Sociological Images - Masculinity

In discussing gender roles portrayed in today’s society, men face numerous threats of discrimination towards their masculinity. In society, men feel the pressure to conform to a certain set of (mostly unspoken) man rules. These man rules or “man code” are extremely hard to follow; one wrong action could mean the end of a man’s reputation and respect. Three articles from the “Sociological Images” website depict the effects of masculinity’s values and norms. The first two articles reinforce gendered stereotypes in merchandise and advertisement. The last article depicts the type of “manly” standards that young men in America feel pressure to abide by. In all of these articles, men face the risk of discrimination for not abiding by the “man code” 

HOW PATRIARCHY CONSTRAINS MEN’S CHOICES 

by Lisa Wade, May 25, 2010, at 10:59 am 

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/05/25/how-patriarchy-constrains-mens-choices/ 

The first article discusses the difference in variety of SIGG water bottles for men versus women. The article points out the fact that specific gender-targeting divides the choices for men and women, but ultimately result in less variety for men. In the article’s study, 135 total water bottles water bottles were examined; 77 water bottles are listed under the women’s collection, but only 58 are listed in the men’s. In fact, women are able to choose ANY of the bottles. However, men are limited to only choices that appear to be “masculine” --- choosing otherwise runs the risk of discrimination from other guys for his “feminine” choice. The description under both the male and female collections are amusing for their clearly gendered language: 

“Men: Swiss craftmanship. Durable performance. These classic reusable bottles will help keep you hydrated no matter what life throws at you.” 
“Women: A fresh, fun blend of color and style. These beautiful reusable bottles are fashionable and functional. Ready for your next adventure or as an everyday accessory.” 

MEN AND NON-COMPLIANCE WITH PATRIARCHY 

by Lisa Wade, Jun 27, 2009, at 10:55 am 

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/06/27/men-and-non-compliance-with-patriarchy/ 

The second article discusses that scholars argue that “patriarchy relies not just on a hierarchy that places men above women, but a hierarchy of men that punishes men who don’t obey rules of masculinity.” The article uses a series of pictures featuring an advertising campaign for Oberto Beef Jerky that displays the words: “Eat like an alpha.” The second part of the advertisement shows a picture of an open notebook. The title for one page reads “The Alpha” and lists the traits needed to be an alpha which include things like: walks in first, drives, calls the shots, picks the bar, tells the jokes, etc….On the adjacent page, the title reads: “The Sidekick” and includes sidekick-like traits: walks in second, rides shotgun, buys the shots, picks up the tab, etc….The message is clear: 

“The Alpha is the first; the sidekick is second. The Alpha gets served; the Sidekick serves. The Alpha gets the hot chick; the Sidekick gets the ‘ugly friend.’ The Alpha makes the decisions; the Sidekick takes them.”

This advertisement illustrates the threat to men if they don’t comply with patriarchy. If you’re fortunate enough to be an alpha male then your quest for hegemonic masculinity is safer than being discriminated at for being a sidekick. 

WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING A “MAN”? 

by Lisa Wade, Apr 10, 2011, at 11:39 am 

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/04/10/whats-wrong-with-being-a-man/#more-34580 

The last article discusses a video by Tony Porter, co-founder of A Call to Men: The National Association of Men and Women Committed to Ending Violence Against Women. Porter gives a speech accompanied by a powerpoint presentation about what it means for men confined by the “dictates of masculinity” and the consequences it plays on other men, women, sons, and daughters. The disturbing thing about this video is Porter’s explanation of the man box, a box containing a set of rules that men feel pressured to follow in society. For a man to not follow these set of rules, he risks being discriminated against by his fellow peers. Porter shares a story to illustrate: 

I come to also look at this as this fear that we have as men, this fear that just has us paralyzed, holding us hostage to this man box. I can remember speaking to a 12 year-old boy, a football player, and I asked him, I said, “How would you feel if, in front of all the players, your coach told you you were playing like a girl?” Now I expected him to say something like, I’d be sad, I’d be mad, I’d be angry, or something like that. No, the boy said to me — the boy said to me, “It would destroy me.” And I said to myself, “God, if it would destroy him to be called a girl, what are we then teaching him about girls?”

