Why Natural talents are considered for being masculine?

Zine I created a few months back in reference to successful women athletes and them being considered “unattractive or too masculine”. In a world, full of teaching others how to hate themselves and love unrealistic body images portrayed through social media and idolized worldwide. Natural talents are considered for being masculine?

Standstill

http://bcheights.com/2017/11/19/activist-byron-hurt-tackles-toxic-masculinity-misogyny/


The conversation never seems to change.

The fact that the things Byron Hurt talks about today are subjects that have been just as relevant when he was discussing them back in the '90s and '00s shows how little things have progressed over the years; despite the conversations happening, these issues remain just as relevant as ever. Despite all the work being done in feminist, womanist, and other anti-patriarchy (and toxic masculinity) circles and actions, the patriarchy is still prevailing in so many ways. As some people are unlearning their internalized misogyny, others are being indoctrinated. As people begin to move away from one wave of masculinism, society shifts to adapt and foster newer (and sometimes stronger) ways of tearing this social justice down. Some do it through force, others do it through propaganda, subliminal messaging, a combination of the three, and so forth. Minds are easily moldable, and when a society is as assertively persuasive as ours is, it is easy to see why toxic masculinity is so easily able to thrive (though it certainly helps that it has also been a rather large building block in the very foundation this society was built on).

In this class, we have explored multiple works from Hurt throughout the semester, none of which were from within the last few years (some of which were more than a decade ago). The conversation described in this article from two days ago was so strongly reminiscent of others Mr. Hurt has participated in that I actually went back and triple-checked that I had read the date on it correctly throughout when I was reading it. Had someone slapped a different date on there and told me it occurred in the early 2000s, I would have believed them. We have made very little progress, and that worries me. I worry that, especially in the current state of this country, this movement is in danger worse than it has been in a long time. We do not seem to be learning as a society; in scholastic spaces, sure, and even some in the media, but to focus on gender-based social justice issues as "trending topics" rather than as serious societal issues upholding a dangerous power structure is not exactly what I would call progress.

I wonder how things will progress from here, and if anyone has any ideas as to how to proceed from here. (Please feel free to share them with me if you do.)

Manly Men

Manly Men

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTjMYRH1uEY

This video demonstrated a lot of men who are quite diverse in appearance and how they rate themselves on the “manly” scale. One gentlemen said it just right, everyone is made up of masculine and feminine personality traits, it is just how others view and interpret those traits into the social norms. Arnold Schwarzenegger was commonly referred to as a very “manly” man. Physically, there is no doubt the guy is masculine. I wonder how much these other men knew about Schwarzenegger before referring to him as such a manly man.  

Irrelevance of the “manly man”

The social stigma of men has changed throughout time, and specifically within the last decade.  The changing perception of men and what it means to be a “manly man” has evolved from the Egyptian pharaohs wearing make up and shifted towards an expected masculine demander of all men, as the article points out. This change in male masculine demeanor has ultimately affected the male fashion word and social opinions of men based on their physical appearance. This article draws light to male masculine stereotypes and the depiction of men in high fashion. It points out photo shoots and runway show depictions of men in body jewelry, belly shirts, and make up- all female fashion and beauty standards. Recently, common social American opinion is reverting back to a common manly-man mentality and stereotypically male fashion and beauty trends. The article points out the ambiguity of the gender social scale and undefined male and female stereotypes that our society is confined around. This movement is building prominently in progressive urban areas where LBGTQ+ and anti-masculine behavior is more accepted and celebrated than rural and conservative areas. The ambiguity of male masculine expectations and stereotypes is the important point in identifying and analyzing masculine stereotypes.

http://www.cnn.com/style/article/masculinity-for-the-modern-world/index.html