzer, 2008).

In summary, it can be said that the Wasteland Years are just an illustration of little boys trapped in adults bodies because no one ever told them what to do when they reached the crossroads between childhood and adulthood.

Dr. Kimmel, Hearn and Connell, (2005) further point out that maybe the boys are not entirely to blame since there is not much incentive for them to settle down and be more productive. This is because to some extent, they are intimidated by their female counterparts who are now beginning to reap the fruits of female liberation.

What happens is that these young do not have a strong sense of purpose or direction. After going through high school and then college, the question remains what happens next? Where does it all ultimately lead? After college comes more evasiveness in the form of taking up a series of unfruitful jobs that in reality are dead end and non-progressive. The result is an underlying anxiety that further confounds these young American males. To make matters worse, it seems that their female age mates are going in the opposite direction and doing all the things that traditionally, they should have done. It is the women who are now more focused and more intent on getting into careers (Kimmel, Hearn & Connell, 2005).

Several factors are contributing towards the emerging Wasteland Years. One of these is the lesser role played by parents and stakeholders in the bringing up of children since the pace of life has become more hectic. The approach adopted by parents today is to cater first to the material needs of their children while emotional and psychological needs take a distant second. As long as the children are well fed, well dressed and well educated, then they should be happy and that should constitute a good upbringing. Parents take less and less time out of their own busy lives to have some down time with their children. The result is a generation of young people who learn a great deal more from their peers (who, like them do not know much) than they do from their parents (Kimmel, 2008).

Another facet of this approach to parenting is the attitude that young people can allowed to be wild because after all, they are young. Thus, actions such as binge drinking and obsession with video games are looked upon with a tolerable indifference because it is expected that young people behave this way. Eventually they will outgrow this particular stage and that there is no real harm done in the end (Schwyzer, 11^th, September 2008).

It seems that part of the problem on the boy crisis is how serious is the problem itself. While there are those psychologists and sociologists in the camp who feel that the rise of feminism has indeed posed a serious threat to the essence of masculinity, there are the ones who on the other hand feel that the problem is not as serious as it is made out to be; that it is an issue being unnecessarily being exaggerated out of proportion. Why the latter group is of this opinion is because overdoing the crisis has been used as a vehicle in anti-feminism drive by playing on the harp of how female liberation has continually emasculated young male North Americans (Schwyzer, 17th, September 2008).

It cannot be ignored that young men in America do grow up under a stressful environment where the pressure to perform is high, and where the mixed messages drawn from their immediate environment can make it difficult to determine exactly what it is that is required of them (Hopkins, 2007).

Can Guyland be transformed?

Tearing down conceptions and perceptions can be more difficult than bringing down a ten foot solid steel wall. Perceptions are always very deeply ingrained; they form the fabric of our very beings and are normally the basic building blocks upon which we base our logical thinking. It is a gigantic effort to try and make a person change their view of how they see things. The boy code has been in place for such a long time that it is the norm. Some people may wonder even why it is being challenged or why there should be need to challenge it. After all, other boys lived under the same code and became functional adults. Another point of resistance may be that trying to break the boy code may be an act of emasculation since this code is what makes men what they are (Kindlon & Thompson, 2000).

There is a discrepancy between the myths of what boys and young men need and the reality of what they do need. Boys just get as lonely as girls; they need sympathy and understanding the same way girls do. Boys get their emotions hurt too, and at times need to be comforted. There is a lot that remains hidden beneath the veneer of being tough and being a man, which reads a bit like how to be insensitive (Kindlon & Thompson, 2000).

What needs to be done, stress Kindlon and Thompson (2000), is that what they term as emotional mis-education of boys and young men, which adheres to the boy code should completely be discouraged. This kind of upbringing leaves boys deformed and creates fertile ground for the kind of young adults in Michael Kimmels Guyland.

Conclusion

A myth may be in existence for centuries or even millennia, but if the myth was never true, its longevity does not add a grain of truth to it. For years upon years, there has been the persistent connotation of what it means to be a man. Some of the terms that were and still are strongly associated with masculinity are an emotional aloofness, insensitivity, courage, perseverance among others. This is not to say that everything used to define masculinity is wrong, nor that all how masculinity is expressed is bad. There are elements of what it means to be a man that have been proved to be detrimental to boys and young men. It has been taken for granted that boys and young men do not have the same emotional needs as their female counterparts and on the most part, they are to figure out how to deal with their emotional issues, to take it like a man. There are also outlines about what a man can and cannot do.

So, as Kimmel strongly suggests, it is about time that the myths of manhood were broken because their tenacity has not lent them any truth. A young man does not have to prove his masculinity by drinking all his friends under the table, or who has the most girlfriends. Teaching young men to be emotionally whole and conscious will also lead to emotionally healthy adults who will be more willing to table their share of responsibility when the time comes for it, and who will also be able to promptly let go of their boyhood when the time comes for that as well with the full knowledge that in life you cannot win all your fights, overcome all your demons, achieve all your dreams but despite this, you are not less of a man for admitting it.

Reference

Bolge, K (2008). Hooking Up: Sex, Dating and Relationships on Campus. New York: New York University Press

Hopkins, P (2007). Pollack and the Boy Code. Web.

Kimmel, M (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. New York: Harper Collins

Kimmel, M., Hearn, J., & Connell, R (2005). Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities. California: Sage Publishing

Kindlon, D, J & Thompson, M., (2000). Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. New York: Ballantine Books

Pipher, M (2002). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Ballantine Books

Rose, P., Corcoran, K, J., Fleming, M, K., & Segrist, D (2007). Yeah, I Drink alcohol but Not as Much as Other Guys: The Majority Fallacy among Male Adolescents. North American Journal of Psychology.

Pascoe, C, J (2007). Dude, Youre a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Carlifonia: University of California Press

Schwyzer, H (2008). Escape, Entitlement and Empowerment: Young Men and the Four Ps. Men and Masculinity, Mens Movement, Mentoring. Web.

Schwyzer, H (2008). Looking for the Inoculation Against Cruelty: How to Help Boys Through the Trials of Guyland. Men and Masculinity, Mens Movement, Mentoring. Web.

Wolfe, T (2001). Hooking Up. What Life was like at the Turn of the Second Millennium: An American World. London: Picador Publishers

Introduction

In any society, culture may be played out from different dimensions such as through masculinity and femininity. Masculinity entails a cultural dimension in which gender roles become distinct by spelling out characteristics that men should display. Such traits include materialism, assertiveness, and toughness among others. Conversely, women are expected to display tenderness, modesty, and responsiveness. This paper discusses how the American culture depicts masculinity as reflected in media (movies) and American literature in the course readings.

Masculinity in the US Culture

In Chapter 3 of the book The Guyland, Michael Kimmel discusses the men code in the American context. The book offers an in-depth analysis of modern expectations for men in terms of the manner in which they should conduct themselves. He argues that American culture expects men between 16 and 26 years old not to express their weak points and/or demonstrate sissy behaviors (Kimmel, 2008). The author notes that the American culture associates masculinity with power and wealth capability and potential. Men are viewed as people who should be relied upon to alleviate others from crisis. According to Kimmel (2008), the American culture also expects men to depict aggressive traits. The idea of masculinity is passed on from older men to younger men so that the cultural phenomenon is transmitted across generations.

