Gender
Introduction
‘Male’ is a gender identity which is socially constructed and masculinity are behaviors and culture which creates a gap between male and female gender identity. Gender socialization arises when men have their masculine expectations and gender roles in the society. Kimmel asserts that in the hierarchy of manhood, all men embraces a hegemonic masculinity which is characterized with elements such as being aggressive, not socializing with femininity, being highly sexual and showing heterosexuality. In addition, men have hegemonic standards as they believe that women have a low social ladder in the society and so they perform heroic deeds to show off their manhood. The point to understand is that hegemonic masculinity promotes heterosexuality and homophobia since heterosexual men use perception and puts culture pressure than gay men are unacceptable in the society as they do not possess gender masculine attributes.
Kimmel asserts that American masculinity is characterized with aggression, anxiety and more and these traits are apparent in public sphere. Given that manhood is tested and weighed in marketplace, this means that culture definition of different groups is valued with power relations. In the society, masculinity is unequal in that white and middle class masculinity have the standards which are used to measure and weigh other forms of manhood (Kimmel, N.D). For example, Erving Goffman defines American manhood by focusing on a scenario where all American men are expected to look like a certain young, white and heterosexual man with college education level and fully employed (Kimmel, N.D). Failure to adhere to these qualification mean that there is no manhood but rather the person is defined as inferior and unworthy or in other words, this is a hegemonic masculinity where manhood or ‘real men’ are those who have power, strong and capability. Since this is a culture defining, all men are required to embrace these culture symbols (Kimmel, N.D).
In order to understand how masculinity is associated with homophobia and sexism, the author asserts that it is important to understand that men present a homosocial enactment. This means that in the realm of manhood, men scrutinize other men to measure the success and achievement. It is common that men like boasting to other men to show their wealth, authority, status and power. The author states that ‘what men need is men’s approval’ (Kimmel, N.D). However, sexism is a key element which forces men to prove their manhood since in this case, they undervalue women only to be granted the manhood. The author introduces homophobia by asserting that the homosocial enactment creates fear. This means that in hegemonic masculinity, men understand the social hierarchy and the social nature of masculinity. In addition, men must show dominance in the patriarchal gender society. Gay men develop the fear of being afraid of other men and fear of being labeled as ‘unreal men’. By being ashamed, gay men remain silent to make their system run smoothly. However, gay men experience gender boundaries and are being unmasked and experience stereotype (Kimmel, N.D). They struggle to prove they are ‘real men’ and go through hardships such as health risk and social humiliation. These men often do not get access to power in the real world. The appalling is that they end up committing suicide due to the shame of humiliation and personal failure. Men fear being laughed at regardless of their struggle to show masculine behaviors (Kimmel, N.D).
Note that in 19thcentury, gender difference was apparent between Europeans and American men where the latter was viewed as vigorous and manly while Europeans were seen as corrupt, helpless men and less than manly. Native Americans were also excluded from manhood since they were foolish and naïve. In other words, immigrants who were unreal men were called ‘hyphenated and since this period, gay men have been described as sexually insatiable and they developed fear of other men (Kimmel, N.D). Other important point is that gay men are entitled to feel that they are powerful but they do not feel the power simply because they are labeled as powerless. It is true that masculinity is defined by homophobia and sexism because, in American society, there are manhood rules which make gay men to be discriminated and to become victims of sexism (Kimmel, N.D). Gay men struggle with fear by breaking the social power over women. In addition, they struggle with the politics of exclusion by trying to show their gender identity. However, their masculinity is characterized with homophobia and sexism they live an insecure life full of threats, exclusion, sexual harassment and more. The author tries to show that there is a gender stereotype between gay men and other men. This means in American society, gender is culturally and constructed and the social construction creates the hegemonic masculinity and gives men the power and authority (Kimmel, N.D). In modern American society, heterosexual individuals enjoy the benefit of hegemonic masculinity than gay men. In addition, gay men or homosexuals experience negative attitudes or homophobia such as prejudices and stereotypes. Gender difference is apparent in that men like committing assaults to gay men than women (Kimmel, N.D). Gay men experience both personal and institutional hostility and they experience stigmatization in their life. In American society, heterosexism is a principle which is used to identify fear and uneasiness in measuring manhood. This principle creates gender difference and hierarchy system where heterosexism is strengthened in all institutions (Kimmel, N.D). Given that masculinity is defined by homophobia and sexism, it is important to note that heterosexism alienates power and promotes sexism in homosexual. Heterosexual men believe that the role of gender hegemony is to control the women’s’ body and to exert power and control over their lives (Kimmel, N.D). In addition, men should show sexual activities toward women in order to maintain the patriarchal power relations.
I agree with Kimmel’s definition of masculinity because, first it is important to understand that gay men in American society are less accepted and are seen as less masculine. To reinforce the heterosexual dominance, gay men experience homophobia and sexism and they are excluded in all institutions (Kimmel, N.D). Second, to identify real men, certain trains such as appearance, activity and more are expected and failure to present these quality indicates that certain groups is not adhering to the gender norms and in this case gay men appears to be unreal men. In American society, homophobia and sexism affect gay men especially when are they forced to adhere to rules which are against their nature (Kimmel, N.D). As a result of homophobia and sexism, gay men feel ashamed, hopeless, voiceless, socially rejected and powerless which diminished their role a ‘real men’. The fear of humiliation creates the gender difference since homophobia in American society labels gay men as unreal men (Kimmel, N.D). The society views real men with the perspective of behaviors and failure to present behaviors that the society expects creates sexism and insecurity. To be a real man, men are expected to embrace power and authority and gay men in this case are victims of ‘oppressive male socialization’ and they are develops a self-fulfilling victimization.
Conclusion
In American society, masculinity is defined with respect to the behaviors. In addition, there are some qualities which society expects to define individual as ‘real men’. For example, men are expected to have power and authority over women and in all institution, men expresses the power so that their manhood can approved. Hyper masculinity contributes to homophobia and sexism since gay men do not show characters such as toughness which are expected by the society. In American society, there are male stereotypical gender roles which define homosexuals as unreal men. For manhood to be approved, men compete with others men political power and acting in certain manner. This competition helps to identify unreal men in that gay men will have the ability and power to compete with man and they often express fear.
Reference
Kimmel S. Michael. MASCULINITY AS HOMOPHOBIA Fear Shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity. Retrieved from: http://sites.middlebury.edu/soan191/files/2013/08/KimmelMasculinityasHomophobia.pdf
