Act Like a Man

One of the biggest issues with the construction of masculinity in our society is its tendency to verge toward toxicity. Focusing too much on heterosexuality, strength, and male superiority can lead to a masculinity that supports homophobia, violence, and misogyny. In this video, men of all ages share toxic statements that a great deal of men hear over their lifetimes.

48 Things Men Are Told Over Their Lifetimes (That Are Actually Toxic)

Female Masculinity

"Although masculinities scholars have long held that masculinity is socially constructed, a body of theory and scholarship challenges theory and research on masculinities to push these boundaries further. To actually understand masculinity as separate from male bodies necessitates acknowledging that women can do masculinity too" (Pascoe and Bridges 330).

Masculinity does not have to equal male just as femininity does not have to equal female. The way we present ourselves is not biologically determined but rather a matter of individual choice.This link directs to an article on a photo collection entitled BUTCH by Meg Allen. By celebrating female masculinity, we help to normalize gender that falls outside the binary and social construction.

Celebrating Butch: A Powerful Photo Collection on Female Masculinity

Work Cited

Pascoe, C. J., and Tristan Bridges. “Dislocating Masculinities.” Exploring Masculinities: Identity, Inequality, Continuity and Change, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2016, pp. 325-36.

Moonlight: A film about growing up gay and black

One's interpretation of masculinity is affected by the culture in which they grew up. Amongst people of color, researchers may often study masculinity as compensatory masculinity, which scholar Karen Pyke “understands . . . [as being] composed of strategies in which men with less cultural power and authority might engage to collect forms of privilege that flow more seamlessly to groups of men less marginalized by culturally dominant forms of masculinity” (Pascoe and Bridges 225). The new film Moonlight details a young black man's struggle to come out as gay in a rough Miami neighborhood. This Vice article explains and reviews how the film attempts to explore the homophobia within the black community and what that ultimately means for black men.
‘Moonlight’ Captures the Complexities of Growing Up Gay and Black in America

Work Cited

Pascoe, C. J., and Tristan Bridges. “Navigating Masculinites.” Exploring Masculinities: Identity, Inequality, Continuity and Change, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2016, pp. 223–234.

If Women's Roles in Ads Were Played by Men

Researchers in gender studies have theorized the many impacts of gender binaries, specifically the sexual subject vs. sexual object binary. Advertisements often draw their plots and visuals from this idea that the man's role is almost always the sexual subject and the woman's role is almost always the sexual object. Throughout my years of ad consumption, I have found that often if these roles are reversed, the tone becomes more humorous or ridiculous. To me, this tonal change implicitly reinforces gender roles by highlighting the perceived absurdity of such a role switch. This Buzzfeed video attempts to showcase the binary and the double-standard present in men's and women's roles in ads.

Source Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SrpARP_M0o

Early into my search of information on trans people and the way that the world views those outside the norm, I came across this article which I believe is important when speaking about those who aren't cis. It is the duty of cis-gendered mainstream individuals be as informed as possible and not wait for the day someone has to correct us, so this article does a good job of highlighting the importance of not adding an -ed to transgender.

Transgender or Transgendered?

This is What a Locker Room Looks Like (or Should Anyway!)

After Donald Trump's latest sexist comments went public, a photo of Centennial High School students is sending the message that the language Trump used is not “locker room banter.”

"Real" Locker Room Men

Young Thug and the Masculinity Discussion

As the discussion of masculinity evolves, we begin to look at music and the effects that it has on boys and men and their ideas of masculinity.  The rapper Young Thug is changing the conversation around masculinity and the hyper masculine ways that most rappers appear and carry themselves.  Young Thug presents himself as he wants to be seen, and that involves whatever conception he wants.  He mostly wears women’s clothing while rapping about guns and gays in a not so nice way.  Young Thug “believes that everyone deserves to be comfortable in their own skin.”

http://www.upworthy.com/with-a-gorgeous-gown-this-rap-star-launched-an-important-conversation-about-masculinity

Along with the article, there are some cool pictures of Young Thug that show how great he is at of doing non-gender conforming.