Messner (2007) asserts that masculinity culture also includes anticipating men to play specific sexual characteristics. In the book Men Lives, Messner (2007) believes that peoples perceptions on homosexuality are influenced by societal ideals, which involve considering some behaviors normal while regarding others as abnormal (Messner, 2007).

Homosexuality is not basically a form of sexuality, but ideally a way of playing gender without necessarily linking it to any sexual act. Consequently, the American masculine culture anticipates homosexual men to behave in a different manner while compared to their heterosexual counterparts without inferring from any sexual preference (Messner, 2007). An arising question is, to what extent are the ideas of Michael Messner and Michael Kimmel on masculinity in the American culture reflected in media genres such as movies and literature?

Masculinity in the American Movies and Literature

The Great Gatsby is perhaps an important starting point in discussing masculinity in the American cultures as reflected in the US media and literature. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and first published in 1925, The Great Gatsbys setting is based in Long Island, which is dominated by prosperous wealthy and poor communities of East Egg and West Egg. Nick Caraway, a native of Minnesota and an advocate of Midwestern values, narrates it in the first person. In the novel, he later relocates to New York where he gets involved in bond business.

In the era of writing The Great Gatsby, cultural conventions, which are currently perceived as out of date, died new while ones were ushered from1920s to 1930s. Women are granted the right to participate in voting, something that causes them to see themselves as equal to men and even go to the extent of assimilating masculine ways and fashions into their lifestyles (Fitzgerald & Bruccoli, 2000). In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald documents these changes through an in-depth exploration of cultural changes such as the rise in consumerism, materialism, and greed for wealth in the American society.

In the book, consumerism, materialism, and greed for wealth are normal masculine traits. These traits make men who possess them be considered highly profiled in the society. Indeed, women in the book have lesser or even void of these traits. The traits are also reflected in many US movies. One of such movies is The Breakfast Club.

Steered by John Hughes, the Universal Pictures movie The Breakfast Club is an awakening teens movie. It narrates the story of five students who empty their soul to each other, despite them having nothing in common at first upon meeting at the detention. Consequently, they end up learning that they have more in common than they had initially perceived. As the five students, namely, Allison Reynolds, Andrew Clark, John Bender, Brian Johnson, and Claire Standish, reveal various personalities during their lunchtime talk. Each of the character or a number of characters may be described by personality traits such as creative, aggressive, hostile, secretive, time urgency cautious, suspicious, and competitive.

Andrew and John Bender demonstrate aggressive and factual masculine traits of men developed in the US movie industry. Bender is presented in scene two as a criminal and abusive person who exhibits aggressive behaviors. He is hostile in seeking solutions to his problems even if it is through channeling his anger on innocent people and objects.

In fact, he found himself in detention for setting on a false alarm. In scene two, he abused all her colleagues at the detention initially. However, as the story progresses, he makes its clear why he reacted in the manner that he did. He claimed that the reason why he has a hostile angry behavior is that his father is an alcoholic and abusive man who punished him for spilling paint at the garage by burning a cigar on his arm. On the other hand, Andrew is holding this story with some suspicion until Bender reveals the scar. Thus, he is a person of facts and evidence.

References

Fitzgerald, S., & Bruccoli, M. (2000). The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers.

Kimmel, M. (2008). Guyland: The Perilous Word Where Boys Become Men. New York, NY: Harper.

Messner, M. (2007). Men lives: becoming 100% straight. Boston, MA: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.

Introduction

Our viewpoint on the matters of sexuality is mainly informed by the suppressive hypothesis, which states that the history of sexuality over the previous three hundred years has been a history of tyranny. Sex, apart from for the aims of reproduction was inviolable. The only way to release the people from this repression, in accordance to this notion, is to be more unrestricted about the sexuality, to talk about sex, and to take pleasure of it.

It is stated that discourse about sex has only deepened and multiplied since the eighteenth century. Priests anticipated admissions to disclose the smallest enticement or desire, and sexual performance turned to be a significant object of research for demographic and statistical study. With this strengthening and proliferation of discourse, the emphasis shifted from married couples to cases of sexual perversion: child sexuality, homosexuality, etc. Ones sexuality was also regarded to clarify a great deal about ones quality.

Gradually more, sex and sexuality turned to be an object of research. Other civilizations have treated sex as an object of knowledge, as an ars erotica: an art of corporeal pleasure. The current culture is different, nevertheless, in treating sex as a scientia sexualis: an object of reserved, scientific examination. Scientific discussion joined with the form of declaration has outlined the discourse on sex. Some matters were anticipated to confess, to reveal their darkest secrets, and these confessions were codified into a quasi-scientific form.

Historical understanding

Key spheres for research in todays worldwide chronological research are topics such as populace development, enlarging technical capability and growing communication among people from dissimilar civilizations. That gender acts a key role in all these spheres is not uniformly obvious for all investigators. It can be significantly to point out the fact that civil politics influenced women and men in various ways. Issues about contraception, abortion and sterilization made womens own bodies a matter for political conclusions, while for men the key questions was worker accountability, financial apprehensions and deliberations about the size and composition of inhabitants. If we take the procedure of industrialization as an instance of expanding technical capability, it is not probable to overlook the gender-isolated lab our market where cheap, inexpert female labor comprised a key precondition for significant accretion of capital, while the enhanced paid skilled male effort could lay the bases for an increasing realization of mens breadwinner accountability as a significant factor forming masculinity.

Matters of masculinity

As for the matters of the historic dominance of the masculine side, it is necessary to mention, that the masculine part is the side that everybody knows and realizes. All through time, people have had to expand the masculine part in order to be capable to survive and prosper in the physical sense. Lots of books have been claimed to explain the matters of developing the self esteem and self-assurance of the masculine part. There have also been many achievement programs such as Scientology, Est, Lifespring, etc. These plans expand the masculine I can do it approach, and they are effectual as far as they go. They are good for people with a stronger female part and a weaker masculine one, as what they approach helps that kind of person attain balance. And it is mainly because the feminine side has been chiefly ignored, that the masculine side is so much better realized.

In contemporary world, hegemonic masculinity is described by physical power and audacity, exclusive heterosexuality, repression of vulnerable sentiments such as regret and indecision, economic sovereignty, power over women and other men, and powerful interest in sexual invasion. While most men do not exemplify all of these features, society maintains hegemonic maleness within all its organizations, comprising the pop culture.

Cultural understanding

In social and cultural anthropology, as in many other regulations, there has been an essential raise in research and scientific concentration focusing on sexuality since the early 1980s. The motives for this are surely assorted, varying from a broader background of changing social averages to the more specific-impact of the feminist and lesbian and gay political movements, to the influence of the emerging HIV/AIDS plague and growing anxiety with cross-cultural measurements of reproductive and sexual health. Jointly, nevertheless, such components have merged to arouse one of the most inventive and creative fields of fashionable anthropological study and to raise a sequence of significant opportunities and disputes for interdisciplinary sex studies.

