Tuesday, May 17, 2011
blog # 9 Fathering Paradoxes
The article “Fathering Paradoxes Contradiction and dilemmas” by Scott Coltrane explains “The weakening of the good-provider model, coupled with trends in fertility, marriage, divorce and custody, has resulted in the average man spending fewer years living with children”(Coltrane 432). This statement is very true. In this riot society we could see how families are more often brake due to the fact of divorces and fights for custody of the kids, many of the cases could be resolved by getting a personal agreement between the finished couple, but instead they look the hard way to finish business.
Being a Father of a child is the most exhausting amazing responsibility that a human being could take. Unfortunately many men don’t think alike, instead they walk away of such of great opportunity because they see it as a disadvantage of their future goals or curfews of time in parties. Women instead being so pride after a good marriage walk away too, leaving behind new born babies or grown kids in peruse of their happiness. The author explained what a model of a father is for our society “The ideal father at mid-century was seen as a good provider who set a good table, provided a decent home paid the mortgage, bought shoes and kept his children warmly clothed” (Coltrane 436). Maybe the society is right but not right for everybody, I remembered my dad being all that but he never was there when I needed, not even now. So, if we took a close look to this statement, the author supports the idea of a good providers, meaning the one that put food on a families table or the one that pays the bills or the one that buys cloths for the kids. All materialistic speaking, What happened with one that helps you to do homework?, the one that reads you stories at night so you can fall sleep, or even the one that shows you how to change the oil of the car?. In this materialistic society the perfect father have to be a materialistic role model.
The importance of the present of the father in a child’s life is essential. The author showed “Pre-school children with fathers who perform 40% or more of the within family child care show more cognitive competence, more internal locus of control, more empathy, and less gender stereotype than preschools with less involved fathers” (Coltrane 441). Social development is crucial in a child’s life because that is going to define whether will do well or bad in making decisions in the future.
Being a father is not only buy expensive stuff for the kid, but to be the mentor of life during their entire life.
Coltrane, Scott. Fathering Paradoxes, Contradictions, and Dilemas. Ed. M. Coleman. Third ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004. Print.
Blog # 8 Glass Escalator
In modern society men always is expected to get higher paid jobs than women, this is created by some kind of unaware pathology called “Glass Escalator” where the men is awarded with higher positions because their sex.
For example a male teacher most likely will be the next principle, simple because the fact that he is expected to be stricter with the students instead of a softy female teacher. It is easy to believe by society that men are most likely fitted to perform better job than women. Men are push to perform high important profession.
Williams, L. Christine. “The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the Female Professions.” Men’s Lives. 5th ed. Michael S. Kimmel, Michael A. Messner. Ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 211-224.Print.
The article explains in a whole that men benefits when decided to take a work environment more suited to women. For instance, a man working in a hospital will look as doctor even though he just might be a male nurse and just for being the guy of the ladies in the work environment the challenge to became the next boss will be reduce to almost zero. The author, Christine Williams, explains made a clear explanation for the process of men success in a ladies work environment, Glass Escalator, most likely a pressure from society that is uphold by men expecting to be the men in charge. The men will usually make hard decisions without putting their own emotions in the game in comparison of women.
Williams did a great research with the assistant of the University of Texas at Austin. She proved the hidden advantages taken by men form women professions with interviews, statistics and data analysis. Her field work showed that in fact men are benefited from women profession.
Williams interviewed a teacher looking a kindergarten teacher “I was recruited immediately to start getting into the track to become an administrator. And it was men who recruited me. It was men that ran the system at that time…”. This statement showed how this article is supporting my thesis that men are push by every factor of society to fit high professions spots instead of women
Blog # 7 Chicano Men
Chicanos and Latinos could be consider under the same category of masculinity, but is like saying Army is consider National Guard…they both respond different under different circumstances. For example a Mexican-American might not behave the same as a native Mexican, society plays a big role in this part because they both will choose their way of life and will have to consider American society or Mexican society.