http://www.crfashionbook.com/book/young-thug/

Code Switching

Men are taught from a young age that they have to be manly, powerful and that they must never show fear. They know that as soon as they are in the public eye their emotions must be tucked away and that they must never be seen by anyone but themselves. So naturally they put on a front around women and especially other men. This phenomena can be referred to as "code switching". Men have two selves, who they are in private and who they are when they are surrounded by others. When surrounded by others they find any way to be respected and gain status. But "code switching" is hardly innocent. A recording of Donald Trump from 11 years ago has recently been discovered where he discusses kissing women and grabbing them by their private parts. In the interview below, his wife Melania, defends her husbands recording as "boy talk". We have all seen "boy talk" where men act strong and powerful, but is it still "boy talk" when a man is clearly discussing sexual abuse? Melania defends her husband and refuses to believe the allegations of Donald sexually assaulting women. It is her mentality and the upbringing of men that teach them that it is okay to "boy talk" and degrade and harm women. 

Nicki Minaj Slams Kanye West's 'Gold Digger'

Not the best article (it is US Weekly...), but I thought it was particularly relevant considering the topic of module 4. My own thoughts and feelings about Nicki Minaj aside, I'm glad she's calling out the double standards that exist as well as the lyrics in popular music

Nicki Minaj Slams Kanye West's ‘Gold Digger’ Lyrics, Racial Double Standards

CoverGirl BOY!!

I don't know about you, but I think this is some progressive and BIG news: CoverGirl has introduced its first ever CoverBoy! The makeup and skin care conglomerate has never in its history had the face of its brand be a man, and 17-year-old James Charles of Bethlehem, NY is the first! Like I said, this is super progressive for our country and internationally for so many reasons and the news couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Obviously, gender is coming into question a lot in our society these days. With the legalization of gay marriage and the surge of transgender women and men coming into the spotlight, it is hard for companies like CoverGirl to market makeup as a product for women only. If you look on Instagram and Facebook, more and more men are beginning to indulge in foundation and highlighters and they're doing it a lot better than some women! Hats off to CoverGirl for embracing this new standard of beauty; I believe that this is their way of taking a stand in the debate on gender. By announcing a male CoverGirl model, they are saying that it is okay to be a man who enjoys makeup and that makeup is not exclusively for women. They are opening their doors and arms to people in general, which is just beautiful in this day and age. Read up on it in this NYT article and interview!

Meet CoverGirl's New Cover Boy

Picture Source: https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/covergirl-james-charles.png

Locker Room Talk

I believe that the "Locker Room Talk" excuse Donald Trump gave for his talk advocating sexual assault will perpetuate the worst of the 'Masculine ideal' much like his thinly veiled racism has given thinly veiled racists the, um, audacity to remove their thin veils. Make America White Again

 The fact he even opted to go the "Locker Room Talk" route shows how deeply embedded rape culture is in our society and how necessary it is for men to reverse and condemn this horror. Locker rooms are, supposedly, men only rooms and according to Trump, in men only rooms, us men like to giggle at our rape prowess. His comments will undoubtedly get a woman hurt because some "man" will take his non-apology as a permission slip to talk about and grab women without their consent, then shrug it off as something not to be hot mic'd. He disgraces any concept of masculinity that I. as a man, would embrace and he hides, cowardly, behind gender constructs that have perpetuated the abuse of women for years. Let us all not shy away from that truth and let us all condemn his comments as well as his excuse for what they are- misogyny.

Locker Room Talk

For Many Women, Trump’s ‘Locker Room Talk’ Brings Memories of Abuse

The School Success and Opportunity Act

The Governor of California signed a bill to allow transgender kids to participate in sex-segregated activities and program.  transgender student are now able to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.  A transgender student was very happy that this law was passed because she stated that she no longer has to lie about her gender , just to get good grades.  Although many people are happy about the law passing, they are some that furious because they claim that it can put their kids at risk.  For example, a mother of one of the students was very concern about her daughter using the bathroom in the school.  The mother said that her daughter could have a boy walk in on her while using the bathroom. 

