How Hegemonic Masculinity Gets Gender History Wrong - Woke Father

Oncefa2 · 2021-02-25T16:56:54+00:00

Hegemonic masculinity is the theory that masculinity is inherently violent, domineering, and seeks to control other people (and especially women). It's a popular theory but has recently come under increasing scrutiny.

This article discusses how male servitude to women is actually what underlies a lot of this. Men fight and struggle to aquire resources not for themselves, but for other people (and mainly for women and children).

Women and children being put in front of men is what ultimately leads to men being placed into these roles. And a close look at what traditional masculinity concerns itself with backs this up: documents from the 1800s when women were supposedly oppressed by men clearly show that men were expected to place women in front of them at all times and take on these less than pleasant roles in society.

A close look at contemporary media also backs this up. Male violence is glorified in the media, but only when that violence is used for the benefit of women. Gender studies programs use these media examples as proof that society encourages men to be hegemonic without ever looking at the actual story lines of these movies.

Blauwpetje · 2021-02-25T19:11:12+00:00

As if action movies are the apex of fiction anyway. What about Shakespeare, Dostoyevski, Thomas Mann, JD Salinger? Are all their heroes dominant and violent? Don't they play a role in western culture? What about children's books, films and tv programs (with which most boys and girls grow up)? Are they all fighting and action? Nothing is easier than to pick one genre that is known for the many violent men in it and then conclude society adores violent men. Even thrillers aren't like that - Poirot, Wexford, Columbo, none of them are machos.

mewacketergi2 · 2021-02-25T23:15:29+00:00

This is a really good blog post, thank you for sharing.

This part particularly resonated with me:

Meanwhile, traditional expectations for girls and women continue to be removed from modern media for the sake of providing women with greater freedom in their everyday actions and choices.

Yet, instead of dismantling very real elements of traditional masculinity that constrain boys and men from experiencing the same freedom in their everyday actions and choices – feminists instead continue painting an inaccurate picture of both the historic and modern values of masculinity. They seek to convince the world that “brutish” behavior was what defined masculinity – when in reality society has always condemned that behavior. It was never part of what defined masculinity at all.

True freedom and equality would mean no human would enjoy privileges or protections over another, simply due to their gender. To accomplish this would require dismantling the elements of traditional masculinity that have always, and continues, to provide women with privileges. And feminists will never do that.

Unfortunately, it does not address the most obvious, if very factually weak, criticism of "but real feminists are not like that."

Title	How Hegemonic Masculinity Gets Gender History Wrong - Woke Father
Author	Oncefa2
Upvotes	63
Comments	18
Date	February 25, 2021 4:56 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/lsb47q/how_hegemonic_masculinity_gets_gender_history/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/how-hegemonic-masculinity-gets-gender-history.1061856 https://theredarchive.com/post/1061856

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