In the article “Chicano Men and Masculinity’ by Baca Zinn, the author stated “The assumption that male dominance among Chicanos is rooted on their history and embedded in their culture needs to be critically assessed against recent discussions concerning the universality of male dominance” (Zinn 25). It is very true that Chicanos or Latinos are consider machos, because for their society the man is the head of the house and nobody else should counter-dictate that situation. But it is not like that and many other ethnic groups, such as Arabic, Asian, African and even Anglo culture?
In the “The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes” by Manning Marable or “All Men Are Created Equal: Asian Men in U.S History” by Yen Lee Espiritu the male dominance is worldwide, but striped out from their cultures in the U.S by white man that according to their “sovereignty” only WHITE MEN is consider a real men.
In conclusion race plays a big role of how society will shape your masculinity. It does not matter how man you think you are, if you are not white..you are not a man at all.
Blog # 6 - Venn Diagram
Marable's Black Masculinity
- Resentment was felt towards black women because they blame them for not being supportive to their pain.
- Black families were lead by the woman instead of the man,making this a matriarchy state of family
- Black men were punished with crualty measures such as castration or liching.
- Black men were perpetuated as "beast"
- Black men were segregated from everybody else including their own families, making children growing up without parents
- Black men are usually misunderstood by society because they are always related to drugs and misbehavior or criminal history.
Espiritu's Asian Masculinity
- Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
- Asian men were consider homosexual or asexual because spend too much time between males due to the lack of Asian women
- Asian men were used as servents to the white people, especially to take care of feminine chores such as iron cloths, cleaning the house or cooking
- Asian men usually turned violent towars their families because they felt inferior with white people
- Asian men lost their power over families when immigrated to U.S
- Asian men were usually look as feminine
Similarities
- They both physically abused their families because their fustration towards white people
- They both lost respect from their children and wives
- They both were treated as animals by white men
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Blog # 5 = Yen Le Espiritu "All Men Are Not Created Equal"
In the article "All Men Are Not Created Equal: Asian Men in U.S History" by Yen Le Espiritu presented another story of white men humiliating minority. Asian american men were treated like criminals after the attacked of Pearl Harbor. This madness reminded me of the Nazis and Jews. Just like the German Nazis treated like animals the Jew, Americans treated the same way Asian americas, but without the killing part. In masculine perspective Asian americas were feminized by the american society. They were pushed to do low class feminine labor such as laudry, cooking, cleaning the house, etc. But are not males all equal ? According to Yen Le Espitu and Manning Marable from "The Black Male:Searching Beyond Stereotype" race plays a big roll defining masculinity.
The Experiences of Asian male domestic service workers demostrate that not all men benefits equally from Pathiarchy. Depending on their race and class, men experience gender differently. While male domination of women may tie all men together, men share unequally in the fruits of this domination(Yen Le Espiritu: Pg 3)
Not being White in this society transforms you into a low life "not human" entity. White discrimination and the fight over power will always keep the minorities oppress and it doen not matter if you are men o women. What it really matters is money and race.
The Experiences of Asian male domestic service workers demostrate that not all men benefits equally from Pathiarchy. Depending on their race and class, men experience gender differently. While male domination of women may tie all men together, men share unequally in the fruits of this domination(Yen Le Espiritu: Pg 3)
Not being White in this society transforms you into a low life "not human" entity. White discrimination and the fight over power will always keep the minorities oppress and it doen not matter if you are men o women. What it really matters is money and race.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Who's the Man ?
"The Male Myth" by Paul Theroux and "The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes" by Manning Marable showed the that masculinity is cruel, even though Paul Theroux defines male in general and Manning difines black male only, they both agree that being masculinine is relate it to cruelty and opression over women. In the essay "the Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes" by Manning Marable explained "White women viewed black man like he was simply a beast of burden..."
“The Male Myth” by Paul Theroux p. 101-105
[from Across Cultures: A Reader for Writers edited by Sheena Gillespie and Robert Becker, 7th edition published in New York by Pearson Longman in 2008]
“The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes” by Manning Marable p. 17-23
[from Men’s Lives edited by Michael S. Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, 5 edition published in New York by Allyn & Bacon in 2001]
To Be Continued...
