I may not look like "The Rock" or Brad Pitt, but my wife is happy

A recent study completed by Florida State University showed that woman are generally happier in their relationships if their partner is less attractive than they are. This is a interesting development. As a society we are so focused on the aesthetics of the physical body and everything that comes along with it. There is a huge market for supplements for men to help you get ripped, all types of hair products to have awesome hair, and rules on how to act like a man. And the reality of it all is that the companies behind all these things are not trying to help men, they are just trying to make money. If they were really smart, they would tap into these recent survey findings and drill down to exactly why women feel this way and develop campaigns to target the average guy. The majority of the heterosexual population do not look like the men that we see on a daily basis trying to tell us that in order to be a man, we should look like them.

I guess I am adult now.....

Do situations encountered dictate your ability to "adult" based on how you respond to them or are you just an adult because you are of age?

Growing up I thought the answer was the latter part of the question. I am 21 of "age", can drink, totally responsible for my own actions, and am independent. Boy was I wrong. During my 20's I thought I knew everything. Bought a house, got married, started a career. Only to be divorced, living back at home with my parents, and struggling to find my way.

I realized at that moment that I sucked at this "adult" thing and I really had no clue what it was about.

Fast forward to several years later, I got re-married, bought a new home, and had children. Now its no longer about me. I have to be strategic with my actions, I have a family I am responsible for.

The situations and life challenges have shaped my being as an adult and it is only the beginning. I have still much growing too do. This is when and how it all dawned on me. When was you Ah-Ha moment?

Men's "Ideal" Body Types

          The male body is a form of art just like the female body. However, when it comes to body objectification it’s more common and unfortunately expected to see women’s bodies in full display as opposed to men.  This doesn’t mean that male bodies aren’t objectified; it’s just not as common. This is similar to the concepts we learned in “The Male Body” module where we discussed the ideal beauty standards for men like grooming their hair, taking care of their skin, to how their bodies are put up on display in the media.

           

      In relation to the ideal beauty standards for men, a video and article published on Buzzfeed for Body Positivity Week show how the Try Guys try to recreate photos of their ideal body type. It shows how men just like women, are pressured to feel a certain way and that they too have insecurities when it comes to their bodies.  In the end of the day, we as people should love our bodies regardless of the beauty standards that society places on both men and women. Looks aren’t everything! Our beauty shines from within.

You can check the video here at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=dLNTb2zfh3Q 

And read the article here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/men-get-photoshopped-with-their-ideal-body-types?utm_term=.evqYBD49xX#.cdkBkXRwmK

"Genderless" Baby

I found a video that describes some of the concepts addressed in our “Historicizing and Theorizing Masculinity” module. One of the concepts we discussed was the history of boys clothing and how it drastically differ overtime. It also talked about the sexual “color coding” and how it become a social tradition since the 1920’s. They had baby boys dressed in blue while baby girls wore pink. This in a way reinforced gender norms and quickly placed babies in gender constructs.  Already, newborns were being gendered as one or the other thus, also reinforcing the idea that gender is a binary system.

This video I found describes how a Toronto family has decided to make their child genderless. They decided to name their baby Storm,  and only the family and their close friends, know the sex of the baby. As for everyone else, they don’t know how to classify if baby Storm is a boy or a girl. This stirs up the debate that if parents like this Toronto family are doing the right thing by having their baby Storm viewed as genderless to others. What do you think about this? You can check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi30NAByn0w 

"Boys don't Cry"



I found this video on YouTube and think about what we are learned this week about little boys are not allowed to cry.  Around the age of  5 years old, boys are told by their parents or caregivers that "boys do not cry". Usually, around that age if a boy decides to play with a doll, he can get punished.  After I watch the video that we had for module 1, "The Mas You Live In", I definitely thankful to my grandparents to guide me with my son.  They told me that it was not a good idea to limit my son while he was little to show his feelings.  That made my son a great guy now that he is 22 years old he is caring, loving and awesome young adult that is not afraid to show his feelings toward others.

We have to educate ourselves and others to build a better community around us and to teach our sons, nephews, male cousins and men around us that there is nothing wrong about crying when they feel like it or when they want to.

Thank you so much for watching and reading my post.

I found this video while scrolling through Facebook. I thought it would be a good share because it shows two men who are tasked with wearing acrylic nails for a week.

The two men have very different personalities. One man is very secure with his masculinity and attempts to get very long and decorative nails; while the other is a bit "fragile". The self proclaimed "fragile" male gets his nails a lot shorter. The video then shows us how they are coping with the nails with everyday tasks, such as typing , and using he restroom.  The video also allows the two men to express how they are feeling when people react to their nails. Both negative and positive responses were experienced.

https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedVideo/videos/2300583483415854/