Language and Gender

Thesis Statement

Unfavorable trends regarding the lives of men in Western societies have become a cause for concern in recent years resulting in claims of a 'masculinity crises.

Introduction

The term 'masculine' is best described as a place in gender relations, practices through which men and women engage that place, and the effects of those practices in bodily experience, personality, and culture. The exact nature of the crisis is not well defined but statistical evidence suggests that men, especially the young and working class, are experiencing various difficulties.

Discussion

Many theorists believe either directly or indirectly, the women's rights movement is responsible for the changes that occurred affecting the lives of men. Other theorists argue that stereotypical sex roles are the primary contributor to the crisis and that hegemonic masculinity is both oppressive and damaging to men. In this essay, I will further discuss the evidence supporting and rejecting the notion of a masculinity crisis as well as some explanations for what caused it (Kimmel pp. 261-283). I argue that it is in fact the enforcement and maintenance of patriarchal, hegemonic, masculine ideals that are the predominant cause of the masculinity crisis.

The notion of a 'masculinity crisis' was inspired by the emergence of negative trends in several aspects of the lives of men in Western society. There is much contributory evidence supporting the notion of a crisis including the fact that the suicide rate for men is four to five times higher than that of women and men have a shorter life expectancy. Men are prone to alcohol and substance abuse, mental illness and low self esteem often due to relationship problems, unemployment and stress at work.

The cause of the masculinity crisis is explained in various ways between different theorists with often highly contrasting opinions and backgrounds. The feminist movement brought about many societal changes, namely the liberation and the promotion of equal rights for women. The loss of automatic dominance and authority that men had previously enjoyed solely because of their sex was diminished in the home, in the workplace and in all heterosexual relationships (Allen pp. 591-593). The changes were accepted by many men and strongly disputed by others, which gave rise to the 'men's liberation movement' (pro-feminist men) and the 'men's rights movement' (anti-feminist men).

Male liberation seeks to aid in destroying the sex role stereotypes that regard “being a man” and “being a woman” as statuses that must be achieved through proper behaviour… If men cannot play freely, neither can they freely cry, be gentle, nor show weakness-because these are "feminine," not "masculine." But a fuller concept of humanity recognizes that all men and women are potentially both strong and weak, both active and passive, and that these human characteristics are not the province of one sex' (Eisler Skidmore & Ward pp. 133-141).

Male liberation split into two groups, the pro-feminist men who continued to support the original values of the men's liberation movement, and the overtly anti-feminist men (the men's rights movement), who held feminism responsible ...