Men vs. Women

Western culture has seen a dramatic increase in the objectification of the male body. Advertisers have created a trend objectifying the male body in order to sell their products. They claim that if their product is purchased then the man will have success in their employment, romantic and personal life. They claim that with hair gel, cologne and underwear men are more appealing to women. They go as far as sexualizing products such as salad dressing. So the question stands: is the objectification of the male body the same as the objectification of the female body? The answer: yes and no. Yes because males are being portrayed as an object the same way that females are. They are told that if they look a certain way then they will possess attributes for success. No because the success they are promoting is different for both genders. The male success includes prosperity, power and strength. The female success includes a man who will provide prosperity, power and strength. Men are certainly objectified in our society and will continue to be. Whether their objectification is different or equal to the female objectification, it is detrimental to both genders.

Toxic Masculinity

Toxic Masculinity

A recent review for the new movie GOAT, outlines an ongoing problem of fraternity hazing. Fraternity's promise a brotherhood, an unbreakable bond between frat brothers, along with great parties, and a very memorable college experience. Hazing is done during pledge weak to separate the "men" from the "weak". The movie illustrates how hazing has gone too far in our society. These men are emasculating, and tortured only to prove they are masculine. How ironic? To say that masculinity is socially constructed is an understatement. This behavior is not built into our genes, it is learned. This type of behavior becomes normalized, and has been the society norm for fraternity's for years. I remember when my brother joined a fraternity at FSU, how his grades suffered that first semester because he was consumed with pledge week, and becoming a part of his fraternity. A fraternity, who, years later was shut down due to a hazing scandal. I never thought much about what he endured then, but it makes me sad to think about it now. I'm sure if you asked him today, if he would do it all again, he would say "in a heartbeat". We sacrifice a lot in our lives to belong, to be a part of something bigger.

Movie Review-GOAT

This is Life with Lisa Ling: Pick Up Artist Camp (SO GOOD)

FASCINATING and actually refreshing and profound in relation to concepts related to masculinity and relationships. This is not the full episode but hopefully you can find it through your cable/satellite provider or online otherwise. It's on Netflix and can be streamed on CNN FREE. This episode is Season 2, Episode 7.

This is Life with Lisa Ling: Pick-Up Artist Camp

Real Men Eat Meat

DailyMail Vegan Article
By Cheyenne Drews
(Click for article by Madlen Davies)

     Fresh out of high school I began dating a guy who was a vegetarian. The diet had always gone back and forth in my mind, but while still under my parents' roof, I didn't have much say. Having moved out and with the final push of my boyfriend's influence, I too gave up meat and have since witnessed the reception of our decisions in very sexist ways.
     Early on in a meal, people watch him order tofu or vegetables and laugh at the decision. Around his guy friends, he's ostracized for not getting the steak or sharing burgers or wanting everything wrapped in bacon. At this point, relations are still joking and both sides aren't too defensive. It's when he starts detailing why he chose to stop eating meat, that a clear divide arises and people take sides. The women typically say, "I understand where he's coming from", whereas the men, witnessing a challenge to manhood expectations, say in response to how they can kill animals for their consumption, "It tastes too good!" I watch as they think killing something, showing dominance, ending life for a mere palate desire, equals masculinity.
     I remember a specific birthday that his family took him out to eat. His older sisters, all dating the classic ideals of masculinity, thought it would be funny to order him a meat plate spelling out, "Happy birthday", when he got up from the table. If it had been me not wanting to eat it, it would be a choice. But for him as a male, it was unfathomable and not taken seriously. He's seen as weaker, despite his actual physique, and less relatable to men who have to see meat on their plate to call it a meal.
     Side note, how many attractive women are used in the market of selling meat? Even the industry knows they're targeting men. The ads can be so sexualized, furthering the idea that men have to eat meat, maintain a top of the food chain mentality, but what does this tell men about their capacity to empathize?
   
     My boyfriend at the time was called gay, feminine, etc. frequently when he defended caring about something outside of the realm of sports, guns, grilling, sex, and the stereotypical man desires. His stance on empathy politically deemed him, "UnAmerican", as if not acting entitled made him less of a man and less American. These challenges to his psyche got to him overtime, but I continue to keep him in mind as someone that challenged the ideals of masculinity and made me question why men have to be restrained to it at all.

"It's a Boy Thing..." by Emilie Bobrow

IT’S A BOY THING

Data suggest that couples who have sons are more likely to stay together than those that don’t. Emily Bobrow looks into why this might be.

A student in my graduate Gender Theories course shared this during a discussion about sex/gender and babies. I had not thought about the impact of baby's sex on relationships in quite this way but it, sadly, makes sense in some ways (whether we are conscious of it or not). Thoughts?

Why Is Pink for Girls and Blue for Boys?

Could it be possible that dressing boys in blue and girls in pink is all part of an advertisement ploy? Evidence points to the fact that up until the 1980s, there was no such thing as differentiating a baby's gender through the color of their clothes. As a matter of fact, before this was a phenomenon, clothes was used to identify ones age. Before then, boys and girls would be dressed in dresses. Eventually pants and skirts were created. So what created that shift? Well it could be said that because pants were more expensive to make, companies began to advertise them and create a movement towards them. Could pink vs blue clothing also stem from advertisement? There is no factual answer to this question, however, it is a likely explanation.

