To the Society of Uncompromising Men

     Wiser's, a Whiskey company, released the following commercial:

     The commercial is a light humored piece that features a couple walking by a store. The woman sees something inside of the store and quickly hands her purse to the man. The man looks down at the purse in confusion, and quickly drops it on the ground. He then goes to pick it up and cover it by using a shopping bag as "protection", almost like someone picks up after their dog. A group of sophisticated men start clapping in respect, and you hear "Welcome to the society of uncompromising men. Welcome to the Wiserhood."A promotion then comes up for Wiser's whiskey.
     This commercial really stood out to me because of how strongly it personifies masculinity. A purse, a symbol of femininity, is viewed as an undesirable object that cannot be associated with a man. The actor drops it almost in disgust, and is looked upon with honor from the other men. He is described as "uncompromising," and then is paralleled to Wiser's whiskey.
    I feel that whiskey is often seen as a "man's drink." I've even noticed that if I order it when I'm out with male friends, since it's my favorite type of alcohol, they view me with more respect and almost surprise. After they hear my order, I'm often greeted with eyebrows raised and a nod of approval. Does this mean that they wouldn't respect me if I ordered a glass of moscato wine, or a pina colada? How does even alcohol choice begin to categorize what is considered masculine and feminine, and why does one deserve more respect than the other?

Warning: The Growth of Violence and Explicit Content

Violence in music is a growing problem. The film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes states that homicide is at a high. Maybe that could be attributed to the growing violence in music. As we all know sex, and violence sells. Look at movies, commercials, TV shows, and even magazine covers. Its all ran by big-wigs at large corporations. As in all music videos and radio songs, corporate media picks and chooses what they air on the radio and television. Sex, and violence sells, so some non-violent rap music might not be heard by the normal radio channel-flipping listener. It is no secret that violence in music has been normalized. Could the growing violence in music be contributed by the patriarchal abuse that singers have witnessed growing up? Is this what they think is normal?

I also found this article interesting. Do you think hip-hop, and other violent music and television/movies have contributed to gun violence?

Don’t Blame Hip-Hop for Gun Violence

Organized Konfusion: Stray Bullet

Taking Back Halloween

     

     October is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. Although the slight change of weather that calls for some light cozy sweaters has something to do with it, it really has everything to do with Halloween. As a kid I would anxiously wait all year to dress up as my favorite character or something altogether spooky and scary. As we grow up though, we begin to see the negative side of everything, and look beyond the pretty and perfect exterior of things. Aside from the holidays immense issues of cultural appropriation, there is also the issue of gendered and blatantly sexist costumes. Recently, this image of a little boy named Caiden dressed up as Elsa from Frozen has gone viral. Attached to the image was not only his father's approval, but passion and enthusiasm as to why this isn't more widely accepted. His message stresses for us to remember what dressing up as a child on Halloween is truly about, simply being your favorite character, regardless of their gender. While I don't agree with his choice in using the word 'slutty' to describe the slew of over-sexualized female costumes that are being targeted every year to younger and younger girls, it was impressive to me how he addressed how the issue is harmful to everyone and how they negatively play into societies gender roles. Tolerance is no longer acceptable, it's not enough to just apathetically sit back and let things unroll, instead we need more father's and men to actively and enthusiastically support decisions that go against our cultural norms of what is acceptable for men and boys.

Read more here!

What Makes A Man?

      I love BuzzFeed articles because they are always talking about something interesting. In this article there is a link to a video they did where a group of men are asked “ What makes a man?”.  Some of the comments include to not back down from anything and to not be afraid to pick up fights. Watching this video was sad because you can sense the pain some of these men feel. There are a lot of things boys are taught at a young age to prove that they are a man such as suppressing their feeling. In order for us to stop this kind of thinking we need to come together and bring awareness.

