Blog 1

Prompt 1

Interviewee 1: Ryan Fischer

Age: 25

Race: White

Religion: Christian

Socio-economic class: Lower-Middle Class

(Dis)ability Status: Able

Sexuality: Hetero-Sexual Straight

Life Style:

·      Military (Marines- 4 years)

·      Athlete

·      Single

1. Masculinity in his view, is merely a biological component. It is the same as femininity, where the male sex would be born with masculine traits and the female sex born with feminine traits. He gave examples such as generally females are more tolerant to pain than men. Men are generally hairier than women in areas such as the chest and face. Men generally have a larger bone structure than women, and so on and so forth. Ryan purely

associated masculinity to males, and femininity to females, not just to men and women.

  

2. He believes think if someone is saying “be a man” that expression is always coming from ill or selfish intents. When he was in the Marines there was a massive drinking culture and if you didn’t comply with that culture, “be a man” or something similar may be ignorantly spewed your way. He saw it as a person wanting you to be their version of you.  He mentioned the phrase, “misery enjoys company”? IN this situation, the misery is not being able to truly understand your self-worth and uniqueness in this world, thus you want the company of others to blend in with you. He mentioned that ironically, those who often say, “be a man” are not actually acting as men themselves. He believes a man should be respectful, courteous, courageous and strong in his convictions. He should be willing to do things that are right, even if they cost him everything. A man should focus on inspiring others, rather than changing others (like those be a man alcohol pusher).

3. He liked the hangout I shared with him. He really like the alternate norms of masculinity much more than the traditional ones such as being a “playboy” or “president” or “SUPERMAN”. He believed that the traditional norms of masculinity created some high expectations for men. From the handout, he chose the alternate norms of men seeking to be “faithful husbands”, “good Samaritans” and “nurturers”. Ryan is someone that reads, and believes in the infallibility of the Judeo-Christian Bible, he believes the most important understanding any human being needs, is the understanding of love. Since love is a word that we can at least recognize universally. He shared a quote straight from the Bible---   

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ---1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

4.     When answering this question, Ryan tried veering away from this term of masculinity in order to answer the question. He said he learned about how he should act and think from his Dad. He shared that his Dad, who he recognized is an imperfect person, at a time wanted to not only learned from but emulate because of his love for him as his son and his love for his mom. He saw his Dad as someone who tried his best to see every single individual as Jesus would; as beautiful, utmost unique, and perfect in every way. He mentioned that his ideas of how men and women should look, think, and act is often influenced by peers and by media and by those in positions of power or prestige.  He said he goes to the gym not only because of the way it makes him feel physically but also because of the way it makes him feel when others, particular the opposite sex respond to his work in the gym. Also, he mentioned that would never willingly wear a dress or a miniskirt or drawn makeup and hair extensions. This is because he is pretty sure it’s not of him being afraid of what people will think but simply due to no desire to do so. He recalls that he did dress as a woman for a skit once and had no problem doing that, but it’s not something he would desire to do on a regular basis. He mentioned that if he saw someone dressed as a female, it would not disturb him to the point of wanting to change that person or see them anything less than himself. He went on to say “So, what if all males one day just started wearing dresses and that became the norm. Would I start wearing a dress, too? Yeah maybe so haha...but it’s not something I’ve thought about in depth. What I’ve always worn has come simply and almost subconsciously.”   

5.     To answer this question, Ryan acknowledge his religious background. He strongly believes that Jesus Christ from the bible models’ true masculinity. Not an ideal masculinity but ideal personhood. He mentioned that even if a person doesn’t believe in God incarnate, but if one studies Jesus’ interactions with men and women of all walks of life, one would find it to be “profoundly and wonderfully perfect. Throw ideals of masculinity and femininity out the window. Don’t pursue these things. Pursue Christ, and I guarantee that you’ll see human beings (regardless of what’s between their legs) in such a better light.”- Ryan

6.     If he was addressing masculinity being strictly biological, then no his ideas haven’t changed. This is because he doesn’t think how he has understood what men should act like has changed. However, he recalls that when he was younger, he got consumed by the idea of having to lose his v-card to really become a man. Like in high school and even middle school he said that one was exalted for being able to “get the girl” and looked down upon if you couldn’t. He was able to connect this experience with the list from question #3 and at the time he actually thought that was what being a man was all about. He recalls most of all his motivations being wrapped around sex, money and power, and possibly mainly reduce it to just sex. He knows a lot of men that are consumed with getting money and power, so they can get sex. He mentioned it seemed pretty animalistic when talking about it, but at one point he definitely had that mindset before trying to understand how we as people should really see each other or how Jesus sees us. He acknowledges to certainly be an imperfect man, and will always be, but he truly believes that if he consistently pursues to understand what love means then his view of how to be a man will continue to change like it has overtime.     

