Masculinity as Homophobia

After going through such a plethora of readings about a variety of aspects about a person that makes them different from the norm, I am completely overwhelmed with the notion of each being a social construct. Truthfully, I feel pretty aggrivated by the fact that these notions people receive such grief over are all things we have made up to hold against one another. It all depends on what your background and perspective is, and it can be rather sad that people have such an aversion to things different from themselves and what they know. The entire idea of masculinity is one such idea that has be constructed by society and some suffer because of it (Kimmell, 1994).

One of the most interesting parts of Kimmell's writing was the image of the "marketplace man" and the concept of "marketplace masculinity". The main different between this idea of what makes a man a man is the seperation from family that previous male ideals lacked. The complete focus on competition on the marketplace makes this form of man rather aggressive and anxious (Kimmell, 1994). As Kimmell shows the ideal of man changing over time I can not help but feel like we might be moving in the wrong direction. However, the theories presented by Kimmell certainly are not the only ones present in our current day society. Sure, there are "marketplace men" out there right now, but there are also men who put their family first, or focus their lives around something completely different like the greater good and community.

When it comes to the children of this generation developing into the men of the future I do not believe it is as black and white as Kimmell puts it. He states that to be masculine is to be the opposite of feminine (1994), and although there are some people who feel that way today there are others who have begun to blur the line between masculinity and femininity (um, hello, metrosexuals?). This is becoming more and more socially acceptable which is why if I do have a son someday I am not going to fear that they would go through the inner turmoil that Kimmell presents.

Reference

Kimmell, M. S. (1994). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. In H. Brod & M. Kaufman Theorizing Masculinities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 119 - 141.