“The Male Myth” by Paul Theroux p. 101-105
[from Across Cultures: A Reader for Writers edited by Sheena Gillespie and Robert Becker, 7th edition published in New York by Pearson Longman in 2008]
“The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes” by Manning Marable p. 17-23
[from Men’s Lives edited by Michael S. Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, 5 edition published in New York by Allyn & Bacon in 2001]
To Be Continued...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Blog #4 = Black Men & Black Women
Has anyone heard the quote “behind a good man there is a wonderful woman” I did, many times. In life, for men is so easy to say “I did this, I did that” kind of always excluding [women] “we”. But throughout history women always has been the men’s right hand and a lot of times the entire body. The women had always played the role of a big pillar, supportive and indestructible monument.
In the essay “The black Male; Searching Beyond Stereotype” by Manning Marable I could extract a big example when the author refers to black women as “Black Matriarchy” because they [black women] took care not only of their own family but the master’s one too, even though this “master” (like if they [black people] were animals) punished them for no legal reason and the black male were not husband or father type. The author statement “We have seen her love of her children, her commitment to the church, her beauty and dignity in her face of political and economic exploitation” shows how proud men are about women. But women are proud of men? Why would they [women] be? Because men were racist with women and didn’t even think that women needed rights; women fought for their rights like slaves fought for their freedom. Are men really that evil like Paul Theroux argued in his article “The Male Myth?” or is just that men’s masculinity is so strong that is impossible to describe our emotions towards women like Marable argued in his essay “The black Male; Searching Beyond Stereotype” so instead of that, men showed only resentment?. Black women were there to support black men against the unfair racist treatment they received, but black men didn’t respond to that action.
I agree with the author about black men and women should work together in order to accomplish their goals. If they want to conquest the future, they have to use their history as guidance.
In the essay “The black Male; Searching Beyond Stereotype” by Manning Marable I could extract a big example when the author refers to black women as “Black Matriarchy” because they [black women] took care not only of their own family but the master’s one too, even though this “master” (like if they [black people] were animals) punished them for no legal reason and the black male were not husband or father type. The author statement “We have seen her love of her children, her commitment to the church, her beauty and dignity in her face of political and economic exploitation” shows how proud men are about women. But women are proud of men? Why would they [women] be? Because men were racist with women and didn’t even think that women needed rights; women fought for their rights like slaves fought for their freedom. Are men really that evil like Paul Theroux argued in his article “The Male Myth?” or is just that men’s masculinity is so strong that is impossible to describe our emotions towards women like Marable argued in his essay “The black Male; Searching Beyond Stereotype” so instead of that, men showed only resentment?. Black women were there to support black men against the unfair racist treatment they received, but black men didn’t respond to that action.
I agree with the author about black men and women should work together in order to accomplish their goals. If they want to conquest the future, they have to use their history as guidance.
Now, black, white, male or female joke about our own behavior. For example there is a joke saying “Women always worry about the things that men forget; men always worry about the things women remember” or “A woman never forgets the man she could have had; a man, the woman he couldn’t”
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Blog #3.a "Prove me wrong"
In my Blog #3, I used Paul Theroux’s style to explain my disagreement about the way he presented his article “The Male Myth”. His argument is not entirely supported by evidence, but just personal opinion.