Interviewee 2: Andrew Dugger

Age: 23

Race: White

Religion: Christian

Socio-economic class: Lower-Middle Class

(Dis)ability Status: Able

Sexuality: Hetero-Sexual Straight

Life Style:

·      Non-Military

·      In between a Sedentary and Active lifestyle

·      Single

1.     What comes to mind when I hear masculinity is a man of faith. He is mature enough to act in the best interest of himself and his loved ones no matter the situation or circumstance. Masculinity is leading by example without a desire for attention or reward.

2.     When I hear to “be a man” I think of faithfulness, courageous, persistence, consistency, reliability, understanding, awareness, focus, drive, humility, gratefulness, and generous.

3.     From the handout, I only see a couple norms that standout to me. Norms: Good Samaritan, nurturer, scholar, and faithful husband.

4.     I learned about masculinity from my parents (mom and dad), coaches (baseball/ basketball/ football), and role models.

5.     In my life, I can assure that my dad models’ ideal masculinity. In the media, I believe that Barack Obama (former U.S President), Kobe Bryant (former NBA player), Tim Tebow (Professional Baseball outfielder), and Denzel Washington (American Actor).

6.     Totally, my ideas about masculinity have definitely changed. In the past, I thought that to be masculine was whoever was the biggest and strongest. Now, I feel it is the one who is able to lead by good example through action.

Reflection:

Ryan and Andrew had difference perspective on the meaning of masculinity. Ryan linked masculinity with biology and traits. He associated masculinity with males (not men) and femininity with females (not women). In comparison, Andrew believes that masculinity is leading by example without a desire for attention or reward. Both have different beliefs on who models masculinity. Ryan who comes from a religious background believes that Jesus Christ models’ masculinity in the Bible. Meanwhile, Andrew believes that his dad as well as past presidents and famous athletes and actors model masculinity. Both Ryan and Andrew didn’t associate “being a man” with physical characteristics. They associated “being a man” with personality traits such as “courageous, driven, and inspiring others.” From the handout them choose the same norms of masculinity: Good Samaritan, Nurturer, and faithful husband. I was very surprised with Ryan to mention that Jesus Christ from the bible embodies masculinity. Perhaps this is because I never thought of him as a human being and more like a being in heaven. I would like to associate their up-bringing and backgrounds to correlate their answers. However, I think their answers are related to the kind of education they are attaining.  

Prompt 2

Ryan and Andrew both seem to be aware on patriarchy and the issues in creates in our society. Both have noted that women, people of color, and those that don’t conform to society’s sexual orientation are oppressed by men and ideas of masculinity. As I am assessing my interviewees responses make many connections to Mark Greene. I can’t seem to connect Ryans’ and Andrews’ response to the video “The Mask You Live In” by the Representation Project because they both are acknowledge that men’s standards of being a man are impossible to attain without keeping true to who you are. Both Ryan and Andrew mentioned that men have feelings too and should be able to talk about how they feel without being judge. Their responses go against the rules of the man box because a real man “does not talk about their emotions, except for anger” (Greene, 94).

Ryan gave an example of when he was in the Marines during his interview. He mentioned that if sometimes you didn’t want to drink and party it up, your fellow Marines would then resort to shame. He said that they would say man up, be a man, or something around those lines. Such shame implied not to be soft and do manly things such as drink. This example reminded me of Greene’s story called “Boys and the Burden of Shame” in which shame is “used to make people what we want” (Greene, 69). Ryan said he saw it as a person wanting you to be their version of you. Ryan may not entirely conform to society’s expectations of masculinity, but his surroundings have skewed interpretations of masculinity. Ryan’s buddies resorted to shame to make him do what they want, resembles Greene’s story of how the boy in the water taunted and shamed the boy who wouldn’t jump off the cliff. Greene addresses that “shame thrives on confusion and misunderstandings” (Greene, 75). Shame is part of the system that polices gender to keep men performing American masculinity.

I believe that both interviewees validated the ideas of masculinity by knowing exactly what the question was asking for. Although Ryan tried veering away from the term masculinity he said it was because he knows that masculinity traits are problem. If he referred to masculinity when trying answer the questions, it would be impossible to truthfully answer the questions according to his beliefs. Andrew understood exactly what the questions were asking and didn’t seem to think in depth in comparison to Ryan.