Blog Prompt #2: Masculinity Through a Feminist Lens
By Alexandra Rose, Anna Mullen, Seth Krasne and Philipe DaSilva
We start this discussion by jumping from introductory material in the first blog straight to chapter 12 near the end of the book to present to you the concept of feminist masculinity. Why do we make such a decisive leap over chapters about sisterhood and reproductive rights? This is a bold move that continues the invitation to join in a discourse about what feminism means to everyone: men, women and all other categories of persons. By engaging the concept of masculinity into this discourse about feminism we can build a strong foundation and then tackle the other topics that tend to be more feminine-centered.
As a class we have just finished defining feminism and learned that it is about humanity and our right to live in a world without sexism in all forms. Many of us are still getting used to this new definition of feminism: feeling it, tasting it, looking at it from a distance. It is about equals, balance, same opportunities, symmetry. Let's take this new definition of feminism, hold it up to our eyes and look through the lens to discover a lesser known aspect of feminism: masculinity.
As a class we have just finished defining feminism and learned that it is about humanity and our right to live in a world without sexism in all forms. Many of us are still getting used to this new definition of feminism: feeling it, tasting it, looking at it from a distance. It is about equals, balance, same opportunities, symmetry. Let's take this new definition of feminism, hold it up to our eyes and look through the lens to discover a lesser known aspect of feminism: masculinity.
hooks offers us a guided history of the masculine movement within the feminist movement. Women at the beginning of the contemporary feminist movement began realizing that men were not the problem. Some women had already realized this and called on men to join in their movement against all forms of sexism. Some men were already part of the contemporary feminist movement, considering it equal to other movements of social justice. Unfortunately, as hooks notes, these smaller factions were not represented in the media. So the contemporary feminist movement became connoted with angry women who were anti-male. It seemed there was no place for men in feminism.
But as we have been learning through our texts, blogs and discussions, there is a place for men in feminism. In fact, there is a place for everyone in feminism (hence the title of the book) regardless of sex, gender or experience with the issues at hand. Our textbook views gender as a system of meaning: dynamic, changing, a process that constantly evolves. With this in mind, look at how the feminist movement shapes and contributes to a male's idea of masculinity and femininity. This can include contradictory messages and limited opportunities for men and boys, paralleling the experience of many women and girls.
But as we have been learning through our texts, blogs and discussions, there is a place for men in feminism. In fact, there is a place for everyone in feminism (hence the title of the book) regardless of sex, gender or experience with the issues at hand. Our textbook views gender as a system of meaning: dynamic, changing, a process that constantly evolves. With this in mind, look at how the feminist movement shapes and contributes to a male's idea of masculinity and femininity. This can include contradictory messages and limited opportunities for men and boys, paralleling the experience of many women and girls.
We found this video interview with a music artist talking about masculinity. He offers some great points to think about and incorporate into our class discussion (Warning: he drops the f-bomb once):
After all of this discussion about masculinity and femininity, this makes us think about how these are defined and contained in each of us. How do you define these terms in your life? Keep this in mind for our discussion and for now give some thoughtful answers to the blog questions.
Questions
1.) Textbook term: Contradiction - refers to the tensions commonly present in one's communication, identity, relations with others and relations to the larger culture (DeFrancisco and Palczewski, pg 20).
- What are some contradictory messages and expectations that males hear from our modern-day society?
- Identify whether these occur on individual, interpersonal and/or societal level(s) of communication. Expand on this concept.
2.) Feminist politics expanded to include the recognition that patriarchy stripped men of certain rights, imposing on them a sexist masculine identity (hooks, pg 68).
- Identify what you feel are some of the rights that patriarchy takes away from men.
- Are there privileges that men receive simply because they are born male?
3.) hooks writes about the "men's liberation movement" and the men who identified themselves as victims of sexism and worked to liberate men (hooks, pg. 69).
- What do men need to be liberated from? What would a men's liberation movement look like?
- What changes would we see? Have we already experienced some of these changes in our society?
- What might an alternative masculinity look like?
Please be honest, articulate and respectful. Thank you for participating!
References
DeFrancisco, V. P., & Palczewski, C. H. (2007). Communicating gender diversity: A critical approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics.
Wow! Great clip. I really enjoyed listening to his take on the masculine/feminine divide. Also I'm glad that you mentioned the giant leap in content that we are taking. I was thinking about how to organize the hooks' text into discussions that were somehow relevant to the topic of the week, but in some places that was hard to do. I decided to go with feminist masculinity as the follow up to the intro discussion and the first student led discussion for those exact reasons you cited. I believe that it's important that we continue to define feminism is terms of both female and male bodies. It is my hope that chapters on family, reproductive rights, class, race, etc. will be more enriched by jumping ahead and moving backwards.
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