MALE GENDER ROLES.   Term Paper ID:28632 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Overview of changes in traditional gender roles. Effect on men. Media portrayals of the masculine role (TV commercials & movies) which perpetuate traditional images &myths of male behavior.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 4 sources, 7 Citations, APA Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Overview of changes in traditional gender roles. Effect on men. Media portrayals of the masculine role (TV commercials & movies) which perpetuate traditional images &myths of male behavior. Paper Introduction: THE MODERN MEDIA AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF MALE GENDER ROLES Myths are not falsehoods or fairy tales, but uncontested and generally unconscious assumptions that are so widely shared within a culture that they are considered natural. Biology determines whether we are male or female, culture determines what it means to be male or female, and what sorts of behaviors and personality attributes are appropriate for each gender role (Strate, 1992, 248). As Joseph Campbell has shown in his pioneering work on mythology, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, there is a method to what seems random. One can study stories from many different cultures and different historical periods, and find a similar structure in each tale. Campbell calls this "the hero's journey," and it goes like this: (1) the hero is taken from his Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Campbell calls this"the hero's journey," and it goes like this: (1) the hero is taken from hisordinary life by an uncommon event, (2) he meets a wayshower and (3)journeys to a far place where (4) he must pass a test to see if he isworthy and (5) pass by the guardians of the gate (6) into the underworld,where he (7) confronts his own death and (8) discovers his own truth, then(9) returns to the world of men where in an act of self-sacrifice hedemonstrates that truth. For these men, "the system," which they had been raised to believewould support their efforts and goals, seems to conspire against them withaffirmative action programs, with an increasingly feminized management andauthority structure. It is likely not coincidental that menin tailored, dark suits, are frequently the "bad guy" in both action-adventure movies and beer commercials, both of whom are appealing to thesame audience. Onecan study stories from many different cultures and different historicalperiods, and find a similar structure in each tale. So, what have Joseph Campbell's myths that told us how to live lifedevolved to today? In the beer commercials, there is a celebration of male bonding --shots of men doing basically working-class jobs that require teamwork tocomplete, who then head off to the local bar because "it's Miller time," orcommercials of men participating and celebrating victory in team sports,both of which end with a good cold one. These characters contain a strong element of an older andquintessentially American popular narrative of masculinity: the heroicallystrong, honest worker who fights the greedy, corrupt and powerful for thebenefit of all (Pfeil, 1995, 25 ). "White Guys: Studies in Postmodern Domination and Difference;" New York: Verso; Chapter 1, pgs 1-36(227-246). Those who voted for him havefelt themselves the butt of the same kind of jokes from the same kind ofpeople. The characters may vary in occupation, raceand age, but they all exemplify traditional conceptions of the masculinerole. Undoubtedly Bush -- as would millions of other men whofeel themselves disenfranchised in their lives by events over which theyhave no control -- would love to be Mel Gibson's action partner in the next"Lethal Weapon" movie, where they could thumb their nose at the feminizedpower structure and turn things around to their way of belief. Thus, they will most likely be composed ofimages and messages that are basically very conservative and do notchallenge basic beliefs - rather, they reinforce those basic beliefs to thepoint where the consumer will act on them (hopefully). These are the men who basically feel "left out" by the revolution ofthe past thirty years, which have seen a growth in the confidence and powerof women, and an erosion in the confidence and power of men. In television commercials, advertisers are going for the lowestcommon denominator, the most-inclusive net they can set to snare themaximum number of consumers. The woman who 35 yearsago thought the reason to go to college was to find a husband is now themother of a daughter who went to college to create the basis of a career,who will marry a man who she expects will consider her an equal partner inthe relationship and will accept no less. Myths die hard -- harder than Bruce Willis in one of his movies --and they particularly die hard when people feel in their lives that theyhave lost something they expected to have. It is completely unsurprising thatthe partisanship between conservative and progressive political forces hascome to the point where it is virtually impossible to elect a President whocan assume office with a mandate and a public image of legitimacy to theirauthority. From Alan Bakke suing forreverse discrimination because he didn't get into medical school, to themale members of the Southern Baptist Convention who have voted inoverwhelming numbers to support the credo that it is the woman's place to"gracefully submit" to the leadership and family stewardship of herhusband, those who have benefited from life that was organized in the oldways have raised an opposition to the changes of the past generation. On a larger canvas, the same rules can be seen in some of the morepopular movies of the past 2 years. It is said the modern media trivializes everything, and that islargely true. This is not a new phenomenon: Ronald Reagan came into