In the beginning of my blog #3 I called out that I sensed anger and confusedness about masculinity in Paul Theroux’s article “The Male Myth”. I referred to his anger because he stated “even the expression “be a man!” strike me as an insult”. According to the dictionary anger is a strong feeling of displeasure aroused by wrong wrath, so it is said that anger is also related to resentment. Resentment is the feeling of displeasure or indignation at some act, remark, person, etc., regarded as causing injury, insult or emotional damage. Speaking in psychological terms resentment is a sense of hostility towards the person who we know is the cause of our frustration. This terminology was introduced by the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard in the 1840’s. Due to the resentment of Theroux towards men I could conclude that in his childhood he suffered a traumatic event so strong that built his behavior, something so strong such as a rape. The MaleSurvivor 2007 website stated “A male rape victim usually feels that he has totally lost control over even the insides of his own body, resulting in feelings of utter vulnerability and powerlessness. Control and power become key psychological issues for rape survivors. These issues are heightened for men who are brought up to expect to be able to defend themselves against attacks and who consider total helplessness incompatible with masculinity (and thus intolerable)”,this was brought up after investigations and treatment of raped prisoners; in shorter words raped males start feeling less masculine with time. Paul Theroux felt less masculine when he stated “I found it impossible to admit to myself that I wanted to be writer…because being a writer was incompatible with being a man” which it enforced my point that he maybe suffered a traumatic event such as a rape that made him feel less masculine, but also reinforce my view of his confusedness about his masculinity and masculinity itself. He seems masculinity very cruel like if masculinity means conquest; He proclaims “Money is masculinity”. It is true that men make more money than women but it is not because men are cruel and very “machos” to let women get higher positions in work environments but is just that women have other priorities in life not just money like a man does. In the article “Are women earning more than men?” by Warren Farrell explained “A 2001 survey of business owners with M.B.A.s conducted by the Rochester Institute of Technology found that money was the primary motivator for only 29% of women, versus 76% of men. Women prioritized flexibility, fulfillment, autonomy and safety”. Paul Theroux statement was right, but wrong proven. His immatureness in writing statements that doesn’t have any fundament, just personal opinions reflected his anxiety to open his chest out. He could prove his personal opinions but he just throws random sophisticated words around expecting that everyone else agree with his thoughts. Also his confusedness about his sexuality turned out to be dragged by maybe a lack of masculinity,resentment towards men and his burden insecurity.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Blog #3 = Destroying Paul Theroux moral !!
In the article "The Male Myth" by Paul Theroux I could sense the anger and confusedness of the author about man’s masculinity and his own masculinity, but in my personal opinion the author had a wrong view of man. To be honest I think that the author was raped by a man or something related to that make him think about the brutality of man and left him with all the hate. Also maybe when he was a child he was very feminine and he couldn’t be accepted by the other kids, for example in sports. He said “the manly attitude toward sports seems to be little more than a recipe for bad marriages, social misfits, moral degenerates, sadist, latent rapists and just plain louts”. I completely disagree with his statement, for personal experience I could say that sports are the best way to create a real man, not by teaching toughness but teaching him responsibility and values. I was a soccer player in high school and our coach was very tough with us when it comes to be polite, responsible, team player and gentleman. The author might experience something very cruel in his childhood about sports that affirmed with authority that sports are the cause of man’s bad behavior. Bad marriages? Social misfit? Latent rapist? In what he based such statement ? because any of those examples fits in my behavior just because I played soccer. Is he saying if you play sports you will become a rapist?
Other confusedness he showed is when stated “I found it impossible to admit to myself that I want to be a writer …because being a writer was incompatible with being a man…you have to demonstrate your manhood to be a writer” . What a douche! writing is one of the most wonderful things to do in order to express your opinion, feelings or stories, but to him it was something about “be or not be” thing. I highly doubt it that Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nicholas Sparks, Stephen King, Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe, etc worried about people thinking they were feminine. An individual that is very sure or confident about his sexually will never even think about people saying something different about it. The author also affirmed “money is masculinity. So is drinking” Is he saying that women can’t be wealthy? To my opinion, his comment was very immature; women could have the same desire to be rich as a man but not in (Mr.?) Theroux’s ideology…and drinking… I am 22 years old and I don’t drink, that doesn’t make me more feminine, I have seen girls drinking worst that an Irish Viking and that doesn’t make them less feminine. To the author’s erroneous way to point out man’s masculinity view I just have to say that the author is a bad informed, very feminine and very traumatic writer.
Due to two of his novels name “My secret life” and “My Other Life” Theroux has been accused of belaboring themes, structural conceits, and displaying a base preoccupation with his sexual perversity that in this article we view. Theroux could be one of the best writers in today’s literature but to me is another antipathic pitiful incoherent amateur writer.