If you want to read the article yourself you can find it listed below:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikerose/what-makes-a-man#.fi78MQZV2

#FreeTheBacon

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dt3IrdampY

This video is a comedic look at male sexual representation in film and television. There is an excessive amount of female nudity on TV and in films. It is increasingly acceptable to view a woman's breasts, buttocks, or even her full frontal form while male nudity remains tabooed and far less frequent. Why is this? A way to maintain power and the mystery of the penis, the ultimate symbol of masculinity? A way to keep men in the role of observer, the one looking not the looked at? As a student filmmaker I have observed a number of my classmates go where Hollywood has not yet dared to venture and captured male nudity to beautiful and heartbreaking effect. The goal of film is to hold a mirror up to reality and help us a people examine and work out parts of ourselves through entertainment. The male body is a large part of life and something that should not be lightly pushed aside or overlooked. I agree with Kevin, it is time to free the bacon.

Jock Insurance

What Sociologist CJ Pascoe created a term called the "jock insurance." What this essentially means is that due to a man having celebrity status, he can make traditionally nonmasculine choices without having his masculinity questioned. This has been seen many times throughout the media when there are various male celebrities that have a very masculine look as well as present themselves in a very masculine manner where they cross dross and their masculinity isn't questioned. On Jimmy Falon's EW! Skit he and other male celebrities always dress up as younger teen girls and make fun of them by constantly saying ew and saying stereotypical teen girl jokes. This is all for comedic purposes but we also have to realize that Jimmy and his fellow co-stars's masculinity is never questioned. There was never a huge social media outbreak on them cross dressing or playing females. This is the "insurance" that Pascoe was talking about and we see it being displayed various times in different scenarios on the media.

23 Gendered Products That Prove How Truly Fragile Masculinity Is

         This is an article I came across that I found pretty funny. In this article you will see products that are catered to men because we all know that men and women cannot use the same product (completely ridiculous FYI ). For example, in this article you will see a birthday card section that says “ Birthday Masculine”. I have no idea what is in there but if anyone knows any masculine guy then there is a perfect card to give him. Another product that is listed is a pen that is specifically “for real men”. As if there is a difference between the way a man or a woman uses a pen. This is all just a marketing scheme because if they can make any regular product and cater it specifically to men then obviously men will buy it. Pretty sad that stuff like this happens with everyday normal products.  

If you want to read the article yourself you can find it listed below:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukebailey/fragile-masculinity-lol#.rprqBdlEo

Masculinity and Violence - The Alpha and Beta Males

I recently came across an article that brings up the conflict that males sometimes face in relation to their association with masculinity while at the same time speaking to gun violence, in particular the recent shootings in Oregon.  Actually the article did not target just the Oregon shootings but in fact looked at “why” these crimes are occurring at such alarming rates in the U.S.   We all know that easy access to weapons and mental illness are often discussed as leading contributors to mass shootings but could there possibly be some other common factor?  Soraya Chemaly, who is a writer for the Huffington Post, actually came up with an interesting idea which speaks to masculinity and the way certain males view themselves.

As we read, “Masculinity is constructed, is built up through ideology, domination, practice, language and other related elements” (Reeser, 51), so how does this play into Chemaly’s article.  The term she uses to describe the desired level of masculinity relates to the Alpha male.  The American Alpha male is perceived as someone who displays outward strength due to his body structure, has sexual prowess, is in control of his emotions, overall he is culturally the epitome of true masculinity.  He achieves this level of masculinity by being in direct opposition to his counterpart, the Beta male.   A Beta male is someone who is sensitive, he is overly emotional, he is too nice, too protective and not viewed as sexy.  The Beta male displays traits that are considered more effeminate and thereby, all in all he is the opposite of the Alpha male. 