The more conventional anthropological advances to realizing sexuality had not changed or been considerably challenged from 1920 to 1990. All through this period, the cultural impact model has driven most anthropological research in sexuality. Nevertheless this model admits cross-cultural difference in the appearance of sexuality, the demonstration of sexuality and its supposed biological impulsion and ultimate reproductive function is normally regarded as generally reliable. Within the frames of this model, sexuality can consult numerous matters, entailing foreplay, maleness and femininity, orgasm, contact, and erotic fantasy significantly, as Western assumptions about the one-dimensional contacts between sex and gender this model often conflates sexuality with gender, while obscuring the matter of gender relatives within the wider matter of sexuality, in many ethnographic matters, sexual action is understood as a marker of sexual meaning or individuality, resulting in prejudiced and ethnocentric research. Traditional anthropological work, contingent on the cultural impact model, has rarely issued the supposed universality of sexuality, despite supplying confirmation of the significance of relativism in most other cultural spheres. The cultural impact model is not without its powers, nevertheless. Premised on anthropological principles of relativism and cross-cultural inconsistency, it has been applied to investigate the consistency and predictability of Western sexual standards and mores.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality and bisexuality are ever-present all over the world. These factors exist in all societies, and at all times in history. Artifacts of the evolutionary history, homosexuality and bisexuality are very generally practiced in almost every culture, whether accepted or not. The dissimilarities among cultures are the directness with which it is applied.

Another thing which is known from current research is that some extent of bisexuality, in the nonattendance of cultural unmentionables, is not only tremendously general in men, but is doubtless the canon. Homosexuality of expediency which takes places in the absence of obtainable female partners (such as is generally observed in prisons, for instance) is prevalent even in societies that frown on homosexuality. Most men, at some time in their lives, practice homoerotic senses towards other men  whether they select to disclose it or not. The proportion of men who have had a homoerotic practice to orgasm in astonishingly high even in the USA. By the age of 49, fully 60% of American men have had such an occurrence.

In contemporary civilizations, a myth has been extended, mostly by homophobic religious groups, that homosexuality is mainly a modern phenomenon, that it is a selected orientation, and it is an indication of moral refuse.

Such a concept runs oppose to what we know of homosexuality, and what we know of its account and its biological derivations. We now know, for instance, that most men in ancient Greece and Rome connected in at least infrequent homosexual contact, and a not unimportant number of the marriages completed in both civilizations were homosexual. It is known that homosexuality, although not known by that name, was not only abided, but even rejoiced in the arts, acting and in cultural performances. The ancients did not regard gender as an essential factor of who should love or be married to who; the requirements related solely to substances of age and biological contacts.

Due to the oppression of homosexuality had been so total, and as it was so touching, with the misinformation so hoary, the church coped to keep its repression of sexual minorities. And in the centuries since the Enlightenment, not much has modified in this context.

Conclusion

It should be palpable by now that homophobia has its derivations in unawareness. It is self-obvious that schooling leads to an understanding of the reality and that truth itself heads for freedom. The same is with the matters of masculinity and femininity. The historical practice shows, that for a long time these topics have not been discussed openly, and the dominance of males in the society was regarded as default.

But the times change, and now, almost all over the world the females enjoy the parity of the rights with males, and the sexual minorities are no longer judicially prosecuted.

References

Angelides, S. (2004) Feminism, child sexual abuse, and the erasure of child sexuality a Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Duke university press.

Carroll, R. (2006). Rethinking Generational History: Queer Histories of Sexuality in Neo-Victorian Feminist Fiction. Studies in the Literary Imagination, 39(2), 135

Chauncey, G. (1994) Trade, Wolves, and the Boundaries of normal manhood Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture and the making of the Gay Make World 1890-1940.

Keenan, J. F. (2007). Can We Talk? Theological Ethics and Sexuality. Theological Studies, 68(1), 113

Liveris, L. B. (2004). Ecumenism at a Cost: Women, Ordination, and Sexuality Disagree with the Umpire-Take the Ball, and Go Home. Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 41(1), 55

Scott, S (2001) Feminism and contemporary discourses of child sexual abuse University of Liverpool.

Weeks, J (1989) Inverts, Perverts, and Mary-Annes: Male Prostitution and the Regulation of Homosexuality in England in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries reclaiming the gay and lesbian past.

The central attitude of ones perception of others and themselves is the division of people into women and men. Many people believe that the psychological differences that exist between men and women are directly related to the biological features of the male and female body. At the same time, the explanation for many gender differences should be sought in social norms that ascribe different types of behavior, attitudes and interests according to biological sex. These norms form in everyone certain ideas about what set of qualities is characteristic of women and what set of qualities is characteristic of men. The problem of studying stereotypes in relation to oneself and others and arises due to the fact that they fix established simplified notions, on the basis of which a person makes decisions when analyzing the situation, constructing behavior.

Masculine characteristics are personality traits traditionally attributed to the image of a man. This gender layer includes such qualities as strong, purposeful, brave, independent, independent and aggressive. Masculinity is part of art, providing readers with the opportunity to get acquainted with the image of a man, in varying degrees, conforming to generally recognized gender stereotypes. Nevertheless, for several hundred years, the literary world has seen active attempts by authors to disprove the standard image of the man. R.W. Connell states that normative modes of masculinity [&] face the problem that not many men actually meet the normative standards. This phenomenon can be seen in many of the works of feminist writers who have devoted their work to challenging preconceptions about masculinity.

The Bell Jar presents images of women endowed with atypical masculine traits that have more in common with masculinity than with traditional femininity. By portraying her characters in this way, the writer challenges society, which is accustomed to identifying gender according to a narrow set of stereotypical traits. Platts characters are, unconventionally for the literature of the era, resolute, aggressive, and self-sufficient. It is known that, in adolescence, people through reflection seeks to identify with themselves, their peers, there is stabilization of sex and gender standards and gender and sexual self-identification.

In adulthood, the analysis of already formed sexual and gender standards is connected with the unique human capacity for self-knowledge and self-assessment, which allows one to interact with the people around, to perform the correction of ones own behavior and assessments of other people in terms of existing auto- and hetero-stereotypes. However, Sylvia Platt, like many feminist and meninist writers, has shown that a womans self-identification process by primary characteristics is not always based exclusively on the feminine. Often a womans character may contain traits that are contrary to her generally accepted stereotype. A similar process occurs with the identification of the male, which is sometimes based on predominantly feminine characteristics, which emphasizes the validity of Connels assertion.

Thus, stereotypes of male and female behavior are learned and changed with great difficulty, because they are strong. The ideas formed in society about the image of a man and a woman spread to all representatives of one or another sex, regardless of individual characteristics and age. Nevertheless, over time it has been recorded that this model is not working, as the representatives of the male and female biological sex may have personal qualities that do not correspond to gender standarts for them. This has been reflected in numerous literary works and publicistic texts.

The issue of identifying and understanding the possible gender differences in linguistics, specifically in writing styles between males and females has been an area of interest to many researchers for a long time. Even without their knowledge, males and females write differently even when expressing the same ideas and this realization has led to widespread research on this area. Virginia Woolf is one of the leading modern thinkers to explore this topic in the last century. The available statistical data show that men and women, irrespective of the context, write differently, whether phonologically or pragmatically. For instance, according to Argamon et al. (2003), Females seem to talk more about relationships than do males, use more compliments and apologies, and facilitative tag questions (p. 322). These differences in writing styles based on gender could thus be grouped into universals, which then could be used to analyze various texts, whether fiction or non-fiction. Based on this understanding, the aim of this paper is to analyze the poem, To The Ladies by Lady Mary Chudleigh, specifically to highlight the various female and male sentences in the text and ultimately prove that female sentences dominate this poem.