Why Is Pink for Girls and Blue for Boys?

Stone Butch Blues 20th Anniversary Author’s Edition now available! (free download)

Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg's 1993 first novel, is widely considered in and outside the U.S. to be a groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender. Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of transgender liberation" in hir theoretical nonfiction book,* Transgender Warriors: Making History.

Stone Butch Blues has sold hundreds of thousands of copies, been passed from hand-to-hand inside prisons, and been translated into Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovenian, Turkish, and Hebrew (with hir earnings from that edition going to ASWAT Palestinian Gay Women). The novel was winner of the 1994 American Library Association Stonewall Book Award and a 1994 Lambda Literary Award.

Leslie Feinberg worked up to a few days before hir death in November 2014 to ready the 20th Anniversary Author Edition of Stone Butch Blues to make it available to all, in free-download and at-cost-print editions. This action was one part of hir entire life work as a revolutionary communist to change the world in the struggle for justice and liberation from oppression.

"This Is What Solidarity Looks Like"

This Author's Edition of Stone Butch Blues is dedicated to CeCe McDonald, a young Minneapolis trans woman of color organizer and activist sent to prison for defending herself against a white neo-Nazi attacker.

Accessible at www.lesliefeinberg.net is a slideshow, "This Is What Solidarity Looks Like," that documents the breadth of the global organizing campaign to free CeCe McDonald. Feinberg developed the slideshow with the help of scores of activist photographers."This Is What Solidarity Looks Like" is a powerful teaching and organizing tool to show how a mass liberation movement started from a single community achieves a global reach.

*A Note from Minnie Bruce Pratt* 

(who was kind enough to disseminate this announcement): 

Leslie explains in "Author's Rights and Requests" hir decision as a revolutionary communist to make Stone Butch Blues available free to all through digital download. The at-cost Lulu print version fulfills hir goal of making *Stone Butch Blues* available in a no-profit-to-anyone edition. Leslie's "Author's Rights and Requests" can be found at the end of the new edition. In that section, Leslie also briefly discusses some of hir decisions about
how zie/she chose to narrate the novel.

Man Box in Real Life

Hello all,

After studying the Man Box, I had my own first hand experience on how that affects men in our society.  I was at the gym, working with my personal trainer.  There was one other person there, a man, working with his personal trainer (also male).  I have shared the room with this person more times than I can count.  He always shows that he is trying very hard to complete each move.  This particular night he was taking a lot of breaks and his trainer all of a sudden shouted, "Erin, act like a man!!"  I looked over and wrinkled my face.  I then preceded to tell my trainer about my class experience with the Man Box.  Even when working out, we expect men to get through their workout with minimal breaks and signs of struggle.  We all struggle, men included.  Men should not be subjected to words such as these, just as women shouldn't be subjected to "Oh, well you're a woman so I didn't think you could lift that much weight anyway."

Changing the Game

Drake, a popular rapper is working towards making a change on the way rappers are supposed to be viewed. He is known for his emotional music, and has been labeled "soft" or has been criticized for not being a good rapper because he puts himself out there emotionally, and sings about things like heartbreak. He puts women on a pedestal and sings about them in a positive light. Rappers are known for their music to have explicit content regarding women, treating them like objects, and speaking about them in an aggressive or abusive way. This is the socially excepted norm for the industry. Drake, who has a large fan base, is changing the game, shaping the youth of today to view masculinity in a new light.

Drake Redefines Masculinity for Young Men

I Wish I Could Fill... By Emily Rosen

I wish I could fill my mouth with sunlight 
and let you drink from my lips
till you felt the light in you

I wish I knew how to apologize 
for all the ways
they beat the feeling out of you
and told you
your tenderness was weak

I saw it happening
And here is the worst part
I agreed

Gender Performance Clip from Transparent (beautiful and powerful moment)

Transparent: On Gender Performance

Transparent. Written and directed by Emmy-nominee and 2013 Sundance Best Director winner Jill Soloway (Afternoon Delight, Six Feet Under and United States of Tara), Transparent is a darkly comedic story about an LA family with serious boundary issues. In this exploration of sex, memory, gender and legacy, the past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone's secrets to spill out. Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffman, Amy Landecker and Jay Duplass star in the pilot.

New season available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Good evening,

My name is Oliver and I have been having some computer trouble that has affected getting into this blog, hence the late post. I work 7 days a week and have very little free time between school and both of my jobs. I am passionate about feminism and challenging masculinity. I look forward to getting to know the rest of you through this blog (and the course overall)!

Best,

Oli

I have no idea what I am doing!

Hi, my name is Heather and I have no idea what I am doing.  This will be a new learning experience for me as I continue to spread my wings and step outside of my box.

My First Time Blogging

Hello all. I'm Angel and a little new to blogging. I look forward to exploring articles and posts about masculinities.

My Brother’s Pregnancy and the Making of a New American Family

My brother Evan was born female. He came out as transgender 16 years ago but never stopped wanting to have a baby. This spring he gave birth to his first child... (from Time by Jessi Hempel)

Are there differences in raising boys and girls?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/living/parents-levs-daughter/index.html

According to the above link... Girls are more emotional than Boys.  Boys tend to stick to their mothers and Girls tends to stick to their fathers.  This was a good read.