Other confusedness he showed is when stated “I found it impossible to admit to myself that I want to be a writer …because being a writer was incompatible with being a man…you have to demonstrate your manhood to be a writer” . What a douche! writing is one of the most wonderful things to do in order to express your opinion, feelings or stories, but to him it was something about “be or not be” thing. I highly doubt it that Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nicholas Sparks, Stephen King, Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe, etc worried about people thinking they were feminine. An individual that is very sure or confident about his sexually will never even think about people saying something different about it. The author also affirmed “money is masculinity. So is drinking” Is he saying that women can’t be wealthy? To my opinion, his comment was very immature; women could have the same desire to be rich as a man but not in (Mr.?) Theroux’s ideology…and drinking… I am 22 years old and I don’t drink, that doesn’t make me more feminine, I have seen girls drinking worst that an Irish Viking and that doesn’t make them less feminine. To the author’s erroneous way to point out man’s masculinity view I just have to say that the author is a bad informed, very feminine and very traumatic writer.
Due to two of his novels name “My secret life” and “My Other Life” Theroux has been accused of belaboring themes, structural conceits, and displaying a base preoccupation with his sexual perversity that in this article we view. Theroux could be one of the best writers in today’s literature but to me is another antipathic pitiful incoherent amateur writer.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Blog#2 = Sex, Gender & our Society
In chapter 1 "Night to his day" of the book “Paradoxes of Gender” by Judith Lorber I could recall how she emphasizes how society determines gender. According to her research, societies from the past had recognized only 2 types of genders, male and female, but with time now society recognizes 4 types of genders, male, female, transsexual and transvestite. These last 2 new genders are actually created not by nature, but by society. Transsexuals change their sex using surgery to be recognized by society as the opposite gender and transvestites only change their clothing to look like the opposite gender. The author also recalled a story where she confused a baby girl for a baby boy just for the fact of her clothing, but later on realized because of the earrings, that the baby actually was a girl. To her story, she asked herself “Why the earrings?” and to answer her question, I could say that for personal experience earrings look better on baby girls than baby boys. My daughter got her ears pierced when she was 2 months old and I did it to make her look cute and “girly” and I was tired of people confusing her for a baby boy.
The author said “The process of gendering and its outcome are legitimated by religion, law, science and society’s entire set of values” and then she explained about western culture. I have a connection to point out between her saying and the western culture; in my last deployment to Afghanistan I observed a rare cultural way to express the power of society and religion over gender and sexuality. “According to an unclassified study from a military research unit in southern Afghanistan details how homosexual behavior is unusually common among men in the large ethnic group known as Pashtuns — though they seem to be in complete denial about it. Pashtun men commonly have sex with other men, admire other men physically, have sexual relationships with boys— yet they completely reject the label of “homosexual.” By Fox News. I personally saw how Afghan soldier and civilians were kissing each other, walking holding hands and touched each other in a homosexual manner. I asked a Afghan Pashtun, my interpreter in Afghanistan, why men were having sex with other men, Is not that against your religion? He said that “is a social mentality that men satisfy their sexual necessities with other man because women are USE only to procreate and not to involve with them in an emotional relation”. “To our God, the action between men (having sex) is known as bounding, not homosexual, that “gender-label” does not exist in our religion or social point of view”. It could be view that genders varies between cultures, religions and laws. To my anecdote, I could link Lorber’s saying “morals and religions cannot be equated with the fears of ecstasies of the brain”. Anne Fausto-Sterling “How to build a man” and Judith Lorber “Night to his day” emphasized with researches that sex and gender are actually create by our social predomination of life.