Female and Male Sentences in the Poem

Female Sentences

The first criterion used to identify female sentences in this poem is that they have female markers in terms of first and second-person pronouns. From the poem, the following sentences have such pronouns

When she the word has said obey
And all his innate rigor shows
Like mutes, she signs alone must make
And fear her husband as a God
But what her haughty lord thinks fit
Value your selves, and men despise
You must be proud, if youll be wise (Chudleigh, 2020)

While these sentences seem unrelated when grouped together, they are strategically placed in the poem to convey an important message. The pronoun she in the first sentence supports obey, which comes, in the end, to emphasize that women are expected to be submissive. Similarly, his in the second sentence is closely followed by innate rigor again to show the different roles that men and women play in society. This pattern is repeated over all the other sentences with the aim of evoking emotions. For instance, the she in Like mutes, she signs alone must make is specifically meant to evoke emotions same as the case of her in But what her haughty lord thinks fit. In the first scenario, the author wants to emphasize the untold alienation of women in society, especially in the one place where they should feel loved  their marriages. In the second case, her haughty lord is used strategically to promote the same agenda concerning the place of women in society. They are supposed to be submissive to their husbands occupying lower ranks in society. The use of first and second-person pronouns falls under epistemic modality. The poet is concerned with encoding relationships between herself and the reader, and these personal pronouns are the most effective tools for achieving this goal.

The other criterion used to identify female sentences is the grammatical complexity of the sentences. Such sentences are flexible and they elaborate frail details with impressionistic descriptions. Some of these sentences include

Wife and servant are the same
But only differ in the name
For when that fatal knot is tied (Chudleigh, 2020)

These sentences are elastic, flexible, slippery, and at the same time, they elaborate frail details. For instance, the usage of the term fatal in the third sentence to describe how the act of tying a knot or getting married adds no real value to the sentence. However, the author is using an impressionistic description, which in this case, is self-conscious to pass her message about the issue. To women, tying the knot, according to the impression created in this sentence, is tantamount to committing suicide. While marriage could be problematic at times, even to the point of breakage, the overgeneralization of this problem points to the femininity of this sentence in the sense that the author is to some extent becoming sentimental. It points to the epistemic modality of female sentences whereby facts (marriages could fail) are reported with the subjective evaluation of the speaker probably based on her personal beliefs, knowledge, experiences, or understanding. Perhaps the poet had failed or painful marriage and this experience informed her view concerning the institution of marriage. Alternatively, the author could have witnessed the endless pain caused by some marriages, and letting these experiences shape her view amounts to epistemic modality.

The last aspect used in this analysis of female sentences is the abundant use of cohesive devices to show relevance between individual ideas, such as connectives, relative clauses, and participial connectives. For instance, in the poem, the author uses repetition to emphasize her point. Some sentences include

Which nothing, nothing can divide
Him still must serve, him still obey,
And nothing act, and nothing say,
Then shun, oh! shun that wretched state (Chudleigh, 2020)

At the same time, the author uses simile as a stylistic device; for instance, Fierce as an Eastern prince he grows, Like mutes she signs alone must make, and And fear her husband as a God. These stylistic devices underscore the feminine attributes in these sentences whereby the author is attempting to stress her point and create an impression that could convince the audience to see the story from her perspective. Such views thus become subjective with some twists here and there to pass a certain message across. In this case, the message is that women suffer disproportionately in marriages due to the apparent lack of power balance. The insinuation that men despise women who value themselves in this lice, Value your selves, and men despise is a clear indication of subjective thinking on the part of the poet.

Male Sentences

This poem has little male sentences given that it is written by a female seemingly complaining about men and the power imbalance created in marriage due to patriarchy. As mentioned earlier, male sentences are factual, objective, impersonal, and socially realistic among other attributes. One factual sentence in this poem is Who with the power, has all the wit. Wit in this context implies control, and it is true that those in power have the means to control their subjects and drive matters in a certain way. Additionally, these lines, And never any freedom take, But still be governed by a nod highlight some facts in terms of power games. Those without freedom are bound and they could easily be governed by a nod. Finally, the line, And man by law supreme has made is socially realistic and thus it could be classified as a male sentence.

Patriarchy is widespread and even though the quest for gender equality has made significant advances and achievements, in most societies, men make the laws. Even in the most advanced and civilized nations, such as the United States, issues of gender inequality are common. For instance, gender-based wage disparities are common even at professional levels, which is ironic because people at this stage are expected to be civilized to uphold gender equality. Nevertheless, it is not a surprise that this poem does not have many male sentences. The writer is a female and thus it would be expected the poem to be populated with female sentences.

Optional Gender Issues in the Poem

The central theme in this poem is the idea that women walk into a tragedy the moment they enter matrimony. The author is remorseful about marriage, which explains why she highlights her negative attitude using a condescending tone perhaps to warn single women not to even think of marriage. Even the title of the poem, To the Ladies sounds like a letter, a warning letter in this case, to women out there to be careful when thinking about marriage. From the poem, it is clear that womens voice is stifled once they are married. As such, the title wife is synonymous with servant with the only difference being in the name, according to the author. The implicit message in this poem is that women are more than servants  they are slaves. She is governed with a nod because she is required to treat her husband as God, and thus this relationship is characterized by fear.

The poem essentially talks about gender inequality as far as power sharing in marriage is concerned. The author insists that men make all the rules, and womens sole duty is to obey what has been set, without questions. Even at the time of making the vows, women are somehow expected to abide by the contents of such exercise, but men are allowed to be the domineering party. These arguments explain why the author advises women to shun marriage altogether because it is a wretched state. As such, the poem concludes with priceless advice to women  that they should be wise and proud enough to avoid the traps laid before them by men courting them into marriages.

Conclusion

In linguistics, males and females write differently and this issue has been an interesting area of study for researchers. The available data shows that female writers are likely to be subjective using personal pronouns to establish relationships with the audience. On the other hand, male writers are likely to be impersonal and objective. This paper has shown that the poem has more female sentences as compared to male sentences. The poem is subjective in nature with the author choosing to give personal opinions concerning marriage. The majority of sentences in the poem, as shown in this paper, are based on personal view about marriage perhaps informed by painful memories, which makes them subjective in nature. Clearly, even though the author does not use the pronoun I, it is clear that she is the speaker in the poem. As such, male sentences are few, and even when they are used, the masculinity in them is subtle in nature.

References

Argamon, S., Koppel, M., Fine, J., & Shimoni, A. R. (2003). Gender, genre, and writing style in formal written texts. Text & Talk, 23(3), 321-346.

Chudleigh, M. (2020). To the ladies. 

Introduction

The central theme of Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is the clash between traditional African society and the innovations brought by British missionaries. However, this opposition is not the only one in the book since the whole story is built on contrasts that allow the reader to understand the protagonists image better. One of the foil characters in the novel is Okonkwos 15-year-old ward, Ikemefuna. This character significantly influences the readers perception of the protagonists personality, helping to highlight both the positive and negative traits of Okonkwo as a father.

Okonkwos Attitude Towards His Children

The protagonist is not inclined to show emotions except aggression and cruelty towards his children. However, the difference in Okonkwos attitude toward his son Nwoye and Ikemefuna remains obvious. The protagonist uses cruel methods of education for both boys. For example, when Ikemefuna refused to eat, Okonkovo came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams, trembling (Chinua, 1959). At the same time, except for the murder of Ikemefuna, there are no scenes in the novel in which Okonkwo beats the boy, while the protagonist regularly uses physical force against his son.

