Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
To begin… What we know
Everyone must do gender appropriately to be seen as sane and competent (non-deviant).
Gender Hierarchy
Hierarchical nature of gender places men above women, masculinity above femininity.
Men and women come into relationships with a power differential.
Women are positioned below men.
This is challenging for both men and women
Bad for Men?!?!
For men, more than women, the gender binary narrows the range of acceptable ambitions,
experiences, expression, etc.
Cheerleading (For Example)
Was once an all-male sport.
Gymnastics, stunts, crowd leadership, feats of strength.
WWI - Men to war; women to cheer.
Post-war - Men back to cheering.
Women were becoming too “masculine”.
WWII - Men to war; women to cheer… this time it stuck.
Cheerleading became trivialized, feminized.
Male cheerleaders had been seen as “valiant”; female cheerleaders were/are seen as
“cute”.
Male cheerleaders now, from the outside, are looked at suspiciously.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
A Little History
Patriarchy - “rule of the father”
Control of women and younger men by select males - Patriarchs
Patriarchal Societies of 1800s and early 1900s, only patriarchs had rights.
Pre-modern (estate) to modern society (democracy).
Broader range of men (white land owners) considered equals.
Democratic Brotherhood
Formal Gender Equality
Under Current of Gender Thought
You have to be male to be autonomous.
Men conceived as the generic human.
Women are the other or opposite sex.
Deviant from the norm.
Men are seen as people first and men second.
Women are women first and then people.
Master Status
What do you think when you think kid?
Power and masculinity are synonymous.
Synonyms:
Power –
Weak –
Femininity –
Masculine -
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Under Current of Gender Thought (Continued)
To be weaker or subordinate is to be less masculine.
We use gendered language to communicate strength or weakness.
Modified Patriarchy
Modern societies hold up the ideals of equality.
Still.. the conflation of power and masculinity remain central to modern life.
Sexism
Prejudice based on sex.
Swim’s meta-analysis (123 studies).
Evaluations of writing, art, behavior, job applications, and biographies.
Attributed to fictional men and women.
All other attributes were held constant.
Women were evaluated less positively than men, based on sex alone.
Joan vs. John McKay (1989).
Androcentrism
Granting higher status, respect, value, rewards, and power to the masculine.
Distinction focused on the gender binary and separating the masculine from the feminine
and gender policing.
Society orders the differences in a hierarchy.
Different than sexism.
Rewards accrue to anyone who can do masculine.
Women willingly and vigorously embrace masculine traits/activities.
Men tend to avoid embracing feminine traits/activities.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Androcentrism (Continued)
What is good for men is good for everyone.
What is good for women is only good for women.
Subordination
Through conformity with gender expectations women are placed into positions that make them
subservient to or dependent on men.
Subordinate Occupation
%
Female
Superordinate Occupation
% Male
Doctors
Lawyers
Dentists
Managers, CEOs, Directors, etc.
Gendered work puts women disproportionately in subservient roles.
Gender for Men
Childhood: Parents tolerate varying degrees of feminine behavior in their sons.
Most Tolerant
Least Tolerant
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Gender for Men (Continued)
Doing masculinity is about avoiding femininity.
Insults and slurs send messages to boys and girls.
Feminine makes you a girl.
Being a girl is bad.
Masculinity is so fragile that the slightest brush with the feminine threatens or destroys masculinity.
Diminishing Masculinity
A consequence of androcentrism is that women increasingly invade masculine space/activities.
As women successfully enter previously, predominately male space is gets harder for men to set
themselves apart.
Men are finding it more difficult to “be a man”.
Male Flight
Women show up, men bail.
Education (Department of Education, 2012)
Education: Increasingly men are more likely to pretend that they don't care about their grades.
Being studious is increasingly associated with femininity.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Hegemony
Widely endorsed, accepted, practiced ideology that results in stratification or hierarchical ordering.
Masculine Hegemony
The hegemonic man is the “real man” in our collective conscience.
All men get to claim positive traits attributed to men…
Even when they don’t poses them.
Even when some women do poses them.
The Measure of a Man - Men are ranked from the most masculine to the least masculine.
Men who do not meet the hegemonic ideal in any arena are vulnerable to being marked as less than a
man.
A “real man” is?
Masculine Hegemony
Contradictions/challenges men face:
Competitive… if you compete you could lose.
Men don’t lose.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Masculine Hegemony (Continued)
Contradictions/challenges men face:
Perfect Husband - Playboy
Responsible - Cavalier
Hard Bodied - Hard Drinking
Masculine Hegemony
At some point men will face feeling like a failure, inadequate, not a man.
So men try to:
Stay in control
Conquer
Call the shots
Tough it out
Provide
Protect
Achieve
So men try not to:
Feel
Need
Desire
Those things that they’re not meant to need, feel, or desire.
Hegemonic masculinity pressures men to be a particular kind of impossible to be person.
It is oppressive for men.
Men squeeze into the newer binary to avid the scrutiny from or policing by other men.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Masculine Hegemony (Continued)
One strategy that is readily available is the degradation of women.
Intersections and Hegemonic Masculinity
Social Class
Race
Disability
Group Privilege
Male privilege is very complicated.
Within in given group, men typically have power over women.
Some groups have more privilege than other groups.
Along with the women in those groups.
Dangers of Masculinity
Hypermasculinity is glorified in:
Music
Movies
Sports
Normalized violence and aggression.
Celebrated or heroic.
Aggression is also seen as heroic in:
Protecting women
Going after bad guys
Going to war.
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Dangers of Masculinity (Continued)
Men are not naturally violent.
Men are trained both directly and indirectly to resist “impulses to empathize”.
Men are encouraged to enter dangerous situations enthusiastically.
Nurturing Hypermasculinity
Fraternities
Military
Police
Gangs
Prison
Dangerousness to Others
2012 Arrests
89 percent of murders
77 percent of aggravated assaults
73 percent of incidents of family violence
99 percent of rape
82 percent of arson
92 percent of carrying an unlawful weapon
Danger to Self
More likely to:
Ignore seat belt laws
Take sexual risks
Drive recklessly
Use drugs / alcohol
Smoke
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Danger to Self (Continued)
75 percent of drunk driving arrests
93 percent of occupational deaths
3x more likely to die in an automobile accident
Less likely:
Go in for health screenings
Take vitamins
Exercise regularly
Treat illnesses or injuries
Danger to Self - Friends
Men are discouraged from reaching out and forming strong bonds/intimate friendships with other men.
Open up about insecurities.
Share fears.
Be kind to each other.
Share sadness.
Share joy.
Sacrifice self-interest.
All this bonding and sharing and helping is incompatible with the rules of masculinity.
“What?… We boyfriend/girlfriend now?”
Dudes can bond over male stuff like:
Car shows
Hunting
Helping each other move
Sports
Fishing
Strip clubs
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Inequality: Men
Introduction to Gender
Danger to Self – Friends (Continued)
Adult, white, heterosexual men have fewer friends than women and other men.
Male Interaction
Suppression of emotions and empathy.
Insults
Humiliation
Threats
Male Interaction - Hazing
Functions to facilitate:
Bonding
Exclusion of others
Establishes a hierarchy
It is an available/acceptable expression of emotions, connectedness, interaction.
“The sharper your wit, the meaner your jokes, the less you cared about anyone, the more status and
dominance you accrued”.
Story of Rick
Sometimes men have to participate in masculine hegemony to avoid being the target of degradation
and physical abuse and assault.
Hegemonic Masculinity
Seemingly, the single (most important/central) standard of esteem for men.
Makes the position of even the most advantaged men precarious.
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