Essays on Maleness

The social construction of gender is a prevailing concern among many social theorists and modern culture, particularly as society becomes more aware of the often arbitrary delineations between what is ‘male’ or ‘female’ about things like behavior, dress and attitude. Aaron Devor’s “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” explicitly explores these issues of the cultural construct of gender, particularly the ways in which male and female behaviors are defined and categorized. This becomes especially important in the context of Mariah Burton Nelson’s “I Won, I’m Sorry,” which looks at these stratified gender behaviors in the context of ...

Gender Difference and Complementarity according to Cloutier

Cloutier identifies the belief that men are superior to women because of cultural stereotypes. The cultural assumptions according to Cloutier could be drawn from the Bible where a woman was created as a helper. This implies that according to some beliefs, men and women are naturally different. Others according to Cloutier have the belief that the only reason why man needs woman’s help is for bearing children. However, as Cloutier argues, that the Western culture should no longer make people view women as inferior and created only for procreation. Since everyone is committed to the need for personal ...

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Introduction The novel, ‘City of Thieves’ by David Benioff, presents an opportunity to analyze the concept of masculinity under the circumstances of war. What is significant in this literary work is that manliness emerges under extreme adversity, which is often considered as the very test of being a man. Although Benioff’s ‘City of Thieves’ is fictional, the circumstances are realistic and is based on a historical incident that happened around six decades ago in Leningrad, which is the present day St. Petersburg in Russia. Becoming a man is one of the most confusing rhetoric there is. ...

Real men don’t want to be seen watching figure skating. While figure skating seems to have a dominantly female fan base, it is possible that many men may be watching the sport in the privacy of their homes (Moore). The typical audience at a figure skating event comprises of two-thirds female and only one-third male, a majority of who seem to have reluctantly accompanied their wives to the event. Men feign disinterest in this sport primarily because of the controversies associated with male figure skating fans. These controversies question the masculinity and sexuality of the men who participate ...