Moreover, thanks to Ikemefuna, the protagonist interacts with his son. He invites both boys to his obi for dinner, but the takes only Ikemefuna to the meetings of the clan leaders. Moreover, Ikemefunas death affected Okonkwo much more than Nwoyes betrayal. The aggravating factor was that the protagonist personally killed the boy, whom he considered his son. However, before that, knowing what fate awaits Ikemefuna, Okonkwo shows his paternal feelings by protecting the boy and told him that he was to be taken home the next day (Chinua, 1959). At the same time, he did not even explain to Nwoye why his friend was killed.

The Contrast in Protagonist and Ikemefunas Relationship with Nwoye

Another juxtaposition is embodied in the portrayal of Okonkwo and Ikemefunas attitude toward Nwoye, as both characters act as fathers to the boy. Nevertheless, in contrast to the protagonist, portrayed as an authoritarian father, Ikemefuna plays the role of an understanding father who seemed to know everything (Chinua, 1959). The protagonist does not deny that Ikemefuna taught Nwoye most of the things he knows how to do in the household. However, even realizing that Ikemefunas soft and gentle approach to Nwoyes upbringing yields results, Okonkwo does not change his attitude towards his son.

Characters Static

At first glance, both characters seem static, and in the three years that Ikemefuna lived with Okonkwos family, he did not change. The character was initially described as a very lively boy who gradually became popular in Okonkwos household (Chinua, 1959). He retained these traits until the novels last appearance, and even going to his death remained a naive child. On the other hand, for Okonkwo, who from the very beginning seems to be a very static character, incapable of development, the death of Ikemefuna becomes the catalyst for subsequent changes.

Conclusion

Thus, minor male characters in the novel, including Ikemefuna, have traits opposite to the protagonists personality. Due to this, Okonkwos masculinity is perceived by the reader as brutal and cruel. However, at the same time, this foil character helps highlight the positive traits of the protagonist. Moreover, due to the secondary characters, the dynamics and development of the protagonist are depicted.

Reference

Chinua, A. (1959). Things fall apart. [eBook edition]. Anchor Books.

It is important to highlight that the imagined reader is an abstract conceptual category, and that the reading goals of the real readers are always broader that what characterises the imaginary addressee. Therefore, it is not necessary for the real reader to unrestrainedly recognise himself in this created reader. The negotiating competence between the reader and the magazine, through the communication contract, is more vast. This includes order of desire and the imaginary, so that, potentially, any subject is able to recognise the basic elements of the contract and negotiate directions with the publication for their specific reading interests.

The characters that appear on the pages of men’s lifestyle magazines , such as FHM and loaded, are representations of the imaginary addressee’s values and characteristics. Editors and producers ‘engage actively in dialogue with readers’ (Benwell, 2003: 154), they choose topics they find relevant and interesting, not only to meet their readers’ expectations, but theirs as well. These editors claim that these magazines, especially loaded, are ‘born of a desire to offer readers a discourse with which they were already familiar’ (Southwell, 1998:2). They write features as if they are only writing it for themselves, their family and friends and not for their wide specific group of people that continues to buy their magazine. They describe and imagine the readers as someone that is like them, a person that reflects the same life experiences and share an equal amount of banter, so they choose to write about ‘topics and issues our readers talk about amongst themselves – and we write about them in their own language’ (ibid.).

The magazines want to be considered the reader’s ‘best friend’ or ‘mate’, to let the reader know they are the ‘same status as the writer’ (Stevenson et al, 2000:369). They will attempt to make the reader keep on buying the magazine, so they will try to ‘offer handy hints, pointing out obvious pitfalls and supplying ‘useful’ advice.’ (ibid.) This advances the ‘idea that the magazine’s producers were no different from its consumers, such policies spoke of (producers’) commitments to seeing themselves as ‘ordinary blokes’ and their attachment to the new journalist ethic’ (Benwell, 2003: 105).

In these men’s magazines’ context, the representations of the imaginary reader’s values and characteristics can be pointed out in two central axes between the characters. These can be linked to male sexuality and represented by females exposing their naked bodies, as well as linked to the values of femininity represented by the women featured in the magazine reports. In the editorial profile of FHM and loaded, the characters that will stand out the most, whether due to the recurrence of the magazines’ editions, or their own editorial history, are the female models. These female models chosen to figure as the magazine’s imaginary addressee’s sexual pattern, as they also highlight female sexuality as the basis of the reader’s masculinity. As an example, the statement of a men’s lifestyle magazine editor, on naked women exposed in these magazines (Guardian, 25 Nov. 1996):

Peter Howarth (then editor of Esquire) sought to defend his magazine’s reliance on a diet of ‘babes and boobs’ by arguing against the idea that there had been a recent ‘dumbing down of men’s magazines’. Yet he goes on to say that ‘any good magazine must offer a balance of contents, and part of that balance, if it is to reflect the interests of men, will inevitably be articles on beautiful women.’ (Stevenson et al., 2000: 373)

The editorial construction of the imaginary addressee, in this context, makes explicit a particular trait of loaded and FHM magazines’ readers: traditional masculinity, ‘new laddism’, and being straight. Although the thematic interests of the reader are wide (from cars to drinking, from sports to fashion, from films to games, and also from health to beauty), it is always from this heteronormative basis that the imaginary addressee will position himself, as the magazines, mentioned above, are ‘undoubtedly a celebration of white male heterosexuality’ (Stevenson et al. 2000: 372).

But femininity does not only fulfil, in loaded and FHM magazines, the trace of sexuality from the ideal reader. In the imaginary about masculinity , the women play a fundamental role, a relational and/or dual role, which means that hegemonic masculinity presupposes the predominance of a certain configuration of femininity. This will establish a linear bipolarity and generate a difficult and tense dialogue between the polymorphic complexity of female experiences and the authoritarian simplism of guiding patterns.

In conclusion, the data analysed and the topic that was explored about men’s lifestyle magazines and how it represents the traditional masculinity and sexism , describes the ‘new lad’, a prominent media image in the late 1990s. The ‘new lad’ representation is the opposite of the ‘new man’, and was created for the male heterosexual audience that was not ready to let go of the constant irony, anti-heroic and self-deprecating masculinity.

This project also sought to explore the relations between the narrative construction of characters in magazine journalism and the editorial constitution of the ‘ideal reader’.

Masculinity can be defined as attributes that are considered to be characteristic of men. The basic definition may seem harmless, but the way in which masculinity is performed can have a negative effect. Media uses masculinity to display its superiority over the genders and patriarchal views. Music videos such as ‘Blurred Lines’, written and recorded by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams, display such aspects of masculinity. It is not blurred but clear to see that in the video Robin Thicke is promoting a masculine role in order to dominate and suppress women and men of color.

Within the lyrics, he states, “Ok now he was close, tried to domesticate you. But you’re an animal, baby it’s in your nature”. This suggests that women are secondary to men, women should remain within the domestic sphere. The domestic sphere is the idea women should stay in jobs that involve the household or very simple tasked jobs. It was also a way to keep women stagnant as their male counterparts were allowed to grow within their field of work. This pushes the agenda that men are superior to women. Judith Lorber brings about this idea of being secondary in her article entitled ‘The Social Construction of Gender’, which states: “In Western society, man is A, woman is not A but B” (Lorber, 99). This idea of being considered secondary to men within the video is exemplified when a woman is shown holding a lamb, we can assume the lamb is a symbol of how women are viewed as being vulnerable. Considering that lambs are baby sheep that make great prey to predators. He shows women can be prey for men or be protected by a ‘real man’. Sexualizing and objectifying women are a big part of the song and video. The video shows the women nearly naked, while the men are fully clothed. Thicke, as a male pop star, has the privilege of not having to strip to sell records. ‘The Social Construction of Gender’ states: “As a part of a stratification system, gender ranks men above women of the same race and class. Women and men could be different, but equal” (Lorber, 98).

