Answer the following question:
What does it mean to be masculine in today’s world?
Here are some questions that should trigger some thoughts:
What are the attractive features of a man in today's world?
What is deemed masculine, what is considered feminine in the
21st century?
Your response should follow the PRES FORMAT:
Point
Reason
Example/s
Summary
Your response should follow the PRES FORMAT:
Point
Reason
Example/s
Summary
I believe that today, society see the stereotypical 'masculine' man MUST consisting of a strong mind, toned and fit body, visually appealing, and his facial features must be chiselled.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that in the twenty-first century, people also percieve the feminine woman is petite and gentil, polite and graceful.
(Fair warning- this is just MY opinion on how society judges people today, *results may vary*)
What distinguishes the difference of the categories of 'masculine' and 'feminine' is not defined, but just each person view and judgement of another. Society has just become more judgmental upon one another.
The 21st centurys characteristics of masculinity consist of being physically strong, standing up for themselves, being strong in the mind and as Brianna put it “visually appealing.” An example of masculinity is when (sorry in advance for people like myself who doesn’t like Newmoon) Jacob comes out without a shirt on. This image demonstrates most of the characteristics listed above. His visual appearance both having abbs and a reasonable skin tone is considered “appealing”, but we also know from the film that he not only sticks up for himself but for Bella too.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society when someone is looked highly upon, their clothes are the ones to wear, what they say are the words to use and all of a sudden the people of the world have been brain washed into “being” this one person. In the same way, someone’s idea of masculinity and femininity has been displayed and advertised in today’s society, until we all believe in the same thing. The definition of masculine is a person who portrays the characteristics of a stereotypical man or what is appropriate to men in today’s society. What I am trying to say is that whatever someone’s view on being masculine is, it can be different to others.
The stereotype and what it means to be "masculine" has diversified quite a bit in the last couple of decades. Visual masculinity often presents itself as a strong, well built, physically attractive man. This is what society labels as the stereotype for the average male.However, society's perception of what masculinity means emotionally has developed a new meaning. In past decades the average male was seen to be the strong minded,dominant figure in a relationship.It was almost as though it was forbidden for a male to show emotion for fear of being labelled weak,a coward and somewhat less than masculine. These views were strongly upheld in the era in which Shakespeare wrote.This is shown through the scene in which we see Lady Macbeth tempting Macbeth to kill Duncan.She tells him he would be "less of a man" should he decide to not carry out the deed.In today'society it is seen as acceptable for a man to make his own decisions based on what is right, without his masculinity being questioned. Times have changed and it's not rare that we see fathers staying home to look after their children.Nowadays,it is seen as extremely important to maintain an emotional relationship with those around them,and this allows more than just a "bringing home the bread"connection between a man and his family.
ReplyDeleteI think that being masculine means to be strong,fit and to play a rough sport like rugby. I also think that masculinity involves not showing emotions and standing up for themselves as Naima said. Being strong minded also portrays a man to be masculine. Being feminine is stereotypically not very strong and likes to play sports like netball that are non contact. Being feminine also usually means to wear skirts, make up and high heels. Many people have different veiws on what masculinity and femininity is.
ReplyDeleteIn our modern day society the idea of being masculine or manly, is largely based on good-looks, style, and build. The stereotypical masculine man, that is said to attract most women, should fall under the following criteria; bronze skin, chesnut tossled hair, big muscled, defined abs and with good facial structure and features, which begs the question, why are so many girls, drooling over Justin Beiber.If these stereotypes are correct, then maybe, standards need to be adjusted, as lets be honest, there are not to many Hugh Jackman's in the world. Behavioural or emotional masculinity has evolved over the past couple of decades, from when chivalry and dominance in any particular relationships was vital, to know being, respectful and equal in relationships.
ReplyDeleteMen must hold a steady job, must be financially secure, own a house or apartment, and own a car, to be deemed masculine in today's culture, as well as the superficial stereotypes as seen above.
In today’s modern world the typical man is considered to be of many faces. The personality of a man is generally stereotyped as being of a strong build and personality and are generally considered to be someone who will happily go and have a couple of beers with friends. Socialising in today’s world has changed in the past generation of people due to changes in technology. Modern men are unafraid of socialising over a few beers and talking about their problems however they tend not to show emotions in doing so.