Being called a girl is the ultimate insult for any man, because it damages his reputation in quest for hegemonic masculinity and can lead to verbal discrimination by his peers (discussed below). 

These article display social values and norms for men in society --- where the social values are the feelings, thoughts, and actions that men feel are fundamentally important to being a man and the social norms result as the consequences of men’s social values. According to the text discrimination there are five basic levels of discrimination: 

1. Verbal 
2. Avoidance 
3. Exclusion 
4. Physical 
5. Extermination 

As discussed in the articles, males may face all five of these levels of discrimination if they fail to abide by their social values and norms. Verbal discrimination could be as a form of homophobic name calling (being called a girl in article three). Males may experience avoidance or exclusion from their peers, or they are likely to face some sort of physical discrimination as a form of “toughing up.” Extermination seems to be extreme in this case, but for close knit groups such as gangs, failure to comply may endanger someone’s life. 

In examining the different levels of social norms and values portrayed in these articles, evidently men run the risk of discrimination from their fellow peers and loss of hegemonic status for not following the “man code.” However, with all the problems men face with proving their masculinity in society --- gang wars, domestic violence, rape --- I believe that it takes a bigger man to steps up and challenge the “man code” with its values and norms than a man who just abides by it. 

References: 

Parrillo, Vincent N. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print.

The Tattoo Response II

In this section of the Tattoo we see Ken make his “great escape” as he moves away from Kahaluu and transitions into town. He goes through a significant change in his thinking at this point. He no longer felt bound by his fate of being stuck in Kahaluu (like Koa), but instead tries to make something of his life. He was determined to attend classes and make college a positive experience. Although paying to sit in his 100 level courses was slowly killing him, he was determined to make it to UH Manoa. He manages to keep his goal. However, after saving one of the girls at Club Mirage the Club’s owner, a Korean immigrant, named Mama-san, hires Ken. Ken is captured by the lure of the underworld with its drugs, prostitution, and easy money. He lose all resolve to do well in school.


Ken eventually becomes Mama-san’s right-hand man. Things start going a lot easier for Ken. Working for Mama-san he no longer has problems with money. However, all that changes when he meets Mama-san’s daughter, Claudia. Somehow meeting Claudia has a direct influence on Ken. He starts to compare his life as Mama-san’s hired thug with his life with Claudia and he starts to be disgusted with his life as Mama-san’s hired thug. He gets together with Claudia much to the frustration of Mama-san, who wants her daughter to not have anything to do with the family business or Ken. Mama-san wants Claudia to attend a good school, become a doctor or marry a well-to-do husband. Claudia rebels and goes with Ken. Everything goes fine until Claudia becomes pregnant. After Mama-san learns of the pregnancy she becomes enraged. She sends hit men to kill Ken. They take Ken hostage, but Ken manages to overcome the thugs and escape the underworld of Hawaii with Claudia by moving back to Kahaluu. There they bide their time, hiding from Mama-san, saving money, and making plans to eventually move to the mainland.


Ken definitely goes through a lot of colorful experiences during this chapter of the book. However, the character of Mama-san is arguably the most interesting character in this section. Mama-san, her name in itself suggests a figure in authority. Although she appears as a powerful figure in the book (as the owner of Club Mirage, Club Nouveau, Happy Hands) we know little about her and her past aside from Claudia’s story. We know that Mama-san’s real name is Kilcha and her mother was “forced into the role of a comfort woman for the Japanese soldiers during the occupation before the end of World War II. Mama-san ended up as the same thing except Americans replaced Japanese. Raped by an American soldier when she live in a brothel by the thirty-eight parallel, Mama-san fled from Korea “poor, pregnant, and disgraced….Although most called her ‘whore,’ Mama-san, like her mother before her, was more of a slave” (McKinney 129). So when she Arrived in America the only business she knew pertained to the underworld of society with its prostitution with bars, strippers, and massage parlors.