It takes a special type of man to publicly promote behaviors that belittle women and other lower-class men. Robin Thicke is that man. Who also plays a role that is far from reality, perpetuating the notion of a heteronormative idea of attraction. Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell Williams need to maintain boundaries with each other to prevent signs of homoeroticism. Cementing the idea that men should only pursue women. By exemplifying the fact that none of the male performers grope, objectify, or dance with each other. Matthew Barney said: “The masculine mask is worn to achieve a normative performance-oriented phallic heterosexual male sexuality” (Barney, 5). He continued to play the role of a masculine man by standing still in most scenes. In doing so, he conveys that he controls everyone in the video. By having everyone dance around him, Thicke exploits his power over the women while simultaneously degrading lower-class black. Exercising his idea that he, the white man, remains in power. The author of the article entitled ‘Masculinity as Homophobia’, Michael S. Kimmel, stated: “Manhood is equated with power over women and, over other men, everywhere we look. We see the institutional expression of power” (Kimmel, 106). The scene where balloons spelling out “Robin Thicke has a big dick”. His male ego is on display, reminding women that the size of his penis equals the size of his manhood. It also implies to the heteronormative society that having a bigger penis is a sign of possessing more power. The other two male stars in the video, T.I. and Pharrell Williams, are black; Thicke showcases these two men working for the white man. As the two men seductively dance to herd in the women, they do so only to bring them to the main prize, which is Robin Thicke. Using them to do his work, further inserts his dominance in class and race. There are many scenes in which Robin Thicke is centered in the frame, being centered in a frame forces the viewer to make Thicke the center of attraction, as everything else around him is of lesser importance. When he’s not centered, he is positioned in first place on an imaginary podium in other scenes. In one scene, he’s sitting in the middle, a white woman sits to his right a little lower than him, and Pharrell to his left much lower than both Robin and the white woman. This reiterates Judith Lorber’s idea of the white man being number one over the second-class woman, while the black man is placed third in the lowest class.

The media has become a great source to help push on the social view of gender norms and hypermasculinity. Music videos such as ‘Blurred Lines’ continuously perpetuate masculinity to be that of ideas given to us by Judith Lorber, Harry Brod, and Kimmel. Although times are becoming more progressive, the root of masculinity is still heavily displayed within our media. How can we create a change, is it possible that if we were to remove this hypermasculinity from the media if it will even still be desired?

Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess and T.S Eliot’s The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock are monologues that are similar in presenting middle-aged, unmarried men who are suffering from insecurities. Eliot’s 20th century The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is the story of a man searching for love and acceptance whereas My Last Duchess is set in the 17th century and focuses on a Duke searching for power. Both of these stories focus on the role men have within society, and how they are not achieving their desires. Prufrock is a feminine man whereas the Duke is a hegemonic man. Both My Last Duchess and The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock are both interested in the idea of masculinity yet their approaches to masculinity are quite different. Despite their characters being complete opposites, they are both unsuccessful in obtaining their desires due to their insecurity with manhood. Through the connection of the narrators, I will examine how their desires cause them to feel insecure in their manhood.

Considering the narrators have the same outcome, it is important to analyze their differences, to see why they both have the same result. First, My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue where the Duke unintentionally reveals himself; when trying to criticize his last duchess he reveals his detestable nature. The Duke first reveals himself to be a man of jealousy, and arrogance. This is shown when the Duke has the portrait of his last duchess painted by Fra Pandolf a man of chastity and honour yet the Duke’s jealousy is so strong that he observes the painter with his wife in order to oversee his wife actions. The duke is so insecure within his relationship he feels he needs to supervise his duchess and Fra even though Fra is a man of faith and would not pursue the duchess. The duke never says that his wife cheated on him however, it is insinuated in the quotation “The bough of cherries some officious fool/ Broke in the orchard for her’ (Browning 27-28). This gives the impression that men often gave her gifts and it made the Duke furious because he thought that men were attracted to her. Later, the duke implies that the duchess was the kind of woman who had to be watched, for she had a heart “too easily impressed” and “her looks went everywhere” (Browning 23-24). The duke is revealing his jealousy because he believes that his duchess was unloyal and seeking the attention of others.

An interesting passage that concludes the poem is when the Duke directs his attention to a sculpture of Neptune taming a seahorse. It is an ironic metaphor for the Duke’s relationship with the duchess. Like the seahorse, the Duchess was a free spirit and rather than improve himself to ‘tame’ her, he simply killed her.

Unlike My Last Duchess, The Love Song for J.Alfred Prufrock is an interior monologue. Prufrock is an anxious man who lacks self- confidence. His anxiety and self-consciousness are highlighted when he is descending the stairs. His emotions overwhelm him and he becomes indecisive. He asks himself “ Do I dare? Do I dare?” he fears that he will “disturb the universe” (Eliot 46). Prufrock fears so much of what others are thinking of him that he continuously doubts himself. He continues to ask himself questions on how to comfort himself but admits he will be unsuccessful. Prufrock worries that the conversation does not apply to him “ women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo” (Eliot 35-36). Despite that, he does not need to join the conversation he still worries about what others are doing. He fears the judgment of others.

His anxiety is continued to be seen when he asks “Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, / Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?’ (Eliot 79-80) This shows the absurdity of Prufrock’s worries due to the fact that the order does not matter. Prufrock’s insecurity is shown when he continues to worry and references his balding head twice. A significant quotation that expresses Prufrock’s emasculating anxiety is when he says

“And I have known the arms already, known them all—

Arms that are braceleted and white and bare

(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)

Is it perfume from a dress

That makes me so digress?

Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.

And should I then presume?

And how should I begin? (Eliot 55-59)

Prufrock’s distress over the woman is evident here he cannot approach her. Prufrock is aware that if he does not approach her he will remain unhappy, but he has no confidence in where to begin with the woman. He is terrified to speak to her because he feels he will not be able to explain his feelings well enough, and he does not think that they will be interested in him, therefore, holding him back.

Although these narrators have different character traits they stem from the same place of insecurity. Together the characters demonstrate the wide scale of masculinity. The Duke being hegemonic and Prufrock leaning towards more feminine masculinity. The significance of the narrator’s being polar opposites is that it shows the interests the poets had in creating particular social constructs of masculinity within different eras. According to Butler’s article, she explains that Prufrock embodies Judith Halberstam’s definition of female masculinity,

Masculinity in this society inevitably conjures up notions of power and legitimacy

and privilege; it often symbolically refers to the power of the state and to uneven distributions of wealth. Masculinity seems to extend outward into patriarchy and inward into the family; masculinity represents the power of inheritance, the consequences of the traffic of women, and the promise of social privilege. (1736) “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” embodies the implications of this definition in several ways. First and foremost, if masculinity represents in part “the consequences of the traffic of women,” then Prufrock’s ideation of women as objects of his desire is a type of masculine performance. Therefore, masculinity inhabits the instances of Prufrock’s male gaze, which are present from the first few lines of the poem to its ending (Halberstam 1736).

With that being said Prufrock in mulitple ways truly embodies the definition of female masculinity. Especially due to Prufrock’s idea of a woman being an object of his desire. The significance of Eliot focusing on female masculinity is that it demonstrates the complex array of men during the 20th century.

