Masculinities (Feminist Knowledges)

Dr. Mark McCormack from the University of Durham created a video talking about men and masculinities. He talks about the oppressive effects of dominant forms of masculinities. Mark focuses heavily on homophobia and how it has affected men over the past several decades.

The 1980s and 1990s were the worst years of homophobia on record. It was a combination of the AIDS/HIV epidemic, Thatcher and Reagan, and religion. Though HIV is contracted many different ways, such as; as blood, semen, vaginal fluids, anal fluids, and breast milk, it was often known by people as “gay-related immune deficiency” or the “gay plague”. In 1981 there was a report published, saying that five homosexual men had been infected by Pneumocystis pneumonia. In 1982, the New York Times published an article talking about how this disease had affected 335 men and killed 136 of them. (Benn) The disease seemed to affect mostly homosexual men, they called it the gay-related immune deficiency and because of this, it gave homosexual men a very negative reputation.

While homophobia is still a big problem today, the decrease in the last decade has made a lot of positive changes for gay men. A lot of men used to believe that if they were homophobic, it would show the people around them that there wasn’t a chance they could be homosexual. They were securing their own masculinity by oppressing others. In today’s world, men are more open to do as they please with their mannerisms, appearance, and how they treat their friends and family.
Benn, Nathan. “History of AIDS.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 July 2017, www.history.com/topics/1980s/history-of-aids.

The critical study of men and masculinities came from a pro-feminist perspective supporting the notion that gender inequality existed, but explicitly recognizing the gendered component of men's behaviors. Research has shown that men of color, men of particular classes, and men of non-normative sexualities have been particularly damaged by the association with a dominant form of masculinity, which has oppressed them.
After the emergence of the critical study of men and masculinities, there was this recognition that men had gendered power, meaning that men gain simply from being men. However, not all men gained. Men of colour, men of particular classes, and men who were sexual minorities were marginalized in hierarchies of masculinity. There had to be the recognition that masculinities were not all equal, but that men gained differently from gender inequality. Some men didn’t gain at all.
SAGE Publications Ltd., 2017. Men and Masculinities. Retrieved from http://sk.sagepub.com.cyber.usask.ca/video/download/men-and-masculinities

Drawn out of theorist Antonio Gramsci’s use of the term, hegemonic masculinity refers to those in power manipulating and controlling culture to get people to buy into particular norms, ideas, and identities that support the status quo. Cultural hegemony engages in defining what and who are seen as “normal” or otherwise worthy of praise and support, and who isn’t. It determines the standards against which people and identities get measured as more or less normal, proper, correct, dangerous, etc.

Hegemonic masculinity makes up much of what we consider to be the “ideal man”, as well as largely defines what a “proper” man shouldn’t be:

  • flamboyant
  • effeminate
  • sensitive
  • emotional
  • weak
  • artistic, etc.

Hegemonic masculinity is enforced through many factors like:

  • shaming
  • cultural representations/pressure to be certain things or hide others
  • marketing
  • merchandising
  • socialization, etc.

This is how hegemonic masculinity becomes toxic, and hurts men as well as others. When the only valid expressions of emotion for “ideal” men are anger, hatred, aggression, and violence, they become the first, and often only, seemingly available reaction. Men are left unable to express a full range of emotions, which research shows is bad for their mental, emotional, and physical health, and also contributes greatly to social issues like domestic/intimate violence and crime. Hegemonic masculinity hurts and stifles men as much as it hurts and stifles women.

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