ReplyDeleteIn the Hangover the man go to Las Vegas for a 24 hour stag party to socialise before getting married and so that Doug can enjoy the last few days with his friends as a “free man”. The Hangover shows the man socialising and having a good time while in the hands of friends.
To be considered a typical man you must meet the stereotypical requirements shown by many women in today’s world such as of strong build, handsome, hold a steady job, be fit and willing to socialise.
I believe that in today's modern world that to be 'masculine' a man must hide all emotions and feelings to seem strong. That they must also fit and have strong muscles, play sports such as rugby, to have muscles. The reasons why so many people think this way is because the media exposes it during television advertisement such as many lynx deodorant ad's.
ReplyDeleteThis is also quite common in some movie's such as, 'Pride and prejudice', 'Pretty woman', '10 things I hate about you,' and even more. To be 'masculine' has many different definitions and explanations for different people. 'Masculine' is the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men.
In today’s world, being masculine can mean many things. In my opinion, for a man to be masculine means to be tough, strong, muscular, fit, toned, sporty, decent looking and being able to provide for himself and his family. I think that masculinity is defined by these things because the media portrays men to be like these things in magazines, television ads, billboards and many other forms of advertisement.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in the movie Charlie St. Cloud, Zac Efron is a father-like figure towards his little brother, teaching him to play sport and encouraging him to be a part of the baseball/softball team. In the movie Zac is also sporty, muscular and decent looking.
Interesting comments ladies!
ReplyDeleteMasculinity in the Modern World:
ReplyDeleteFirstly may I say what a fitting topic this is based on today’s retreat topic (regarding what defines Femininity in today’s world)!
Ok, what exactly does it mean to be masculine in today’s world?
Based on stereotypes from recent times, dating back to the ancient eras, being ‘masculine’ refers to no an array of different definitions. The validity of this statement can be proven through the way in which the majority of men, who are reliant on the views of one another, preset themselves to the scrutiny of today’s society. In many cultures, it is considered masculine to withhold dominance over women, and to consider them as ‘objects’. Narrowing masculinity directly to the rituals of Western Culture, it could be easily observed that masculinity is achievable by having in interest in sport, dressing in a certain way, speaking in a certain manner, and adapting personalities to the norms of society. Mmmmm, great phrase; THE NORMS OF SOCIETY. Well, in the norms of society, it is seen as acceptable to not show emotions and to constantly have a strong facade, be muscly etc. In many ways, SOCIETY has placed a larger extent of pressure on men to be or act in a certain way. Masculinity can be defined according to the individual and society, but can apply to many different individuals.
Although an example has been stated, it should become known to all of you that this is through my own ‘critical glasses’. What defines masculinity will most definitely differ from each individual male. Delving deeper into this statement, we could say that my paragraph merely provides the denotative meaning of masculinity.
Thank you, and goodnight.
Can I just say that I love the title of this blog and the background is pretty cool. Irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteSo, many of us have our views on what it is to be masculine, but what exactly is masculinity? Masculinity is defined as pertaining to or characteristic of a man or men. Certain facial features, personality traits, career and even the way he interprets everyday life can determine his masculinity! Over many years the traditional man has developed. Why have these perceptions come about? Have too many of us relied on the male and been dependant on them to have these features and roles in society? Many of the movies filmed in today's socitey potray a man of masculinity. For example, the famous movie, "The Incredibles" has masculinity written all over it. Each of the male like characters display, what we think it is to be masculine. Mr Incredible brings in the income,is strong, realiant, sticks up for himself and displays many of the other stereotypes of being Masculine.
Overall, we can see that big muscles, career paths and many other physical characteristics make what we call masculinity.
In today's society, the term masculinity usually refers to what Nemo said earlier, being physically strong and being able to stand up for themselves. I also agree with Caitlin when she stated that men are not afraid to go out with mates and have a few beers. This is how men are seen in the 21st century as. At the same time, they don't use there emotions. Men don't sit down with there mates and talk about how they feel about situations.
ReplyDeleteAs the rest of the class has taken the obvious examples, I have done some research and have found a man that fits this stereotype. The current IBO cruiserweight champion, Danny Green. Danny is extremely strong due to his sport and easily able to stand up for himself.