Looking at the character traits and differences of the narrators the desires of the narrators are understandable. The Duke wants to feel powerful because it makes him feel like a “true man”. Whereas, Prufrock desires a sense of belonging within his subconscious. The Duke’s lack of power is demonstrated through his last duchess. To further understand why the Duke desires power we need to analyze the duchess. The last duchess was a beautiful woman which is evident since he wanted to have a painting of her. When he speaks of the painting, he mentions her blushing “spot of joy”. This suggests that she was easily embarrassed by a compliment. The Duke, however, seems irritated that she was easily pleased “She had/ A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad (Browning 23-25). With the Duke reacting in such manner, it demonstrates his need to feel powerful especially compared to his wife. Although Prufrock desires to have a sense of belonging within is subconscious is shown through in a sense a woman as well. When Prufrock is at the party he wishes he could speak to a woman but continues to ask himself questions, yearning for a response. According to an article, it concludes that “the male character’s anxieties and conflicts all the results of a past unsatisfactory mothering situation during his childhood. Hence, the male character, strives perpetually to relinquish and abandon the female characters and his whole life is an endless search for his idealized loved object” (Sistani). Furthermore, in My Last Duchess the duke reveals himself to be powerless and emasculated because his last duchess was willing to put herself before him, causing him to earn for power and according to Efird “the duke becomes” the limit case of the practice of reserve as sexual inhibition that defines normative bourgeois masculinity” (78). “In his confrontation with the Duchess,” Sussman argues, “the Duke confronts a crisis of manhood in that the Duchess challenges both the formation of manliness as reserve as well as, the Duke’s use of such manliness to justify his social position. The female here refuses to recognize the class position that, with clear reference to the Victorian bourgeoisie, is ostensibly validated by sexual and emotional constraint”. Efird’s insight demonstrates that the duke tries to uphold his manhood yet the Duchess makes him feel less than because she does not care that he is a duke.

Coincidently the duchess is why the Duke is unsuccessful in obtaining power. Prufrock is unsuccessful in his search for obtaining a sense of belonging within his subconscious because of fear. One of the reasons that the duchess causes the Duke to be unsuccessful in his search for power is because she makes him feel emasculated. The duke is unsuccessful in his desires because he is not seen by others in the way he wishes to be seen. He continues to show that he is unsuccessful with power because he has to kill his wife in order to feel powerful. This is seen when he has to hide her smile because even though she is dead he still feels powerless in comparison to her. When the duke sees her smile he feels weak and emasculated. Prufrock is afraid, he fears rejection not only from the woman but from himself, he overthinks everything he does. This, in turn, causes him in the end to fail.

T.S Eliot and Robert Browing write poems that tackle the idea of masculinity yet they go with opposite approaches. Despite the narrators being on opposite sides of the masculinity spectrum, their endings are the same. In the end, both characters are unsuccessful in obtaining their desires. Prufrock is incapable of achieving a sense of belonging within his subconscious because he is fearful and anxious. The duke fails to achieve power because of his character traits but as well as his last duchess. Thus, by looking at both, they create a message

Introduction: Unveiling the Complexities of Masculinity in Igbo Society

No singular work of the twentieth century explores the complexity of the Igbo tradition and its ties with concrete nativism and toxic masculinity like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart does. This adorable story, set in in the transition period that straddles the pre-colonial Igbo society and the time of the arrival of the Europeans, i.e. during the late nineteenth century revolves around Okonkwo as the epicenter of the ideas that the debut novel of Achebe seeks to birth into the world. Umuofia is the fictional Clan from which Okonkwo emanates. The story touches the lives of Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, his wives (especially the vocal Ekwefi), and his children, particularly Nwoye, Ezinma, and Ikemefuna (who was indeed his adopted child.)

The Dual Forces of Fear and Belief: Okonkwo’s Struggle with Masculinity

Achebe shows in Things Fall Apart, an honest description of the inclinations of gender and nativity that ravaged – and still ravages – the traditional Igbo society. The reason for this, as illustrated in the life of Okonkwo is hinged upon the double-edged sword of fear and belief. Okonkwo had an intense, pathological – you might want to say – fear of failure. Of underachievement. Of not doing well. And on account of his experience with his father, Unoka, which was regarded as a failure because he had no property or wealth, owed a lot of debts, and enjoyed playing the flute, mere flute. Also, this fear is somewhat inextricably tied to gender roles, hence the infusion of masculinity. Okonkwo believed that men ought to be successful or die in the process of trying. That a man who did not strive to achieve, or who sought pleasures in ‘meaningless’ things such as music and conversations was a failure and ought not to be valued or regarded. Okonkwo therefore, more specifically put, feared not living up to the standard of men. Secondly, there was a belief that had been ingrained into the very fabric of his existence that the masculine gender was inherently superior and more powerful than its female counterpart. This belief is also held by most members of the Igbo community. This widespread belief in the superiority of men was born out of the idea that males expressed dominant characteristics of anger, violence, and strength which were above the more mellow displays of affection and tenderness that are feminine and weak. This belief underlines many experiences of words and actions in this story. For example, stories of war and battles were masculine and were meant to be told to boys, while folklore was of a feminine inclination. Also, Yam was regarded as the king of crops, a masculine crop to be cultivated by men, while cocoyam and the others were for women.

These fears and beliefs go a long way to show through the lenses of Okonkwo how much gender roles meant to the traditional Igbo society and how masculinity, that is, toxic masculinity, was the order of the day.

Nativism and Its Interplay with Toxic Masculinity

Also, there was a very expressive display of Nativism, which is simply a policy of protecting the interests of native-born inhabitants against those of immigrants, in Achebe’s spectacular story. It was shown in the interaction between Okonkwo, the protagonist, and the ideas of the newly coming white men. Okonkwo, who had so much respect and affiliation with his culture did not fancy the idea of foreigners introducing novelties to the Clan. And to worsen it all, these novelties were greatly antagonistic to the already existing and predominant cultures and lifestyles of their society and time. It is this nativism that heralded the dangerous spiral that led to his eventual downfall especially when one considers its interrelatedness with toxic masculinity, as there is always a need for a man, at that time, to prove his worth. To remain resolute and unshaken. To be stubborn and resistant. Okonkwo displayed in full these so-called masculine characteristics and it did not end well.

This essay seeks to explore the many ways in which Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, having Okonkwo in the middle of everything, expressed the important themes of Nativism and toxic masculinity, citing various examples that sprouted chapter after chapter for the most part of the book.

In the first part of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, there is a clear explanation of Unoka and his laziness and Okonkwo’s bitterness towards the man who happened to be his father. The first chapter opens up by describing Okonkwo as a brave man with great achievements, “His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat”. This description contrasts sharply with his lazy father, who was no good. He was a man who was poor, could only take one wife, and was largely unable to support his family. Indeed, he owed too many debts and was frequently called an “Agbala”, a word that means a woman, or a man who has taken no titles. Unoka, who enjoyed music, was greatly hated by his son, Okonkwo, and this strong sense of displeasure and disregard was brought upon Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye who was also remarkably lazy.