Chemaly, focuses on a fringe group of Beta males who are now lashing out, or rebelling, against the perceptions society has of them, and in fact of the way they view themselves within the realm of masculinity.  In so, they are blaming women for their imagined shortcomings, particularly in the area of feeling inadequate and less desirable than the Alpha male.   A key element of masculinity is dominance and this is often achieved through violence.  Chemaly notes this is what the fringe group of Beta males are turning to, to achieve empowerment and control.  How better to dominate than with fear?  In using guns, which are a very masculine prop, it gives these men a sense of empowerment.  No one would question his authority with a gun in hand.  This is exactly the manner in which this group of males are trying to change the image that they have of themselves and to wreak havoc on a society that has, in their eyes, devalued them as not being masculine enough.

In her article, Chemaly gives considerable discussion to the fact that the majority of the mass shootings have been carried out by white males in places where there would be a predominate number of females present.

Chemaly, Soraya. “Mass Killings in the US: Masculinity, Masculinity, Masculinity.”  Huffington Post, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/mass-killings-in-the-us-w_b_8234322.html>

 

Reeser, Todd W. Masculinities in Theory: An Introduction. West Sussex: Wiley- Blackwell, 2010

Attributing Masculinity to Children in News

A recent news story out of the UK is blowing up the internet. A 21 year old babysitter engaged in sexual intercourse with an 11 year-old male and has received minimal punishment. The absurd part is that the boy's father has come out in defense of the babysitter saying that his son regard the experience as, "a notch in his belt" and that the boy is unaffected by the experience. Despite this the babysitter in her testimony states that the boy did not enjoy it and said it was wrong. The judge gave the babysitter a suspended sentence, stating she was "immature" and her victim was "unusually mature" which in his opinion narrowed "the arithmetic age gap."

Would the same judgement have been passed down if the perpetrator was a man and the victim a woman? The extent to which this father and judge are projecting a masculine image onto this child is astounding to me. The child in question is only 11 and probably still in the stages of puberty. Attributing such statements as sex crazed and saying he's treating it as another notch in his belt does not erase the fact that this is a human child with feelings who had a very adult experience way too early. The child being male should not forgive this act just because of the stereotypical masculine fantasies. I'd love to hear some thoughts and opinions on this story.

One articles covering this story: Dad Defends Babysitter...

Shown above are my niece and my brother. The picture to the right is my background image on my phone and I did not mean for this outcome, but I have gotten a lot of weird questions from it such as "Why is she dressed like a boy?" "Does your brother know that Batman is a man?" and other such questions. I think it is safe to say that my brother knows that Batman is a man. He is obsessed and has made his daughter obsessed with Batman as well. The picture on the left is showing them playing with light sabers. She likes to play with swords, toy cars and light sabers and her parents allow her to. They have gotten some back lash for this. They are told that she needs dolls and princess dress up toys to become more feminine and less tom boyish. My niece does have baby doll toys and nail polish. She also has many books and likes to listen to music. Her interests do not decide what gender or sexuality she chooses to identify with. She is free to do whatever she pleases and I am proud to see my brother and his wife creating such an open and diverse world for my baby niece.

The Desperation to Sell

           Companies should not have to use desperate acts (like objectification) to sell their products. If the products works, and does what it says, it should sell itself. There is absolutely no need to objectify human beings to sell a cheap product. People all over, especially young kids are looking at ads and believing that if they “buy this product, then they will become something different: thinner, hotter, sexier, smarter (Tarrant, 50).” A hot topic is women being objectified in advertising. But, what about the men? Men get objectified just as much as women. Advertiser David Gianatasio from AdWeek calls the wide and growing use of male objectification, “hunkvertising.” I guess advertisers are lacking in the creative department if they have to settle on this to sell their products. I feel like we have fought (and are still fighting) on women’s issues, and for equality- are we taking a step back, again? Are we adding to the list of the many things that people need to fight to change? YES! Sadly, media is getting worse and worse, and having more of an influence on young minds more than ever.

Here is a great site with a few examples of the objectification of men in advertising:

http://objectificationofads.weebly.com/objectification-men.html

Photo. "Hunkvertising: The Objectification of Men in Advertising." AdWeek. AdWeek, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.