The School Success and Opportunity Act

The Governor of California signed a bill to allow transgender kids to participate in sex-segregated activities and program.  transgender student are now able to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.  A transgender student was very happy that this law was passed because she stated that she no longer has to lie about her gender , just to get good grades.  Although many people are happy about the law passing, they are some that furious because they claim that it can put their kids at risk.  For example, a mother of one of the students was very concern about her daughter using the bathroom in the school.  The mother said that her daughter could have a boy walk in on her while using the bathroom. 

The School Success and Opportunity Act

The Governor of California signed a bill to allow transgender kids to participate in sex-segregated activities and program.  transgender student are now able to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.  A transgender student was very happy that this law was passed because she stated that she no longer has to lie about her gender , just to get good grades.  Although many people are happy about the law passing, they are some that furious because they claim that it can put their kids at risk.  For example, a mother of one of the students was very concern about her daughter using the bathroom in the school.  The mother said that her daughter could have a boy walk in on her while using the bathroom. 

Nerdom and White Male Culture

2016 has been an interesting year. Social scientist may one day encapsulate it as the year white males openly declared war on plurality. From the rise of this guy-

To the relentless attack on the new Ghostbusters with the female lead cast. It is this latter expression of irrational rage that may be more revealing. After all, everyone already knew politics is the epicenter of white male dominance. 

In the attack on Ghostbusters, an area of pop culture that, on the surface, seems like it would be the beacon of progressive ideology was revealed to be a cesspool of poisonous monoculturalism. 

Nerd culture. 

Maybe I missed the obvious, but I thought that Nerdom would be a safe haven for difference, after all Nerds are classically depicted as outsiders themselves. 

This article discusses the Ghostbusters issue for what it is "a sexist control issue" Ghostbusters Reboot Backlash .

 "We’ve long had the habit of using the universal to refer to men while shunting women into their own subcategory, but the original “Ghostbusters” already was “the male ‘Ghostbusters,'” whether we called it that or not."

True. And the more I look at Nerd culture, the more I realize it relishes in its exclusion. Ghostbusters just pulled off the mask. 

I am a part of Nerd culture. I subscribe to Loot Crate. I go to the comic shop for new issues on Wednesdays. I binge watch Star Wars and discuss the world building of Tolkien with enthusiasm. Yet I am disturbed that Loot Crate sent me a Ghostbusters shirt with the number '84 on the back nodding to the original at the expense of the new (at least it wasn't 88). I have overheard numerous sexist conversations at the comic shops. I see how series like Star Wars and LOTR celebrate Western imperialism at the expense of the Other. 

Ghostbusters isn't showing us anything new. It is showing us how bad the problem actually is. Just look at Gamergate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy

Nerd culture was meant to be participated in ironically. That is when it is at its best. Recognizing the limits of popular fiction and the fun absurdity of those limits should be part of every culture. But the more I look at the shirts I get, the comics I read, the Nerdom I enjoy, the more I realize the culture is exclusionary in a serious manner, failing to see its own ridiculousness and becoming the self-fulfilling caricature it was meant to subvert.  

There is nothing light about this , because behind it we see a guy who exhibits the privilege mentioned in the quote above. His reasoning for not seeing the new Ghostbusters? It's called Ghostbusters. He feels it should have another name. Perhaps he won't see the new Birth of a Nation because it ripped the original's name too. 

The sad part of all this is the potential for white male culture as expressed in Nerd culture to be subtly subversive and accepting of its deficiencies. I love Batman and I will argue about the best incarnation till I'm blue in the face, but I do with my tongue somewhat in my cheek knowing that Batman is a construct of a culture that should be growing in flexibility. Batman is everyone's to create and recreate. So are the Ghostbusters. So is any work of fiction. I thought Nerd culture was awesome because everyone was in on the joke. Apparently not. 

Here is a couple of interesting articles discussing or unintentionally revealing sexism and racism within Nerd culture, or various aspects of it.

http://www.themarysue.com/sexism-in-historical-fantasy/

http://www.tor.com/2012/12/06/historically-authentic-sexism-in-fantasy-lets-unpack-that/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/25/the-names-not-jane-bond-why-007-can-never-be-a-woman/

Revenge of the Nerds

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/1/23/1359727/-Science-has-a-sexism-problem

http://www.dailydot.com/society/rape-misogyny-female-geek-gamers-culture/