I love the malleability of words; they evolve, under necessity, at social command. I’m concerned though, that while certain words attributed to femininity (“feminist,” for example), have softened and become more inclusive for all genders, “masculinity” remains as staunch as ever… we have yet to enrich and make this definition more accessible. UrbanDictionary.com (which is an opinion-based word site, where participants can suggest and vote on word meanings, with often hilarious and topically astute results), offers the suggestion that masculinity, “is an aspirational and normative style of being and living as a natural-born man that a critical mass of the members of the population applaud,” (Prof. F). The authorial notion that masculinity is “aspirational” suggests that it is an unrealistic abstraction, needing modification. The reality is that conceptual masculinity is not one hopeful, stolid archetype, but a nuanced collective; Raewyn Connell, a transsexual woman and founder of masculinity research at University of Sydney in Australia, illustrates that “(d)ifferent masculinities do not sit side-by-side like dishes in a smorgasbord; there are definite relations between them. Typically, some masculinities are more honoured than others,” (Connell, 171). Connell and Prof. F allow that while these anticipated differences certainly exist, there is still this expectation to view masculinity as a stereotypical, hegemonic binary.
So what is this out dated model of masculinity that still holds, exactly?
Sean Connery, James Dean, and Jason Statham: each an epitome of Hollywood masculinity from a different era, each ruggedly handsome and wildly refined, with pleasure principles continuously orbiting the spheres of sex and violence. These men are some of the manliest men who ever “men-ned,” and they exemplify a certain standard of masculinity that is continually replicated in the media: a stoic, muscled, loner pilgrim who knows how to get what he wants. The average “dude-man,” however, will find, that satiating a lust for sex rather than a lust for violence, is more readily available with less severe consequences, particularly if executed in the socially acceptable manner we’ve come to know them. A man who stares at a woman from the fringes of a dance floor with the hopeful intent of having (consensual) sex with her later, is marginally less creepy than a man who stares at a woman from the fringes of a dance floor with the hopeful intent of enacting some sort of violence on her, for example, (though a man who wants to do both is creepiest). There are acceptable safe zones for men to extol the violent tendencies they have been told are natural to have: movies, sports, video games, and game hunting, just to name a few; they bond with their own hegemonic masculinity and with their male peers through these socially acceptable outlets.
However, it is also considered “masculine” to bond with other men about heterosexual sex (God forbid it be homosexual, though, if there’s anything more manly than a man having sex with a man, I’ve yet to understand its existence), in a way of peacocking one’s own sexual prowess and laying claim to
women as commodities while simultaneously asserting alpha-male dominance. Harris O’Mally confirms “(s)ex, in particular, is an important part of ‘being a man’. Sexual conquests (and believe me, that word is chosen deliberately) are part of how men establish and reaffirm their manhood. The need to ‘get’ sex is all-encompassing because the more of it you have, the higher ‘status’ you have as a man,” (O’Mally). In this way, chasing orgasms and flaunting successful catches is a simplistic and ever-attainable way of identifying with aconcept of manhood that has been perpetuated since the days of the silver screen. It becomes commonplace to treat sexual conquests, to treat women, as trophies, relegating them to objects merely to appease ennui and inspire feelings of jelly.
What happens, however, when there are no stories to be told? What happens when the ravages of unfortunate genes or age or marriage or blatant douche-baggery become too great for one man or one collective of men, and they have to take it to the next level? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Catcaller:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUJ24mblCLY
Catcalling, to me, represents a fundamental flaw in traditional masculinity, buoyed by the suggestion that women exist strictly for the pleasure of the male gaze, to be enjoyed merely for their physical endowments, and that in seeing a woman outside, a man can “claim her”
if only in the sphere of that moment; it is a chest-beating, pathetically primitive act that draws to the fore a quasi-latent, sexist societal consciousness that still permeates today. The BuzzFeed boys satirize the flawed male camaraderie, the absurdity and the pathos involved in street harassment, and suggest that instead of throwing male insecurities on the shoulders of women walking in the world, you handle them like a man. Notably, the etymology for “catcalling” is a mid-17th century word, originally a whistle/instrument used to express disapproval at a theatre, which further accentuates the pompous notion that a token highlight of traditional masculinity is to treat women as though they are purely present for male enjoyment or censure.
It is positively infuriating.
Conceptual masculinity has to change, as men have, and continue to do: for the better. There ought to be a reimagining of the word, to change it to be as complex and multi-faceted as the world is today, because after all, “masculinity is not the ‘natural’ effect of living in a male body, it is a social construction,” (Klement, Lecture 9), and if we made it initially, we can make it something new. We can make it more whole, more inclusive, and less riddled with the negative connotations that repressed men’s sensitivity and sexuality generation after generation. Masculinity holds no more meaning than that which we ascribe to it, and it is indeed due for a makeover.
Works Cited
“As If.” Giphy.com. https://giphy.com/gifs/clueless-alicia-silverstone-as-if-106C2QlTwsxk2Y.
Accessed 19 July, 2017.
Boldly (formerly BuzzFeed). “What Men Are Really Saying When Catcalling Women.” YouTube. Online Video Clip. 7, August 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUJ24mblCLY. Accessed 19, July, 2017. “Catcall.” Def.1. OxfordDictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. Web. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/catcall. Accessed 19, July, 2017.
Connell, Raewyn. From “Understanding Masculinities: The Work of Raewyn Connell.” Gender and Women’s Studies in Canada. Eds. Margaret Hobbs and Carla Rice. Toronto: Women’s Press, 2013. 171. Print.
Henares, Tim. “Debunking 8 Arguments Against the QC Anti-Catcalling Ordinance.” 8List.Ph. 15 April, 2016. http://8list.ph/qc-anti-cat-calling-ordinance/. Accessed 19 July 2017.
Klement, Kristine. “Masculinities (I): Hegemonic (& Toxic) Masculinity” Term 2 Lecture 9, Hegemonic Masculinity, Moodle, Web. 17 July 2017, https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/pluginfile.php/2875357/mod_resource/content/0/Term%202%20Lecture%209.pdf Accessed 19 July, 2017.
“Masculinity.” Top Definition. UrbanDictionary.com. Prof. F. 7 March, 2009. Web. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Masculinity. Accessed 19, July, 2017.
O’Mally, Harris. “The Difference Between Toxic Masculinity and Being a Man.” The Good Men Project, 27 June, 2016. https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/the-difference-between-toxic-masculinity-and-being-a-man- dg/. Accessed 19 July, 2017.
Photobucket.com. 2017. http://photobucket.com/gallery/http://s197.photobucket.com/user/lisaveebee/media/Miscellaneous/jamesdean- 1.jpg.html. Accessed 19 July 2017.
Rogers, Bridget. “What Happened to Sean Connery? What is Sean Connery Doing in 2017?” Gazette Review. 8 June, 2015. http://gazettereview.com/2015/06/what-happened-to-sean-connery-what-is-sean-connery-doing- now/. Accessed 19 June, 2017.
Serafino, Jason. “10 Things You’ll See in Every Jason Statham Movie.” Complex.com. 22 January 2013. http://ca.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/01/10-things-youll-see-in-every-jason-statham-movie/. Accessed 19 June 2017
Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies Blog 