The Generational Impact: Okonkwo’s Relationship with His Sons

In the book’s second chapter, Achebe wrote, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. In Okonkwo’s opinion, laziness is not a characteristic of men. Men ought to be hard-working, they should love battles and farming. They should not be interested in music and conversations. They should be action men. Okonkwo always enjoined his male children to listen, to his, masculine stories of violence and bloodshed instead of the more creative stories of the tortoise and his wily ways and other soft, weakening stories, as Okonkwo thought. These latter stories were those Nwoye preferred, and for this constant drift away from masculinity as it seemed, he received a constant beating from his father. Once, he declared, that rather than having a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan, he would rather “strangle him with his own hands” (Achebe page 28)

Okonkwo, indeed, had a life that was devoted to masculinity in a way that became toxic. He did not want his manliness to be questioned. This was shown in the story of his adopted son, Ikemefuna, whom he grew so fond of (although he never showed it) and ended up killing because ‘He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe Page 53).

Many a time, Okonkwo put his masculinity at the very fore of his existence. He raised a family with a military hand and no affection or compassion whatsoever for his wife and children because those were traits of weakness and femininity. He insisted that his sons, no matter how young, learned how to grow Yams. “Yam stood for manliness” (Achebe Page 28).

Okonkwo did not want his position as a man, and as the head of the family to be questioned by anybody, and hence he did not take any challenge or questioning of authority lightly. Ekwefi had once had an argument during the New Yam Festival with her husband, Okonkwo, and on that account, ‘Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping” (Achebe Page 33) and even when she mocked his poor skills at hunting, he shot at her with his gun because his masculinity cannot and should not be questioned.

This position of Okonkwo did great in keeping him at a great distance from his children. Indeed, over many centuries the African patriarchal system has allowed men to dominate women, and also encouraged a sort of distance between them and the children because they cannot afford to show affection otherwise they would be ruled off as being weak. This, as expected made the relationship between himself and his children very tenuous.

In an essay, Khumalo Thuso, states that contrary to popular belief in the Igbo society, men (fathers) should be more involved in raising their children. He argues that feeding, bathing, affection, etc. do not make a man less masculine but a better contributor to society. (Khumalo Thuso, 2014).

The Role of Women in a Masculine-Dominated Society

But as is widespread knowledge, women are not respected in the traditional Igbo society. Of course, it is a man’s world, they say. Achebe shows this in the ninth chapter of Things Fall Apart, the only chapter where Okonkwo’s mother was mentioned. He had in that paragraph recalled his mother’s stories about why mosquitoes always went for the ears which he thought was “as silly as all women’s stories”. Biodun Jeyifo comments on this in his work, where he writes that “Okonkwo’s memory of his mother’s stories in his childhood is very easily suppressed; and it is easily consigned to the domain of “silly women’s stories” (Biodun Jeyifo, 1993).

There is also an associated fear that comes with the relationship between the men and the women which Jeyifo describes as a “deep-rooted male insecurity about fear of female power and creativity with a corresponding need or will to tame it, domesticate it, marginalize it, and project it as the gift and vocation of a few ‘exceptional’ women who are thus; like Chielo in Things Fall Apart, ‘honorary men’ (Biodun Jeyifo, 1993).

Therefore, it is evident that as far as the narrative of the life and time of Okonkwo is concerned in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, women occupied a tiny, irrelevant and insignificant space within the grand scheme of social, political, and economic things.

There was also in the book a sort of silencing of the female characters. In the analysis of “The Headstrong Historian,” VanZanteen uncovers the absence of direct speech from any of the female characters. (VanZanteen, 2015).

Things Fall Apart has been a prototype narration of the role masculinity plays in the Igbo tradition. Also, many other works have unconsciously displayed a sort of toxic masculinity. In Petra Fiserora’s analysis of “Hunter’s Run”, an American Sci-fi novel, she writes that “the novel is filled to the brim with commentary on men and ‘mankind’ so much so that the greatest plot point is when the protagonist confronts his harmful ideal of hegemonic masculinity and admits that he despises the toxic person that it has made him”. And the authors of this book did not see this and instead describes the book as having the themes of humanity and identity.

In the second and third parts of the outstanding novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe brings to the fore the component of Okonkwo which is Nativism. It is in these parts that the Europeans come into the Umuofia clan armed with the soothing, soft, religion of Christianity. This religion sought to destroy all that the customs of the Umuofia clan had built and established, and Okonkwo found this absolutely repulsive and uncomfortable.

Rahul Singh explores nativism and masculinity in his work titled, “Things fall apart as a postcolonial text – An assertion of African culture”. He tells us how the emergence of a mellow religion that followed the coming of the Europeans created a split in the beliefs of the people of the Umuofia clan and especially the younger generation who grew towards Christianity and her ways and consequently let go of their traditional beliefs. This, Okonkwo did not like (Singh, Rahul, 2013).

Even more so that his first son, Nwoye found the softness and calm of this new religion attractive. In the book, Obierika, in response to Okonkwo’s question of whether the white man understood their custom said, “How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad, and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won over our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Achebe, page 176)

Okonkwo, after a while of the coming of the perceived intruders, decided to wage war against them. During a meeting in that regard, a messenger from the white men was beheaded by him because he had tried to stop the meeting. And in order not to face the humiliation of being tried in a court ruled by these white people. In order not to have his masculinity questioned. Rather than all that show of weakness, Okonkwo thought that he’d rather face death, leading him to take his own life.

Conclusion: The Tragic Downfall of Okonkwo and the Igbo Tradition

In conclusion, In the classic novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe’s narration of the complexities of the Igbo tradition that had in its fabrics the themes of nativism and toxic masculinity explains the life of Okonkwo, who was a strong, hardworking man, unlike his father, and had in him a strong fear for failure, which he considered a feature of men who should not be called men. It is this fear of not being seen as man enough that drives him directly into prosperity, and indirectly into an unexpected sad end of death. His life is examined in relation to that of his family and other members of the Umuofia clan.

The ego of men is displayed in several instances in the book Things Fall Apart. Also, the need for women to tend to these fragile egos or face the consequences is also shown. The demand for male children to live up to such masculine expectations was typified by the relationship between Okonkwo and his son, Nwoye.

In addition, the fastidious nature of Okonkwo when it came to customs and culture cannot be overlooked. Okonkwo did not want the dilution of his culture. He did not want the foreign inflections. He despised the femininity of the Christian religion, and her attempt to alter the beliefs held firmly by his clan members. Okonkwo was said to have stood his ground. Without compromise, and even murdered one of the messengers of the Europeans.

And instead of being tried by a foreign, strange, jury full of weak, emotional, feminine men, he would resort to taking his own life seeing as his own clan’s people were not one anymore and the strings of custom and tradition that seemed to have held them together had been severed by the incoming of these foreigners and everything they stood for, everything he stood for had fallen apart.

Works Cited

1. Achebe Chinua, Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1994.
2. Fiserova, Petra, “Monster: Masculinity as an invisible major theme in hunter’s run” Journal of International Women’s studies. 20.3 (2019); 17-27.
3. Jeyifo, Biodun. “Okonkwo and his the mother; Things Fall Apart and issues of gender in the constitution of African post-colonial discourse” Callaloo, Vol. 16, no. 4, 1993, pp 847-858. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2932213
4. Khumalo, Thuso. “African Fathers Urged to Step out of Toxic Masculinity”. Washington: federal information and news dispatch, Inc, 2014.
5. Singh, Rahul. “Things fall apart as a post-colonial text – an assertion of African culture” Language in India, Aug. 2013, p.271.
6. Vanzant, Susan. “The Headstrong Historian”: Writing with Things Fall Apart. Research in African Literatures, vol. 46, no.2 (2015), pp 85-103