Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Mindset of Manhood

I believe Crew and Theroux are a part of the same conversation, but in two different viewpoints. They are responding to the idea of what many men believe manhood and masculinity are and how these ideas have been portrayed in our society. Crew gives a more optimistic view on being a man over Theroux but still states what is wrong with the idea of masculinity. Crew explains his view that "everyone is necessary" and "men and women should be equal". His idea of "gender purposes" shows that men and women are both needed in our society. He supports feminism and is actively striving for equality for women. Men supporting gender equality can help influence other men to no longer feel superior to women. Theroux talks more about his disgust of what is expected of a young man in society's eyes and the hate he has for being a man. He perceives being told to "be a man" is being told to "be stupid, be unfeeling, obedient and soldierly, and stop thinking." These are things off of what many fathers tell their son when they are young and shaping their personalities. "Crying is for girls!" "Man up." Ideas that men do not have feelings leads to a build-up of emotions and often, violence. Both men agree that manliness implies superiority to women, children, and men who are not known as manly. Crew connects with Theroux when he talks about the mindset of manliness and how it encourages men to take advantage of many situations and people. Men with this mindset tend to think that they are in-charge and own lesser people/things because of their manliness which leads to rape and violence. Many men in the media often express this. They believe that because they are men in the spotlight they are superior to others. The main idea that both men are striving towards is that manliness is not what it should be. It should be about being a better man. As Crew explains it as "the fork in the road" for manhood. The choice of either having the basic, old-fashioned manliness or to see how it can be destructive to society and relationships.

4 comments:

  1. I think a combination of both ideas would lead to a greater understanding for everyone. While I certainly appreciate Crews's interview more than Theroux's article, blending them can give us a better, more complete picture of the male perspective in this case. I think you did a good job identifying the differences here between Theroux's and Crews's viewpoints and made sure to point out their common ground as well. Overall I feel like Crews's stance is more productive and potentially more insightful, but Theroux offers a unique way of looking at things- a world view that many on either side of this discussion might not ever consider. The man who doesn't want to be a man. I think there is something to be said for the value of Theroux's opinion, examining the emotional impact on a young man who's being taught these things right from the start. I did feel like his analysis on the raising of young women was a little bit out of place though, and didn't really do anything to drive his points home. I appreciate that Crews prefaced the description of his book by saying that it's HIS story and that that's the only story he could tell. I feel like Theroux lacked a “so what?” in the case of his article for these reasons, though. I certainly appreciated the insight to his view, but I never felt like I knew why I was reading the article. It left me with the aftertaste of a random opinion piece or just a frustrated authors ramblings, which I suppose it was...

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  2. I think that both the article by Theroux and the video with Crew are similar yet different. They both talk about being a man and the expectations with that. I think reading Theroux’s article made me think that being a man has its downfalls just like being a women dose. I feel that for the men that do want to maybe do something like journalism or something maybe not considered masculine it is hard. They have to go through loops just like when especially when trying to prove yourself. I think Theroux and many other men are appalled because of what is expected out of men in your society. How Crew and Theroux met up on thoughts, it is when Crew is about the watch “Iron Man 3” with his 6 year old son and he talks about how his son was “shaking”. Crew ask his son a couple of times in the theater if he is ok and the third time talks him outside where it is quite and asks him if he is scared in a kind voice his son reply’s yes and puts his head down. I know myself was shocked to hear that at suck young of an age a boy would feel ashamed from being scared in a movie, but that is what society teaches our young. When watch Terry Crews video I felt a sense of understanding. He talked about how “men and women should be equal” how that is how he is with his wife. Men shouldn't feel superior to women they should be equal to each other. In the video the reporter is talking about sexual assault situation that is going on in Canada and talking about conversation about consent. Crew is asked “what would you say to” young men. Crew responds explaining that “when you see another person as your equal there is things you won’t do” and goes on talking about how if a person counties after no is said that that individuals thinks they are above that person. I like how this question was brought up and how it was answered. Crew talks about how he is a supporter of feminism and helping to gain equality for women. I think that both Theroux and Crew show that there are pressure from our society on men to act a certain way which causes problems. If we put more equality in our society and stop the gender norms than men wanting to do journalism wouldn't have any problems or embarrassments. This would also help situations like sexual assault because men wouldn't feel the need to be superior. I am glad that some men are helping our society move forward in equality for all.

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  3. Crews and Theroux expand on the idea of men’s role in society and feminism, which both lend themselves to the “larger conversation”. Personally I enjoyed Crew’s piece better, he made it more personal and entertaining by sharing his own experiences in a sometimes-funny way. Crews talked about why he embraces feminism, and why his views on masculinity are different than what he used to believe. Crews expands on the view that being a man means to be emotionless and completely macho- he lets men know that being a man can be so much more, and not to be scared of these changes. Crews offers a sort of test for other men to try and see his way of thinking, considering he used to be an NFL player and has seen first hand how some men can think and act. Theroux, on the other hand, talks about why he hates being a man and how challenging it can be in today’s society to balance out how it actually feels, and the ignominy that comes with being a man. I couldn’t particularly point out Theroux’s “so what”, his writing seemed to just ramble on and on with no real direction or goal to achieve. Even though I felt that way about Theroux’s writing, he still shared some interesting points and showed me a new way of thinking about men. A large chunk of his writing was about sports…which I felt could’ve easily been left out of the paper. Overall both men speak out about how it feels to be a man today, and the weight that can be placed on them when it comes to how society believes they should act.

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  4. Considering the bigger question of both Terry Crews and Paul Theroux’s viewpoints on masculinity, your interpretation of the article and video we watched was portrayed effectively. Masculinity is seen as a mindset that men, must always act tough and manly. Their viewpoints are both the same but have a different perception of the way they think of masculinity. Crews’s perception is more of accepting the fact that you are a man but that you need to embrace your emotions as well. You do not have to put up this hard front that nothing is bothering you in life. This is what Crews thinks men as a society should strive away from. Theroux, on the other hand, takes more of a negative view on manhood. He believes it to be a curse. His whole life he grew up to his creative side being an identity crisis, in the view of being a manly, Sunday night football man. With these perceptions, coming from men themselves, shows that this mindset of masculinity is affecting society greatly. This is where they recognize that pent up emotions would have the potential to cause violence in the relationships they hold with women. All these simplistic but complex points touch on the subject of how there is not as much gender equality seen in the world today. After reading and watching their sides of the story, it is recognizable that it is time to move away from the mindset of “I’m way better than this person” and move on to the mindset of “This person is an equal of mine”. A simple quote to understand that we need to get rid of the mindset first is when Terry Crews said, “If you cut the trees by the leaves, the leaves will still grow back. What we have to do, is remove the stump.”

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