The difference between masculinity and femininity in society comes down to everyones different views. The main difference that I see is the ability to express emotions to other people.
To summarise, we can see that being physically strong, going out for a couple of beers with friends and being able to stand up for youself is the common stereotype in the 21st century of what masculinity is.
In my perspective, to be a ‘masculine’ man in today’s society can differ from age groups, such as teenagers and adults. For example, teenager boys have to be sporty and fit, whilst for older men they have to be rich, powerful and have high paid job to be seen as a masculine men. Though what I think that includes in all ages is to have bravery, courage, be protective of females, strong, muscular, handsome, confident, outgoing, humorous, and they’re type of style.
ReplyDeleteOver the decades and centauries the meaning of ‘masculine’ has changed but some values still remain. An example is Macbeth; his wife said that he was not a man when he was lacking courage and afraid to do something, but he was when he became king and had the power and wealth, which is similar to this present time.
However I believe that in today’s world, females mainly see males as masculine in their appearance more than they’re personalities and values.
In society today there are so many different stereotypical meanings of what it is to be a 'masculine man'. But what does it really mean to be masculine today? Personally, the way we are brought up has a large influence in what we believe a 'masculine man' is meant to be. It has been thought that a 'masculine man' is strong minded, strong hearted, someone who believes they are more superior to a women, a man who doesn't lift a finger to help around the house because that is a 'women's job' and that is the only thing that women are capable of doing. However, nowadays men are rather respectful towards women and respect that they have more intelligence then they had been put out to be in the beginning. Although there is still the question that many people especially our age say today, who is better, a male of a female? The answer to this question I believe is neither. We are two very different genders who are capable of doing many different things for the world we live in, although it is known that men are stronger then women, many women today have proved that this is not the case, it doesn't matter whether your 'better' then someone or not, what matters is who you are as a person, that you respect yourself and the choices you make in life, as well as others. Not one person in this world is the exact same whether they are twins, or even different genders, everybody is there own self. So what does it mean to be 'masculine' in today’s world? Personally, i believe it means to be genuine male who respects women for who they are, who is strong in all manners whether it be in strength or in personality, someone who stands up for them self or anyone who is in need of support instead of hiding away in a corner isolating themselves from the truth. However, today overall i think that females do only see males as masculine people on what they look like on the outside, instead of digging deeper and really seeing who they are as a person and what kind of values the person gives to society.
ReplyDeleteThe term 'masculine' for the past centuries have been the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men, but where did this stereotype originate from?
ReplyDeleteIn ancient times, males have always been the warrior/soldier and have always been strong built in physical appearance compared to women. Families, friends, teachers, peers have all played a role in helping define what it means to be a man.
Today, a 'masculine' man has to have features including: buff arms, abs, possibly a V shape and particularly strength.
However, the media helps redefine this with additional character traits including: self control, financial independence, and aggression/violence.
The acceptance of 'what a man should be' in today's society may have been incorporated from ancient times, but as the society go through different phases looking at what is right and wrong, additional features of a male is added.
Mahalo!
ReplyDeleteAloha my fellow blog answerers!!!
Masculinity is a very versatile term and has many interpretations, depending on a person’s culture, beliefs and individual opinions. In a complex and colourful society like ours today, there is really no definite answer to what people may or may not consider masculine especially in modern society, where the media is one of the sole influences of our opinions and ultimately is what determines certain factors of society, in particular stereotypes and quite a few other things, but that’s kinda irrelevant right now… Anyways I believe the way society scrutinize men for being what is deemed masculine or girly and feminine is really quite unfair. My question is why does society or people believe that in order for a man to be masculine he MUST be strong, fit, athletic, like/ love sports, brave, courageous, dominant in a relationship, have a strong build and visually appealing? Oh and are not allowed to show emotion?! In order for a man to be a man does he actually have to be all those things? I think the reason we (including women and men) believe that men need to have all the above listed qualities is because the media has in fact portrayed these ideas to us and has pointed out that this is what it means to be masculine and nothing else! But I would have to say in my opinion these are not all the qualities I believe make up a real man. I believe the thing that defines a real man is his personality, not his interests of sports or physique, but unfortunately most of the world (obviously!) seems to have a different opinion.
