When we think of sexism, we are often referring to the female gender, but what about the male gender. Is there no pressure on men to look or act a certain way? Masculinity, according to WordNet, is "the properties characteristic of the male sex [and] the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men." Now, an attribute of the male sex could be facial hair, such as the moustache. In The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, they use the moustache as a 'becoming a man' feature, and that "now that [they're] men, they can do anything." In 1984, the moustache is also used as a masculine feature displayed on Big Brother, showing his confidence and power.
Now, if we were to go deeper into the masculinities or stereotypical masculine features, we would find a chiseled jawline, height, and a toned body, as well as, non-emotional, strong, and aggressive. Now, looking at these examples, isn't this just another way of being sexist towards men? Not all men are tall, or aggressive. In fact, if we were to try and find the 'perfect' example of a man who defines masculinity, I am pretty sure, we would not find one. Every man has his masculinities, but also his femininities, such as, some men are quiet and emotional (which would be considered feminine qualities).
One of the reasons that we have these stereotypical masculine ideals, is because of the media that surrounds us, such as magazines and TV shows. The media, shows us how we are supposed to look and act, especially for our social group, age and gender (gender being a huge one). Teen magazines are huge culprits of this, such as Seventeen magazine with their "hot guy panel." This panel is comprised of a group of (what they consider) hot guys, who answer questions about themselves, and based on their answers, girls will ask one of them a relationship question. The funny thing about this (other then the fact that they are completely unqualified to answer the girls questions), is that even through every guy answered the (original) questions differently, they all seemed to have the same coexisting trait, which was sensitive but independent. Which in turn makes me think, firstly, that their purposefully giving the guys a feminine quality and countering it with a masculine one, and secondly, that they're giving guys the idea that, unless they have those personalities and look like that, they don't have a chance in the dating field. Which is total hogwash.
Maybe, sometime in the future, we won't have to worry about media influencing our idea of the male gender, but until then, lets remember that even through society has its idea of what is masculine and what is feminine, in the end it doesn't matter. What really matters, is whether or not each individual man thinks he's masculine, because if he does, who are we to say he isn't?
Well done, Daniella. This is an excellent engagement with the issue of gender roles in our culture: you highlight a number of crucial sources from which we get our ideas about what makes the 'ideal' man. And, it is important to consider the way men face gendered expectations, just as women do. Where this post could improve, however, is in your discussion of this issue as it appears in Orwell's novel. I urge you to think about this in more detail. For instance, Winston is depicted in a number of instances as a feminine figure. What are Winston's gendered characteristics in contrast to the hyper-masculine authority of Big Brother? What about Julia - is she the typical female? Is there a sense in which sexual roles dissolve in Orwell's repressed society?
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