I think that these messages occur on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels simultaneously.Society sets strong, pervasive expectations of what it means "to be a man." These messages are perpetuated through our relationships with other people, where the norms are reinforced through acceptance or punishment by our peers. Finally, our interactions with society and on an interpersonal level lead to our feelings of self worth, where we internalize the judgements from society to judge ourselves. The following is a video about a young man named Kirk Murphy, who in 1970 underwent experimental therapy because he displayed effeminate behaviors. In 2003, Kirk, who was gay, committed suicide:
(SuchIsLifeVideos, 2011)
The second video in this video series confronts George Rekers, the researcher who performed this experiment, and has written several books where he mentions this experiment, proclaiming it a success:
(SuchIsLifeVideos, 2011)
2) I think that there are rights men have taken away from them because of patriarchy, related to the above messages they are receiving. Men are "not allowed" to: cry or show emotion, stay at home and raise children, show interests in more 'feminine' activities without being made fun of, be bad at athletics without being scrutinized, be bad at repairing things, etc. However, at the same time, there are also privileges men receive by being "born male." In many situations men receive the final word, men were allowed to vote before females, men make up a larger proportion of government leadership (we have yet to have a female president), men usually (in the past more than now) controlled the finances, and men received more pay for the same work as women in many jobs.
3) Men need to be liberated from the stereotypes of masculinity that are so prevalent in society. Men, women, and all other identities alike should be able to enjoy the same opportunities and freedoms of choice in jobs, expressions, etc. In order for men (and everyone) to be liberated, we would need to change not only how we think about masculinity, but how it is portrayed in the media and to our children as well. Some changes have already taken place, including more men becoming stay at home dads, and the greater of acceptance of men in jobs (such as nurses) that are seen has having more traditional female roles. An alternative masculinity may look more like a man who is confident in himself and his identity, while not prescribing to or being bound to the stereotypes of an gender or identity in society.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-irAT0viF0
SuchIsLifeVideos. (2011, June 08). AC360 - The 'sissy boy' experiment - Part two (confronting George
Rekers). Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_AeCUSXfmU
I heard about this story of Kirk Murphy in one of my psych classes either last year or the year before and it is absolutely heart-wrenching. Although this is slightly moving away from what this blog is about, but, do you think that, since this experiment occurred in the 70's and his parents were from an even earlier time, that if this were to occur now, nothing would be done to "fix" the child? In other words, do you think our society now is more accepting of a blurred line between femininity and masculinity - or is it only OK when it's in terms of children only?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. I think that now, there wouldn't be any formal experiments to "fix" the child. However, depending on the child's parents, they could still impose rewards/punishments for the child's actions. I think the child's actions would also be shaped by the response when he entered school. What do you think? Hopefully someday we won't have people worrying about that blurred line anymore!
DeleteSweet video post, Natasha!
ReplyDeleteGreat videos, I think both do a great job of portraying the desperation and fallacy in attempting to conceptualize a concrete definition of masculinity.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments and videos Natasha. One part that really jumped out at me is when you wrote that men are expected to "fix things." I read that and thought, oh no, I have that expectation a lot of the time. I call my dad or uncles to fix car and computer problems and other maintenance types of issues. Thank you for bringing this to my awareness.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I loved the sissy boy experiment videos - not in terms of content, but your incorporation and formatting of this examples. Great work with the blog. This is exactly what I am looking for!
ReplyDelete