In the 21st century men and women both have very similar roles and sometimes opinions, think about it… if the stereotypical roles of a man and woman were swapped, does that mean that the woman is not a ‘real’ woman and the man is not a ‘real’ man? For example if a man likes to cook or even like to go shopping does this really mean he is being what people like to say is too ‘sissy’ or feminine, and likewise, just because a woman likes sport and is a tad bit more of a gym junkie than her friends and likes lift weights does this mean she is ultimately masculine or not a ‘real’ woman?
See this is where the whole feminine and masculine thing gets mixed up into a very messy situation. Apparently for a woman to be feminine she has to be pretty, girly, have a slim/ good figure, wear make-up, dresses, high heels and also have certain behaviours such as eating neatly, sitting appropriately, having a particular laugh etc. But let’s face it, not all girls are like this! So does this mean they’re unfeminine and manly? Of course not! But that’s just what it is, that is what society says we have to be in order to be feminine, but the truth is if we follow every single stereotypical view of society and the media we are just a bunch of ‘spineless’, fake Barbie dolls! And no-one would be happy!!!
Holy macaroni!!!! (Excuse zee French!) Sorry everyone I didn’t realise how much I wrote till now!!! My bad! SORRY!!!!!!! No need to read it all! To think of it I don’t even think I can remember most of the things I just wrote! WOW clearly I have a lot of time on my hands! Peace out my funky Chickens!!!! p.s i am currently obsessed with the word funky...
As much as us girls would like to believe, females are not the only gender who worries about the image they portray to others. Males can often rely on their physical image to display who they are. If they are muscular and generally tough looking, then they will be seen exactly as that, tough and masculine. On the other hand a scrawny, almost nerdy looking male would be targeted for not looking the way media and his peers expect him to.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society men are expected to be tough externally and be very attractive to look at. Also, especially adolescent males are expected to be tough emotionally in front of their friends. This means that their true emotions are never heard and feelings are often bottled up. The bottling up of emotions can be detrimental to their emotional health. Males are also taught by their peers and the people who raise them how to treat women. Most men show respect and equality to women but there are always a few in the bunch who do the complete opposite. In the Australian teenage male culture males are expected to treat women as a lower ‘class’ by telling them they ‘belong in the kitchen’ .
Males are mostly extremely unpredictable creatures and there is much we don’t know about what goes on inside their weee little brains, so approach with caution :P
I believe in the 21st century a stereotypical masculine man is portrait by them having it be ; well toned, tanned skin, as Brianna said visually appealing, as well as having nice facial features. As well as this a masculine guy has to be strong minded and able to stand up for themselves, they also cant show any real emotion like being upset, because people will just tell them to stop being such a girl and toughen up.
ReplyDeleteBeing feminine in a stereotypical way, is portrait to be not very strong, tall, skinny, pretty, as well as the fact that they need to rely on their man to do all the hard things, which just leaves the woman to be able to stay in the kitchen and cook.
(This is just my opinion; many people have different idears about what masculinity and feminine is.)
Physical self-perceptions play an important role in developing self-esteem. Although body image is often an issue associated with girls, males are actually also concerned about their body image and must be addressed in order for them to gain a healthy perception of the physical identity. Generally males desire to have the physical structure embodied by ‘jocks’, sturdy and muscular, though lean with ‘large pecs’ and ‘a six pack.’ The modern ideology defining manliness is that his behaviour and personality lie parallel to his physical image. Body image for males, often underpins the concept of masculinity and what it means to be a man.
ReplyDeleteViews perceived by society of the 21st century ‘woman’ have shifted off path since the domination and superiority enforced by their male counterparts, pervaded in preceding eras. Since times of the past, woman have positively changed their role in society and gained a certain wave of respect. Ultimately, women of the past were subjected to injustices based on their gender having them crowned as weak and inferior to the males, who were permitted to beat their wives and utilize them as objects for unscrupulous pleasures. Although, this ‘utilization of women’ by men has not been wholly eradicated, the influence of women today has significantly heightened, with the ‘war’ between the sexes finally ‘ceasefire.’ It is amazing to see that Australia has given way to its first female prime minister, Julia Gillard who is an ideal modern day example of a strong and highly influential woman. Although women have significantly changed their role in society, something that will never change is the differences between the sexes, both physically and mentally. Men, since the earliest of times have believed that they are mightier than women and perhaps underneath their ‘respect’ for women, they secretly believe that they are indeed the superior sex. This suggests that ‘yes’ there are probably more advantages of being a man rather than a woman, but it is important that women fight to overcome this modern ideology.