The article entitled, “The Politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue,’” sheds some interesting light about the role that “comfort women,” like Mama-san and her mother, played durning the occupation of Korea in World War II. The article states that women like these:


“Euphemistically labeled ‘comfort women,’ between 80,000 and 200,000 women are estimated to have been coerced into supplying sex for Imperial Japanese soldiers during WWII. With approximately 80 percent of the victims ethnically Korean” (Chang 1).


Most of these comfort women were forced into prostitution at a young age (with the majority being under 18 years old). The conditions under which the women were forced to operate were often “inhumane and physically and psychologically traumatic.” Although the Japanese government was suspected to have played a part in setting up these “comfort stations” in occupied territories, they continually denied it for several years. Finally, government records where found that proved the Japanese Government was involved in managing these “comfort stations.” Thus, the Japanese government, by first denying, then continuing to diminish, the state's position in institutionalizing sexual slavery during the war, failed to satisfy the demands set forth by former comfort women.


The testimonies of former comfort women reveal how much pain and frustration they felt during their time as comfort women. “Our country was powerless. So we were forcibly taken by the Japanese and suffered, ‘commented one former comfort woman, Chung Seowoon. For Korea, the official Japanese occupation of the nation, beginning with the 1910 Annexation Treaty, initiated a setting of Japanese cultural and political dominance in Korea. The Japanese Imperial Period saw the enactment of policies that aimed to ‘assimilate’ Koreans as Japanese subjects” (Chang 1).


In conclusion, when I first read this chapter I assumed that Mama-san was just a money-hungry powerful business women; that she was the “bad guy” in the chapter obsessed with tearing Claudia away from Ken. However, after reading “The Politics of an Apology” I’ve begun to view Mama-san in a new light. She is moves away from being the “bad guy” in the chapter (although she still wants to kill Ken) I began to ask myself, could she be who she is because of her traumatic experiences as a former comfort woman? And although her businesses are not the cleanest, it now seems she does it not all just for the money, but to provide a better life for her daughter. Providing Claudia with the opportunity that she [Mama-san] didn’t have: to move away from the heritage as a comfort woman. I ask myself, “If I were Mama-san could I have done it any better?”


References:


Chang, M. (2009). The Politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the "Comfort women" Issue. Harvard International Review. Article.


McKinney, C. (1999). The Tattoo. Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, HI. Book.

Entourage Review

Entourage, winner of the 2006 Best International Television Series, is an American comedy-drama television series that follows the story of up-and-coming movie star Vincent chase and his childhood friends supporting him along his way to making it big. Vince’s “entourage” of friends includes his manager and best friend, Eric “E” Murphy; Ari Gold, Vince’s loud, arrogant but hilarious agent; Johnny “Drama” Chase, Vince’s older half-brother and former actor himself; and Salvatore “Turtle” Assante, Vince’s driver and childhood friend.

Entourage is an excellent example of media that displays differing levels of hierarchal masculinities. Characters depict hegemonic, subordinate, complicit, and marginalized masculinities along with female characters exhibiting emphasized femininity and the patriarchal bargain. This review will focus on defining the different terms along with examples of the those terms seen in characters in Entourage.

TERMS:

Hegemonic Masculinity: “describes males who support the hegemonic masculine ideal, who pursue a sense of hegemonic masculinity, and generally have access to most or many masculine characteristics.” In Entourage, Ari Gold is probably the most recognizable character exhibiting this form of masculinity. In Season 5, Episode 3 titled “The All Out Fall Out,” Ari’s wife surprises him with a brand new red Ferrari as an anniversary gift. Ari later gets into a feud with archrival Adam Davies after he loses to Davies in an illegal street race. Ari and Davies feud continue throughout the episode as they constantly try to “one-up” each other. Ari sends Davies a bag of human feces and Davies responds by torturing Ari with male strippers. Eventually Davies insults Ari’s wife and Ari becomes so infuriated that he forces his way into Davies’ office and slaps Davies in the face in front of the entire office. “A bitch slap for a bitch,” Ari shouts as he offer Davies an ultimatum, “now you apologize for what you did or I will knock you the **** out!” Davies apologies and a superior Ari walks out happy and satisfied. Ari is an excellent example of hegemonic masculinity and what lengths males will go to fight and prove their superiority.

