Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Fetishism
The Male Myth by Paul Theroux and Terry Crew's "Manhood" interview both have the same theories in one. Feminism is a big problem today in society. As a young man in todays society I think every guy goes through this as we grow up. Our fathers were brought up a certain way, his father before him and so forth. Saying that now its different than it was before, we are raised to be better men than our fathers, or at least some of us. Men nowadays simply think they are better than women because they are men. The problem is that we blame femininity on our problems. So I strongly believe in both Theroux and Crews opinions of manhood. Crews believes there is a "fork in a mans road". That many are confused to be the tough guy or to be the soft guy. But he simply thinks we should be who we are and take the mask off. Theroux begins to say that he dislikes being a man, "like having to wear an ill-fitting coat for one's entire life." The expression "be a man!" strikes every guy in a hurtful or insulting way. That in manhood its not okay to cry, or to be scared. We are men, we are built to last, to endure what ever is in our way. I agree with them on that some of us aren't. Some of us guys aren't made to build skyscrapers or to fix that truck engine. It just isn't in the cards for some. Crews and Theroux are responding to the fact that men think its okay to take what they want because they like to "WIN", and its not. because with that mentality comes dark thoughts like sexual harassment, rape, or even murder. Crews continues to say that "were battling a mindset, not men." Crews fights for gender-equality and Theroux just says that to society you're not a man till you prove others you are first.
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In The Male Myth by Paul Theroux and Terry Crew’s “Manhood”, I also strongly believe that they both have similar mindsets about manhood and feminism. I think that once guys turn a certain age in his life, he either decides whether he wants to act manly or feminine. In my opinion as a female, I don’t like the fact how every man think that they are better than a female. Just because our gender isn’t the same, that doesn’t mean anything. Like when Terry Crew’s mentioned in his interview “Feminism is not saying that women are better than men, feminism is about gender equality”. This is exactly my point here. Paul Theroux mentions how he always disliked being a man and how the whole mindset of manhood in America is pitiful. I totally agree on what Paul and Terry have to say about manhood because now and days, many men feel like it’s not okay to show your emotions and be weak because a women will most likely think that you’re a “PUSSY”. One aspect that terry brought up in his interview was about how women think men are “Unnecessary”. But terry feels that everyone is necessary because you need people. “Why do you have to diss a dad in order to be a mom”? Terry mentions. I also like when Terry brings up the gender roles in society. For example, he says “when my wife is out doing records, I’m in the kitchen with the kids making grilled chicken”. WHAY CAN’T EVERY MEN BE LIKE THIS? Gender roles may switch which is always okay. Theroux simply states that you have to show others that you being a “MAN” and Terry Crews elaborates more on gender stereotypes and how to be a good man.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Paul Theroux’s “The Male Myth” and Terry’s Crews’s “Manhood” have similar messages. The differences are also very clear as well. In Paul’s passage he really expresses his dislike for being a man. He talks about how in society being “manly” is basically about always proving yourself to others. Like you said Paul uses the phrase “Be a man” in his passage, which does come off as a bit harsh. Paul seems to have really suffered in different points of his life for not being manly enough. He himself is a writer and he talked about the struggles that male writers face. He talks about gender roles and how little girls are taught to ask “Do you like my dress?” and little boys “behave like monkeys towards each other.” He talks about how sports in high school teach men to be a poor losers and therefor effecting them later on in life. I think in all actuality Theroux is mainly speaking about how society has this idea of how men should be. In other words gender roles, and he fully disagrees with that. In Terry Crews’s interview he touches on a lot of key topics. Terry talked about how men are afraid to show fear. He gave an example about him and his six year old boy, and how they went to the movies. Apparently at some point his child was scared, but he was too afraid to admit that he was afraid. Why? Because in society to be afraid shows weakness therefore you’re not being manly. He then talks about respecting and seeing your partner as your equal. Terry makes the point that rape happens, because people believe that they own their partner. Therefor they can do whatever they please whenever they please, even if their partner says no. Terry believes that this is a problem with men and women’s lack of respect for each other. Men and women generally don’t believe they are on the same “level”. Terry talks about gender roles in the sense that himself and his wife share equal responsibility. There is not that one person who wears “the pants” in the relationship. Though Crew’s and Theroux’s central theme are the same they do have many differences in their ideals.
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