power as thesame kind of lone cowboy who would face down the conspiracy in the middleof main street at high noon and restore life to the way it had been. Bush - who may be the sonof privilege born with a platinum spoon in his mouth - but comes across asone of the guys who could walk into one of the bars in the beer commercialsand fit right in. While these "big ticket items" may be the most apparent, therevolution has had its effect in many small ways. This phenomenon is not limitedto the upper classes: even in the working class where a man might haveexpected to have the job and pay the bills while his wife took care of homeand children, the requirements of modern life have created the two-incomefamily and even traditional-minded women have entered the workplace and hadtheir expectations of what is acceptable treatment by their mate changed. In the past thirty-three years since the public advent of modernfeminism in 1967, traditional gender roles that have been uncontestedbefore have been questioned and in many ways - at least in public life --overthrown. However, the media is as compelling as it is to the viewerbecause no matter how trivial the images or the story being told, deepervalues are being communicated. pgs 96-97.(225-226). With Campbell, we are talking mostly about the Big Truths of life,though he found the most perfect explanation of what he was talking aboutin the first "Star Wars" movie, which on the surface might seem to bemerely a Saturday matinee in an old-fashioned tradition; however, as withmuch of the media, it is as compelling as it is to the viewer because itdeals with much deeper and more important elements than are seen on thesurface. Pfeil, Fred: (1995). All of this has had its effect on men. Nowhere is this use of social definitions that support conservativemythology of gender role more apparent than in beer commercials. Whatever their names, and whateverthe underlying ideology, they have shared in common a white maleprotagonist who triumphs over an evil conspiracy of monstrous proportionsby rejecting the support of inept institutions that represent modernauthority, while ignoring established procedures and "running wild" instead(Pfeil, 1995, 227). Using this analysis, it is easy to see why Bush appealed to the voterbase he did, no matter how often the pundits wondered if he could add twoand two and get four on consecutive attempts. Jocks,rock stars, pickup artists, cowboys, construction workers, the class clown- these are the main characters that were found in contemporary beercommercials in 1962, and are still to be found in contemporary beercommercials 38 years later. As Joseph Campbell has shown in his pioneering work on mythology, TheHero With A Thousand Faces, there is a method to what seems random. A woman was a combat Prisoner of War in the Gulf War, and inthat war women were flying many of the aircraft that supported the strikeaircraft, many of which had been loaded with their weapons by female groundcrew. "The Unmaking of Men;" The NewYork Review of Books; (1-8). Collectively, the commercials provide a clear and consistent image ofthe masculine role; in a sense, they constitute a guide for becoming a man,a rulebook for appropriate male behavior, in short a rulebook formasculinity (Strate, 1992, 248). Look at the public image of George W. Men who wereraised to expect blue-collar jobs now find they lack the skills employerswant, and in an increasingly feminized workplace, they do increasinglypoorly (Hacker, 1999, 1). The commercialization of a verybasic and conservative myth has more to do with why relationships betweenthe sexes are more difficult today than they have been at any time inrecent -- or recorded -- memory. Some may joke about it, with little zingers like "Don't ask herewhere you met/when you met/if it was good/or her name;" "Don't date,befriend, or converse with anyone who reads self-help books;" "Don'tpretend to like Robert James Waller." (Esquire, 1997, 226) The truth is,all of this demonstrates an underlying anxiety over what the rules aretoday. Biology determines whether weare male or female, culture determines what it means to be male or female,and what sorts of behaviors and personality attributes are appropriate foreach gender role (Strate, 1992, 248). ----: "Don't;" Esquire; (September 1997). THE MODERN MEDIA AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF MALE GENDER ROLES Myths are not falsehoods or fairy tales, but uncontested andgenerally unconscious assumptions that are so widely shared within aculture that they are considered natural. Strate, Lance: (1992)."Beer Commercials: A Manual on Masculinity;" in"Men, Masculinity and the Media;" Steve Craig, Ed.; Newbury Park: SagePublications, pgs 78-92 (247-256).----------------------- 8 The beer industry relies on stereotypes of the "man's man" to appealto a mainstream, predominantly male target audience (Strate, 1992, 248). In the wake of the recent New York elections, no one thinks itstrange that the new Junior Senator from New York may well consider 2 4the year she runs seriously for nomination as President of the UnitedStates; Hillary Clinton may well do so and she might well win. These areonly some of the more obvious manifestations of the revolution in genderroles that has come about in recent years. References Hacker, Andrew: (October 29, 1999). It is not coincidental that a politics of paranoia,in which the government hunts down freedom fighters (who are generallyfighting for the freedom to be the traditional type of male) with blackhelicopters has become a reality that is only the butt of jokes in thelarger coastal cities of the nation. In truth, those of both sexes whose unstated expectations are thattraditional society will continue are likely the majority, if one can setthe definitions wide enough by making them basic enough. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.