Marginal masculinity: “describes males who support the hegemonic masculine ideal, who pursue a sense of hegemonic masculinity, but may be minorities in another form (e.g., poor, men of color).” Johnny “Drama” Chase appears to fit this role perfectly. Although a reasonable successful television actor himself, Drama always seems to be in Vince’s shadow. Drama tries to portray the hegemonic male image but is usually just made fun of by the other guys who constantly joke about Drama’s inability to get a date. In Season 5, Episode titled “Fire Sale,” Drama, trying to get over his breakup depression, focuses on looking his best for his guest appearance on “The View” with Whoopi Goldberg. Drama tries to appear “tough” and unfazed by his breakup, but he is set up by his “Five Towns” co-stars, who have given the show photos of Drama’s former girlfriend and then tell him to reach out to her through national television. Drama apologizes for being overprotective, starts crying, embarrasses himself, and pretty much shatters all his attempts of portraying a hegemonic masculine image. Poor Drama will he ever achieve his goal?

Complicit masculinity: “describes males who do not support the hegemonic masculine ideal but benefit from it, and do little to challenge hegemonic masculinity.” While I can’t think of any one specific episode, the best character example of complicit masculinity in the episodes I’ve watched has to be Eric “E” Murphy. Although Vince also seems to depict this type of masculinity most of the time, Vince’s ability to pick up almost any woman he wants seems to lean him more towards a hegemonic masculine character. However, E’s personality and characteristics seems to perfectly fit complicit masculinity. E is somewhat different from the most of the guys in Entourage, since he appears to be fairly comfortable with his masculinity and it seems he rarely feels the need to enforce his masculinity over others.

Subordinate masculinity: “describes males who are heavily excluded from masculine privilege (e.g., gay men).” Ari Gold’s bubbly assistant, Lloyd, is clear example of subordinated masculinity. Lloyd seems comfortable with his homosexuality and the constant homophobic remarks from his boss Ari Gold. In the same episode where Ari is feuding with Adam Davies, Ari is about to reveal to Lloyd his secret weapon against rival Adam Davies. "I know you don't know the man code," Ari remarks to Lloyd, so Ari instead makes Lloyd promise on Tom’s (Lloyd’s homosexual partner) p***s. While content with his subordinated masculinity at first...Lloyd eventually grows tired of being mistreated by Ari and seeks employment elsewhere.

While Entourage primarily focuses on differing levels of male masculinity there are, however, two concepts exhibited by women in Entourage: emphasized femininity and the patriarchal bargain.

Emphasized Femininity: “describe when women fulfill the cultural characteristics deemed feminine that support hegemonic masculinity (male privilege).” I don’t have much to say on this topic except the fact that most of the women in Entourage, from the guys’ current girlfriends to the random girls the guys meet, the majority of women in this show exhibits at least some degree of emphasized femininity.

Patriarchal Bargain: “when women make individual decisions weighing the pros and cons of a situation to emphasize their femininity because it gives them power in a hegemonically masculine society. The gender order does not change; it is reinforced.” A good example of a female exhibiting the patriarchal bargain is seen in Season 5, Episode 10 titled "Seth Green Day," Ari wants to hire his old colleague, Andrew Klein but, according to his contract, needs to get approval from his business partner, Barbara Miller. Barbara refuses to allow Ari to hire Andrew. Ari irritated by Barbara’s discussion and power over him in this issue complains to his daughter. “My problem is that I can't run my business the way I want to, not with that woman as my partner. Your mother controls me at home; she [Barbara] controls me at work. Where can a man be a man?"

In conclusion, Entourage is an entertaining series to watch, but after learning and studying the hegemonic concepts hidden behind the episode’s plot it makes watching the series and this type of media in general a lot more thought-provoking.


References:

Mayeda, David T., et al. Celluloid Dreams: How Film Shapes America. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print.

Ellin, Doug., et al. Entourage. HBO, 2004. Video.

Websites of interest:

Which 'Entourage' Character Are You?'
http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/07/10/entourage-characters-quiz/
I scored: