MasculinityThe definition of masculinity; Is the fact of being a man or having qualities considered typical of a man.
I was stuck in that sentence that what is the qualities considered typical of a man. What is the quality of man, what is considered as a typical of a man?1. IdentitiesAccording to Victor, since the 1960s the challenges of feminism made men feel uneasy and confused about their power and identity. Women insisted that men had also to be more emotionally involved in relationship and take greater responsibility for domestic work and childcare.
There have been many compromises in renegotiating more equal gender contracts. However men had great difficulties in accepting the loss of power and status that has gone along with these changes. And I believe still men are struggling to accept that fact. In order to explain the crisis of masculinity, I think there are two significant aspects. One is Power; the other one is femininity.
In the history, men were the dominant power of society and dare to say still it is. Men had to be strong enough to get the power to dominate the society and female. Actually, men are forced to be like that to survive in the society. Because of the power of dominance, the traditional masculinity has those aspects, self- centredness, defensiveness, a strong sense of entitlement, and a strong sense of pride. But often this is difficult for men to accept because individual men can feel so unsure and powerless themselves.
They find it hard to recognize themselves in the powerful images that they were forced to do by society. Especially, after the challenge of feminism. From the Stone Age time, the society was for men. First, men use their physical ability to rule the female and society. After that, when human being had the intellectual life, it wasnt really open to female. In other words, female couldnt have the chances to learn as much as male could.
Therefore, men could protect themselves from the challenge of female. As I mentioned before, the challenges of feminism made men uneasy and confused. Female took a lot of powers from men. Men had to face the fact that they dont have power over others, space, and self. Also men realized about self- contradiction. In terms of emotion, men denied that they have tenderness, kindness and wickedness.
Emotion was the symbol of female that men supposed to rule. If men showed their emotion, it wasnt right thing to being men. But even though they did right thing, they felt self- contradiction and insecure about themselves. Why, because the society educated them that way. For example, the middle class boys who in England have been sent away to boarding schools at around eight years old.
They are often encouraged to feel grateful because their parents are sacrificing to provide them with a good education. They are told that it might be difficult in the beginning, but they will soon get used to do it. In any case it will be good for them because they will learn to be independent and look after themselves. If boys continue to feel miserable, this only proves that there must be something wrong with them. They learn to keep these insecurities secret because they fear that others will be given grounds to reject them if they find out.
The feeling that there is something wrong with me encourages boys to hide what they are feeling because we live in fear that others might find out. This has to be suppressed because you learn to think of these emotions as irrational- and so as further proof that there is something wrong- since you are so often told that what is being done for you is for the bestMen didnt accept the fact male have the elements of female. They hurt themselves to hide their emotions and keep their dominance. It was mistakes that they tried to hide their natural feelings under the unwritten social rules. And still it effects us a lot.
Let me ask you something. Suppose you go to cinema to watch very sad movie with your girl friend or friend? The examples of the death rate in Korea. In conclusion, we have to accept the fact men were not flexible enough to stand the challenges of different world. Because the world is still male dominance society. But if men stick to their ego and not to try to develop their identity, it can hurt them more and more.
I think that is our generations job to find out what is the meaning of new-man
