Society’s Construction of Masculinity Essay

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Updated: Feb 26th, 2024

Introduction

Many countries all over the world are making strides towards gender equality. Unlike sex which is determined biologically, gender on the other hand is a social construct.

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The society’s expectations about the roles and attitudes of a particular sex consist of issues that give rise to gender discrimination. This means that, problems which cause gender discrimination are social or natural problems. While the society expresses discrimination against women in various ways through cultural attitude and social structures, the men do not equally find it easy in the society due to the society’s unreasonable standards of masculinity. (Stockman, 412)

Some analyst believe that the problem of masculinity is a personal problem of the individual involved but, when the person involved indulges in illegal or social disruptive actions just to prove his masculinity, the repercussions of such actions are on the larger society. These men go to the extent of indulging in crime or other social vices just to prove their masculinity because, there are social consequences that arise if a man fails to prove his masculinity in certain societies. (Stockman, 312)

This essay will analyze how different society’s construction of masculinity can cause social problems. Also, the social problems which arise from this societal act and are considered most urgent will be highlighted. Lastly, the essay will show how the intersection of gender and other social constructs like class, ethnicity and race could result into social rifts and problems.

Social construction of masculinity in Asian societies

Every society views and constructs masculinity to suit the social and cultural values of such a society thus there is always a difference in the method which societies use to construct masculinity. The Asian society constructs masculinity in a different way from the American society.

In an Asian society, masculinity is perceived in a distinctive and different manner from the America’s hegemonic way of masculinity. In other words, the Asian society does not view masculinity in opposition to feminine gender and it seems the Asians are creating a new kind of masculinity which is free from male dominance.

The Asian society is constructing a new kind of masculinity which is based on mental power. For instance, an Asian man feels undermined and challenged if an Asian woman dates or prefers men of different race like; an American or African. This is a clear case of the male ego been at play and to the Asian society, the man’s masculinity is challenged. It is expected of the man to rise to the occasion and defend himself or show his American contemporary his masculinity.

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So, in the Asian society, masculinity is all about the show of psychological power. Although it is important to note that women as human beings are entitled to choose a spouse or boyfriend from any society they deem fit regardless of age, color, race or height. But the Asian society perceives an Asian woman dating a man of another race as abandonment, rejection, and shame on the Asian men available. (Stockman, 541)

Culturally, the Asian men tend to portray more traditional gender roles and the willingness of Asian men to assist or help their women with domestic tasks confirms the fact Asian-Americans are more cultured. It is worthy of note that, no innate or universal gender qualities naturally accompany physical sex differences but some societies believe gender qualities are related to biological sex differences. In a nut shell, the Asian society constructs masculinity on ego and mental power. (Donnalyn, 444)

Social construction of masculinity in American societies

In contrast to the Asian way of constructing masculinity, the American society constructs hegemonic masculinity. The perception of masculinity in the American society plays out through pride and physical strength. (Carrigan, 364)

Standing up for your family, friends and the powerless in the society is the America’s perception of masculinity. Due to this societal expectation which constructs masculinity, young American men often commit time and money towards developing muscles and are sometimes even obsessed with body building.

Even the American females prefer a masculine man to one who is caring, brainy and smart but not masculine. The American media and celebrities also contribute in shaping the perception of masculinity in physical terms. Media generated images of an ideal male body often affects the society’s perception of masculinity which prior to the high technological influenced 21st century, where based on behavioral qualities like; responsibility, confidence, character and attitude. (Stockman, 91)

Unlike the Asian society which constructs masculinity through ego and mental abilities, the American society views masculinity in physical terms. However, these different perspectives of masculinity work in separate ways in different societies. What seems to be a bigger problem is, having people from these separate societies with their respective opinions about masculinity to live together in a common society and perceive masculinity in the same light. (Carrigan, 401)

American’s view towards Asian masculinity

America’s color discrimination towards other races particularly Asians and Africans date back to many centuries. The American legislation had historically denied people of color equal rights and justice. Racism against Asians can be traced back to the 1882 Chinese exclusion act and the 1917 immigration act that denied entry into the United States of America to Chinese, Japanese, Asian Indians and Koreans. It was until the 1965 immigration act that, the ban against Asian immigrants was lifted. (Carrigan, 300)

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Today however, racism in America is portrayed through the media in spite of the color blind ideology campaign in America. Scenes of robbery in America films are always played by African-Americans while scenes of cyber crime and computer hacking are always played by Asian-Americans. This negative roles played by African-Americans and Asian-Americans convey and infuse racial ideologies into the society. (Carrigan, 302)

The American media also tries to portray masculinity in terms of physical strength by show showing male ideal bodies and the Asian style of masculinity which is mental power is underestimated. The Asian males are seen as less masculine males due to the absence of muscles and the macho thing. (Kristen, 222)

The Asian females are also treated as lesser beings not worth taking serious in interracial relationships between American men and Asian females. The American society believes that a man’s muscles also, define how sexy he can be. Thus, the American men tend to look down on their Asian contemporaries believing the Asian females are always eager to have American men and will always choose them over the Asian men due to the fact that American men are sexier and masculine. (Donnalyn, 312)

Enculturation of Asian men and the American society

Due to modernized methods’ of racism against Asians and Africans through the media, enculturation of Asian of men and the American society becomes very difficult and tough.