The author said “The process of gendering and its outcome are legitimated by religion, law, science and society’s entire set of values” and then she explained about western culture. I have a connection to point out between her saying and the western culture; in my last deployment to Afghanistan I observed a rare cultural way to express the power of society and religion over gender and sexuality. “According to an unclassified study from a military research unit in southern Afghanistan details how homosexual behavior is unusually common among men in the large ethnic group known as Pashtuns — though they seem to be in complete denial about it. Pashtun men commonly have sex with other men, admire other men physically, have sexual relationships with boys— yet they completely reject the label of “homosexual.” By Fox News. I personally saw how Afghan soldier and civilians were kissing each other, walking holding hands and touched each other in a homosexual manner. I asked a Afghan Pashtun, my interpreter in Afghanistan, why men were having sex with other men, Is not that against your religion? He said that “is a social mentality that men satisfy their sexual necessities with other man because women are USE only to procreate and not to involve with them in an emotional relation”. “To our God, the action between men (having sex) is known as bounding, not homosexual, that “gender-label” does not exist in our religion or social point of view”. It could be view that genders varies between cultures, religions and laws. To my anecdote, I could link Lorber’s saying “morals and religions cannot be equated with the fears of ecstasies of the brain”. Anne Fausto-Sterling “How to build a man” and Judith Lorber “Night to his day” emphasized with researches that sex and gender are actually create by our social predomination of life.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Blog1 = Boys are made or born ?
In the essay "how do you build a man" by Anne Fausto-Sterling, stressed out that there are many books, research papers or articles about masculinity and male development, all representing scientific findings, but always written in neutral or abstract language. The author agued whether nature, science or society makes a man and to express her ideas used John Money's theory of construction of masculinity and his 10 road signs directioning a person to the paths of male or female. The author also explained the studies about SDY-gene and how XX gene individuals are born female and XY gene individuals are born males and how physicians fear that a male born with a 0.6 in. of penis and below will not develop their way into masculinity to accomplish male’s main object in our society, reproduction. These 3 points of ways that could affect a male’s personality are actually in 1 same category “contradiction”. To explain my point of view I could use Mao Tse Tung’s theory “The interdependence of the contradictory aspects present in all things and the struggle between these aspects determine the life of things and push their development forward. There is nothing that does not contain contradiction; without contradiction nothing would exist”. In other words the interdependence of Nature, Science and Society form, made, build or create a man. For example a male baby could have perfect male testosterones, but it’s actually in the childhood part of life where a male is push by Society either to be a male or a female according to the Nature gender of how he/she was born or the fact of how the Science transformed the individual because Nature played a wrong part and it will not be accepted by Society. Many researches tried to decide whether Nature, Science or Society made a man, but if they actually see the big map that Nature is nature and that it’s why we have Science, to fix our nature in order to be acceptable by Society. It’s a circle of contradiction.
I just discussed the fact of how men are made, and when I say made I mean masculinity. As a reality of life humans just born with two types of gender "Male (man) and Female (woman)" but masculinity is the actual behavior of a male. But a male is born male because of the penis and a female is a female because has a vagina and the only thing we can argue about is masculinity (male behavior) or feminine (female behavior) and how the interdependence of nature, science and society could make it. Man not necessarily means masculinity. Male behavior is called masculinity by definition of the toughness in every possible way in coparrison of a female. But this complex word had been misinterpreted by our own society with the word virility which by definition means the masculinity property of being capable of copulation and procreation.
Man, masculinity and virility derivates from one and only word PENIS according to our society but is actually more complex than that. In the end of the road,man and masculinity are entirely different. Males are born, but the masculinity of that male is made.
I just discussed the fact of how men are made, and when I say made I mean masculinity. As a reality of life humans just born with two types of gender "Male (man) and Female (woman)" but masculinity is the actual behavior of a male. But a male is born male because of the penis and a female is a female because has a vagina and the only thing we can argue about is masculinity (male behavior) or feminine (female behavior) and how the interdependence of nature, science and society could make it. Man not necessarily means masculinity. Male behavior is called masculinity by definition of the toughness in every possible way in coparrison of a female. But this complex word had been misinterpreted by our own society with the word virility which by definition means the masculinity property of being capable of copulation and procreation.
Man, masculinity and virility derivates from one and only word PENIS according to our society but is actually more complex than that. In the end of the road,man and masculinity are entirely different. Males are born, but the masculinity of that male is made.
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