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
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