Context of Practice 3 Essay
Does masculinity play a part in the
social attitudes towards fitness?
What is masculinity? How can this
concept be identified? Is it a determined set of values and principles or does
it take more than one meaning over time? Throughout the investigation into
masculinity and its association with the fitness industry, several areas of the
topic were explored in a way that may be able to answer some of the questions
that society has about what gender is, how we define different labels and what
they mean to different generations.
By first exploring the origins of
masculinity, what it means to be a man and how its meaning has changed for some
we can begin to better understand why identities play a role in society, and
particularly the fitness industry.
The purpose of the essay was to
firstly, look into the way in which masculinity is defined in modern society
and the implications it has on men. This includes the roles that have been
defined as masculine and the struggle that some men feel when trying to conform
to these roles. As a result of the findings, the second part of the essay will
look into the ways in which these roles relate to men’s pursuit of fitness, in
an effort to conform to these predetermined roles and values. Overall, the
investigation may be able to reveal how these roles in society can create
unhealthy behaviours but also how they might be a positive for the development
of society in future.
Masculinity by its very definition
is most often understood to be the traditional qualities that men possess,
which make them ‘men’. These qualities include, but are not limited to, having
a muscular or heavy build, being attractive to women, determined and
courageous. However, looking back in time reveals that masculinity did not
always follow the same values and qualities. Looking as far back as the 1970s,
gender started to become a more discussed topic among feminists and scholars
alike. Defining masculinity was one of the issues that would be discussed among
this topic, along with femininity, the roles of genders and the identities that
individuals possess.
This new approach to identity opened
up a new way to look at gender and revealed the social constructs that defined
different people. Feminism during the 1970s addressed different issues that
existed in western culture and gave an alternative approach to the traditional
ideas of the time. Women such as Natalie Davis, had the opinion that there
shouldn’t be a single focus on the subjected sex. Rather, there should be more
studies into the significance of the sexes and the gender groups they fall
under. In Davis’ 1975 book she says, ‘Our goal is to discover the range in sex
roles and in sexual symbolism in different societies and periods, to find out
what meaning they had and how they functioned to maintain the social order or
to promote its change.’ *site book*, suggesting that society has throughout time constructed and
assigned different sex roles to either maintain a balance or promote change.
Whether or not this has been a positive change is still debatable to this day.
Theories of masculinity
In terms of the studies into
gender and masculinity, the discussion is a fairly recent one as it only began
to gain serious attention in the last 50 years. Much of this attention to the
subject of masculinity and identifying it, was brought about when different theories
began to emerge. The most notable and refered of all theories of masculinity,
is Raewyn W. Connell’s hegemonic masculinity. Connell’s concept of hegemonic
masculinity is seen as a culturally ideal form of masculinity, including the
inequalities of powerful men over women and other men, hierarchy of
masculinities and the patriarchal power that certain men of this quality
possess. However, on the contrary, hegemonic masculinity is also seen as only
one form of masculinity, as it is culturally defined by certain societies, but
not all. Generally, this form of masculinity contains certain features that
others do not, as explained in Rachel Jewkes 2015 article when she says:
A core
element of the construction of hegemonic masculinity is heterosexuality, and to
a greater or lesser extent hegemonic masculinity is constructed as a gender
position that is as much ‘not gay’ as it is ‘not female’. (Rachel Jewkes, 2015)
To this extent,
we know that western society has in recent years become more progressive and
accepting of new gender identities, but Connell’s concept of an ideal
masculinity seems to remain the most prominent and sought after. One
explanation for why this may be, could include the constructed gender role of
men of the past and the values that made them ‘men’. For some in today’s
society, this image of a traditional male is seen as the ideal masculine figure
to aspire to. As mentioned previously, there had been limited exposure on the
study of masculinity before the 1970s and 80s, because gender had not been
considered to be more than just social constructs. However, psychologist Joseph
Pleck suggests in his 1981 book, The Myth of Masculinity, an alternative
viewpoint to previous studies of masculinity. He refers to a period in time
between the 1930s and 1980s, in which gender role
identity paradigm (GRIP), as he calls it, would have been the
current state of masculinity. This paradigm suggests that in order to develop a
healthy personality, one must conform to the stereotypical values of their
biological sex and the gender roles that came with it.
Pleck’s
alternative to (GRIP), was to introduce another paradigm known as the gender
role strain paradigm (GRSP), which focuses more on the social definitions
of the roles of males and females. The strain that
Pleck refers to is the way in which boys and men feel pressured to conform to
the traditional forms of masculinity, which in turn can result in behavioural
problems or other strains in their lives. One example used by Pleck was that
absent fathers or overprotective mothers would result in a child’s failure to
achieve the ideal male identity, often resulting in emotionally driven
behavioural problems, from school disruption to crime on the streets. As a
result of this alternative paradigm, studies into gender can identify the
strains men endure when trying to meet the expectations of their traditionally
defined values and roles.
Gender roles
After looking at
different theorists’ perspectives on gender and the roles they believe have
been constructed, it was necessary to look into these roles in more detail in
order to come to an understanding of the behaviours of men and how they differ
from the past. Having already established Connell’s hegemonic masculinity and
Pleck’s ‘Gender Role Strain Paradigm’, it is therefore possible to analyse how
these theories may be put into context. In the context of men’s health, we know
that failure to live up to these assigned societal roles can have a detrimental
effect on an individual's mental or physical health. This may be because the
traditionally identified role of men is to be the breadwinner and provider of
the family. Therefore, paid employment is linked to a strong masculine identity
and failure to meet this requirement is what creates a ‘gender role strain’. In
Steve Robertson’s paper, Theories of Masculinity and Men’s Health-Seeking
Practices, there is a clear suggestion as to why these roles exist in society.
He believes these roles are ‘encouraged through a range of implicit or explicit
rewards and sanctions’, meaning there is reward for the efforts of conformity
but there are also boundaries or rules to conforming to the role.
word count 1267
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