Factors like racism and Asian masculinity been considered as less masculine in the American society, could sometimes lead to depression of Asian-American men. If the immediate society where an individual resides perceives such an individual as a lesser person due to certain societal believes, this could lead to mental breakdown of such a person.

In spite of good and sound moral qualities like, attitude, responsibility and character of Asian men, they are still perceived as lesser beings in an American society and Asian-American men find it hard to live a normal life as they are always conscious of their environment. (Davis, 763)

To further buttress my point, academic surveys in the United States of America rate Asian-Americans as been more intelligent and perform better in math and science than Americans but they are termed less sexy. This seemingly intelligence of Asians does not help or affect their enculturation and the American society. (Davis, 345)

Balancing out family and cultural values by Asians in an American society is a difficult task. In an American society where sex among college youths and adolescents has become a norm, the Asian cultural way of a woman preserving herself becomes very tough to maintain in such environment.

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Also, the high rate of alcohol consumption among American youths affects Asian-Americans negatively as they are mocked when they refuse to partake in these acts with their contemporaries. All these actors negatively affect Asian-American and enculturation becomes nearly impossible. (Kristen, 204)

Invisibility of Asian men in the society

There is an absence of Asian-American men in public and political offices due to several reasons. This could be attributed to many factors like, racism, lack of self esteem as a result of constant intimidation from the American indigenes. (Davis, 109)

The Asian-American men are termed or described as intelligent but they are not seen actively participating in the building of the society due to the aforementioned reasons. Instead of involving Asian-Americans by either political appointments or giving them the chance to hold public offices, the American media rather brands Asian-Americans as quiet and reserved men who prefer to keep to themselves. (Kristen, 314)

However, what the American media does not talk about is the fact that, been quiet and reserved does not stop an individual from performing his or her civic responsibility. And if this is the case, why are Asian-Americans not seen in public or political offices? This clearly shows that, there is more to the absence of Asian-Americans in the society than the excuse of been quiet and reserved which the American media feeds the public. (Davis, 241)

Being quiet and reserved has never and will never stop an individual from holding a political or public office if given the privilege and opportunity. The only perimeter that can be used to measure the success or failure of Asian-Americans is by giving them a level playing ground opportunity with their indigenous American contemporaries to hold public or political offices. (Donnalyn, 152)

Conclusion

With all the aforementioned examples, it is clear how the society’s construction of masculinity can cause social problems like racism, depression, loosing family and cultural values.

In pursuit of true masculinity just to prove critics wrong, some men indulge in social vices like; murder, theft and rape. (Carrigan, 152) These vices have immense and devastating repercussions on the society or community. Also, other social problems like racism which occur from the society’s construction of masculinity could result to depression and sometimes suicide. (Carrigan, 142)

No matter how it is termed or described, society’s construction of masculinity is not in the best interest of the society as people from all gender and sexes are capable of been useful if given the right platform. It is difficult to choose a particular social problem which results from the society’s construction of masculinity as the most urgent.

Rather, I would conclude that constructing masculinity itself is a societal lapse that should be discouraged immediately in all societies. (Anderson, 124) The resulting social problems could vary from one individual to another so, it is difficult to choose one as the most urgent.

Perhaps what is most urgent is the need to stop societal construction of masculinity which in turn pushes individuals to perpetrate crimes or other social vices. In a nut shell, if people are not pushed to go extra miles just to prove masculinity as the society expects of them, then there will perhaps be less or even absent social problems. It is highly important and urgent to discourage masculinity in societies. (Anderson, 112)

Works Cited

Anderson, Eric. Inclusive masculinity: The changing nature of masculinities. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print

Carrigan, Tony. Towards a new sociology of masculinity: The making of masculinities. Boston: Allen 1987. Print.

Davis, Andrea. The limits of masculinity: A new psychology of men. New York: Harper. 2005. Print.

Donnalyn, Pompper. Masculinities, the Metro sexual, and Media Images: Across Dimensions of Age and Ethnicity. Florida: Springer, 2010. Print.

Kristen, Barber. The well-coiffed man: Class, race, and heterosexual masculinity in the hair salon. California: Blackwell, 2008. Print.

Stockman, Robinson. Marked men: White masculinity in crisis. New York: Columbia University Press. 2000. Print.

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