Gender Roles and Masculinity

I think that in 2010, gender roles are not as clear cut and separate as they used to be years ago. It is no longer the man that always goes to work and makes the money, just as it is no longer the woman that always stays home with the kids and does the cooking and cleaning. In society years ago, those were the expectations. There were female roles, and there were male roles. Today, society is a lot more flexible about what is socially acceptable. Certain roles are no longer specific to gender. A woman can go to work and be the bread winner, and the man can stay home with the kids and take care of the household. It seems to be that there is a lot more emphasis on the male contributing more to the household and upbringing of the children. Involvement of both parents in the family life seems to be more important, yet expectations tend to be fairly equal for both parents. One parent isn’t simply expected to support and take care of the entire family by oneself. In this way gender is no longer as set on specific roles as it was in the past.

In particular, I like the idea of “doing gender,” that gender is not something you are, but rather, it is something that you do. I think this is very true. People can definitely look masculine, but a lot of the time clothing and poise add to that masculinity. The way someone portrays or acts makes them more or less masculine. I think that women are attracted to more masculine men, and for this reason men may seek to appear as masculine as they can in order to attract women. Also, I think men strive to be more masculine than other men in order to seem tough, like they can’t be messed with. Society and the influence from media definitely encourage masculinity.

I also thought it was an interesting concept that there is a difference between masculinity and masculinities. It is very logical that the old way is the one masculinity of the male gender role, the male going to work to make money and support the family. This goes along with the guidelines, norms, and expectations on behavior. The new way of multiple masculinities is intriguing, in that there is a hierarchy of masculinity, with which everyone in society agrees with the hegemonic, or top of the hierarchy, masculinity. This may involve a rich, powerful, and attractive man. I think that a lot of society’s expectations for this masculinity have developed from media. On television, there are shows like “The Bachelor” where there are all of these beautiful girls who are all there to fall in love with this one man who has it all. He is masculine, rich, exciting, and of course has a great personality. The ideal masculine man in society continues to have higher and higher expectations. Really, sometimes the list of all these things that fit the ideal category for a masculine man seem like they are unattainable and only present in dreams or fairy tales.