Discussion
Masculinity is changing not just in the West, but worldwide as well. Director Neil Jordan represents this aspect in the 1992 movie “The Crying Game”. It shows the nature of a man who is weak despite being a revolutionary. He is shown being overshadowed by his women and love interests and this is very new concept, particularly in the Hollywood movies. This is because society has changed in recent years and along with it, the image of gender has also changed.
The processes for masculinity are changing because, in part, the institution of family is itself transforming. In traditional societies, the family system tended to take the form of the extended family. In extended families, more than two generations of the same kinship line lived together, either in the same residence or in nearby dwellings. All adults in these extended families shared responsibility as a whole but the centrifugal force always stayed within the capacities of the patriarch. Then, during the Industrial Revolution, the nuclear family became the most common familial system, at least within the Western nations. In the modern world, the smaller nuclear family structure held many advantages over the traditional extended family. Nuclear families helped to promote geographical and social mobility. Smaller families also tended to spend less money simply because there were fewer individuals to provide for. (Chaudhuri, 62).
This important social change would have profound effects on how man would be looked. While the nuclear family offered increased economic feasibilities, the man and wife- who now had to raise the children on their own- sometimes found child rearing to be exhausting and a burden. In addition, the children- to a considerable extent separated from most other family members- would sometimes find themselves alienated from these extended family members. In many respects, the nuclear family engenders a sense of loneliness within offspring. This had a fundamentally derailment of the male offspring psyche.
In the last few decades, the number of “non-traditional” families has skyrocketed. These family structures include single-parent families and reconstituted families (nuclear families in which at least one member is a survivor of divorce). These “non-traditional” families pose special problems for children and particularly for the male child who needed support that is more moral during the growing period. Often, the head of the household in single-parent families does not possess the financial resources to take care of the offspring properly. In addition, some heads are so busy with work and other adult responsibilities that they cannot provide adequate supervision for the offspring. Reconstituted families face the difficult challenges of creating appropriate relationships among stepparents and stepchildren, between the children of one spouse and the children of the other spouse, and between various new half-brothers, half-sisters, and the existing children. (Chaudhuri, 57).
From the parameters of grown-ups, Men and women experience the effects of divorce similarly in many respects. Men and women both experience shock during and following the separation procedure. Divorce painfully frustrates long-held habits. Many times during the day, former habits must be faced consciously. For most, they provided comfort and happiness, and when the relationship ends, these old comforts and sources of happiness abruptly evaporate. Obviously, established sexual patterns are disrupted, and the disruption can be jarring for many people. Often, it triggers sexual abnormalities. Some divorced persons become sexually repressed (at least for a time), while others engage in promiscuity. Divorce, for both men and women, can entail ambivalence toward the partner and oneself. Divorced individuals also experience at times severe stress as they somehow seek out new friendships, new sexual partners, and above all, new lives. The attempt to adjust to the separation is usually accompanied by varying amounts of frustration and emptiness. Economic disruptions also impair mental hygiene for both men and women. (Kar, 38-9).
There are, however, some important general differences in how men and women respond to marital separation. Sociologists have noted that, often, men are the first to desire divorce, but that women are generally the first to suggest it. However, these are not hard-and-fast rules. Other sociologists have suggested that women tend to be more emotionally resilient in response to divorce. They are less likely to become reclusive and less likely to assume dangerous, self-destructive behaviors such as smoking or substance abuse. It can be stated that all these aspects shaped the basic psyche of a modern man and masculinity changes with it at the same time. This is the prime aspect of emotional dependence that a man craves and this would be relevant while discussing the film. (Chaudhuri, 203).
Fergus is an active member of IRA and his duty is to guard a British soldier Jody who has been captured by the IRA chief as a hostage to free fellow IRA prisoners in British prison. Thus, it is obvious that the job assigned to Fergus is a very important one. However, in the movie we find Fergus becoming soft with Jody and helping him out emotionally. This aspect of masculinity is quite feminine considering that Jody is an important political pawn. He also misses his assignment of killing Jody as he becomes extremely soft.
Again, Fergus is meeting Jody’s girlfriend Dil and becomes involved with her. He actually is caught between Dil and one of his IRA companion, Jude. Here we find that Jude is much stronger emotionally than Fergus and Dil makes him completely amorous and makes him forget his duty to his party and cause.
Carl Gustav Jung’s findings seem to suggest that each individual psyche has the potential for two opposing personalities: ego and shadow. Ego controls the psyche, but when ego is disrupted (through cutting frames into the film) or weakened through an emotional void (as is evident in Fergus’ case), the shadow creeps in to take control. The ego is constructed around societal norms and the desire for behavior, which “fits into society.” However, Post-Modernity challenges these social norms. The destruction of Fergus’ ego also parallels the destruction of Western hegemony. In accordance to Marxist Feminist models, the economy is a prime dominant feature of a society. (Chaudhuri, 167) This is found repeatedly in the movie. Judy is found to be the dominant force over Fergus with her higher position in the party and Dil is making the call over Fergus with her stable social position. Thus, the gender aspect is reversed and the male is found to be dominated by women in the movie making the identity of masculinity a weaker sex.
Works Cited
Chaudhuri, Shonhini; Feminist Film Theorists Mulvey, Silverman, de Lauretis, Creed, New York, Canada, and London: Routledge; 2006.
Kar, P; History of Silver screen Economics and Related Applications; Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee; 2006.