Woops…..I’m not sure if I did the PRES format :S…….well ta-ta for now!
There are many physical and emotional attributes our cultural society has progressively constructed to represent ‘masculinity’. These certain stereotypes are strongly influenced by and have evolved predominantly from our cultural beliefs and behaviours. This image our society has gradually conceived as ‘masculinity’ is constantly and inevitably being redefined and enhanced due to our quickly modernising and revolutionising environment as well as such introduced influences such as the media. In such a rapidly globalising and technologically advanced civilisation, we are each deluged daily by masses of texts and media presenting themselves in a large variety ways, attempting to appeal to all of our senses and emotions; it is practically impossible to preclude exposure to the power of the media’s influence. The swift development of this influential industry together with the newfound comforts of our industrialised society has resulted in a much broader array of ideas related to the term ‘masculinity’. Indeed, television programs and movies now feature a wide variety of males, representing masculinity through many diverse and conflicting faces. Just 20- 30 years ago it’s thought that people shared fairly common notions regarding masculinity. That, however, does not remain the case in our contemporary society as stated above. There cannot be one specific response to this question, due to the fact that as individuals with individual spirituality and individual desires and perceptions on our society, we each perceive and construct different and possibly contradictory illustrations of masculinity.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the male gender sometimes finds itself under the pressure of conforming to these norms of masculinity. For instance, certain males unwillingly partake in sport just to prove their masculinity, just as Macbeth unwillingly partook in the murder of King Duncan to prove his masculinity. Although our society and behaviours have come along way, as Kiara and some others stated, areas related to social acceptance and repute have not.
Point - To be masucline in today's world means that men should have muscles, play contact sports, to not show their emotion to each other and they also think that they should not get 'tied down' to women, it is apparently 'cool' to not show your feeling towards women. They also think that they shouldn't have to do housework and that women should do it all for them.
ReplyDeleteReason why point is valid - I think that the reason men act like this is because they want their mates to respect them and to be, as they call it 'masculine'. To be masculine in today's society is really just stereotype which a lot of men keep following.
Example - One example of my point is that if a man were to show his true feelings to his girlfriend or to another lady then his mates would make fun of him and he would also be called 'whipped'. The man would probably stop showing his feelings to the lady so that his mates will keep respecting him and so he would stop getting teased.
Summary - My summary of my point is that today's society is quite wrong when it comes to masculinity and I personally think their attitude needs to change towards women and how they look down on most women.
Todays definintion of masculinity is that men should have a fit and toned body, and quite visually appealing. Mentally a man has to hide all emotions and keep a strong grip on him self.
ReplyDeleteMen are like this because they want to be respected by women and fellow men. I think many men in todays society yearn to prove themselves as masculine so they can be accepted.
If a man was going through a difficult part in his life, maybe one of his family members passed away. If he started crying in public he would have been laughed at by the general public.
Todays society beleive the ideal men is masculine. Society needs to know that whats on the inside counts.
((sorry for late post as I have been away))
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society, when one thinks of your ‘typical’ man, we are made to think of a big, strong, attractive, ‘macho’ guy who isn’t afraid of anything. This ridiculous stereotypical view depicts something that is (for majority) entirely untrue. Men are pressured by this view into thinking that in hard times they must learn to ‘suck it up’ and to hide their feelings as it is not masculine to be otherwise. For example, if a man is seen crying they are automatically labelled as ‘weak’. In my opinion, Society needs to drop these unfair views on masculinity and not discriminate upon men who express their feelings.
By no means does a man have to be cruel to be seen as manly, if a man is cruel in a physical way they can be seen as tough. Men can be physically tough in fights, but that’s just showing that they are ‘manly’ on the outside. In my opinion to be manly is to be strong minded and be able to stand on his own two feet, manliness comes from the inside. If a man tries to show that they’re manly by getting them selves into a fight it is just showing how they are weak on the inside with is not manly at all. My thoughts on being manly on the outside is just a way for the man to cover up there emotions.
ReplyDeleteuuuuuhhhhh..... yeah i dont know what the 'PRES' format is...