GUADIA AZIZE
INSTRUCTOR: MAGDALENA BOGACKA
ENG. 101. O800
NOVEMBER 16TH, 2010
The collective rituals of heterosexual men through which they interpret “the ideal standard of masculinity”, can greatly influence how men interact with each other and women as well. for instance, Here in the United States----if it is not yet known----male--dominated public institutions have been harboring this type of collective behavior practiced amongst adolescent males as a strategy to provide emotional support for those that are easily deterred by their lack of confidence; sexual advice for those with high expectations to become lotharios as described by Grazian in “The Girl Hunt”, and supported by two other credible sources in Friday night Lights: A Town A Team and a Dream and Gender Trouble: Feminism And the Subversion of Identity, all of which, collaborate on the performative aspect of masculinity. For instance, in the book Gender Trouble:, Monique Wittig, a theorist of material feminism argues:
Gender is the linguistic index of the political
opposition between the sexes. Gender is used
here in the singular because indeed there are
not two genders: there is only one: the
feminine, the masculine” not being a gender.
For the masculine is not the masculine, but the
general. (qutd. in Butler 27)
In This statement, gender is characterized through the hegemonic interpretation of women as sex symbols. In other words masculinity is not considered a gender, to the contrary, it represents stability, cohesion, durability and the normal standard of heterosexuality. Gender is also used by men as a deceptive method to differentiate between them and women, marking their pray---femininity---like a cowboy would in brandishing his domesticated cattle. It is necessary to take a close look at the various roles that are taken up by heterosexuals, including men’s perception of an ideal standard of masculinity, the political patriarchy and the one-upmanship characteristics that are displayed as methods to gain in-group-status while functioning to build confidence along with a sense of belongingness necessary to maintain the gender ideologies associated with the collective performance of masculinity.
The ideology of masculinity is presented in “The Girl Hunt” as a performative behavior learned through institutionalized set of rules as oppose to being an inherent trait passed on by its primal ancestors. For instance, according to the writer in “The Girl Hunt” Goffman, West and Zimmerman argue:
Like femininity; masculinity is not innate but an
accomplishment of human behavior that appears
natural because gendered individuals adhere to
an institutionalized set of myths they learn
through everyday interactions and encounters,
and thus accept as social reality. (Grazian 320)
The interpretation of gender as a learned behavior is intelligently illustrated in Gender Trouble, as the author writes:
……..The distinction between sex and gender
serves the argument that whatever biological
intractability sex appears to have, gender is
culturally constructed. Hence, gender is neither
the casual result of sex nor as seemingly fixed as
sex. (Butler 8)
According to these two statements, gender is incorporated by heterosexual men to re-assert the perceived cultural reality that women are dependent on their looks, leaving them little choice but to play certain roles which make them vulnerable to men’s exaggerated ambitions of political control and their lust for sexual gratification. Though feminists are opposed to this type of heterosexual behavior, this is what solidifies the masculinity in each and everyone of these men, becoming stronger when they get together to form homosocial bonds that promote the collective performances of manhood; or in other terms, to enact the interpretations of masculinity by taking part in a real-life drama of contemporary social interactions amongst their peers and between the sexes. The one-upmanship characteristics of masculinity is also practiced by young males to validate their manhood, gain in-group-status, as well as hooking up with a girl under sexist terms.
In the “The Girl Hunt” the validation of manhood associated with in-group-status is described by the writer:
As these young men dance arm-in-arm with one
another, they generate the collective
effervescence and a sense of social
connectedness necessary to plunge into the
nightlife (Grazian 327).
There is a significant correlation between this statement and what the author claims in Friday Night Lights:
They would still be gladiators, the ones who were
envied by everyone else, the ones who knew
about the best parties and got the best girls and
and laughed the loudest and strutted so proudly
through the halls of school as if it was their own
wonderful private kingdom. (Bissinger 127)
Grazian’s and Bissinger’s statements compliment each other as they illustrate the hearty enjoyment that encompasses these adolescent men in the comfort of their peers. For Grazian refers to young men that work collectively and effectively to boost their confidence and be able to perform at the highest possible level before taking that initial step of pulling themselves off the couches, as they head out and into a mysterious night life filled with promising erotic encounters with the opposite sex, overwhelming these adolescent men with immature compulsive egos and unfulfilled quotas pertaining to sexual experiences. In comparison, Bissinger points out the dominant masculine expectations of young, strong and athletic players whose only goals are to establish their presence as these ultimate symbols of heroism, heterosexuality, and manhood. As a Result, these young football players develop a strong bond with their teammates and become the subjects of girls’ obsessions. Moreover, gender hierarchy describes the subordination of women through men’s collective performances implemented by the political patriarchy and heterosexual objectifications of women.
The subordination of women is carried out by the organizations set up by the principals of men’s superiority; political patriarchy re-enforces the rules by which men are exalted and women devalued. The author in “The Girl Hunt” supports this idea by claiming:
……Joey’s confidence is boosted by the
camaraderie he experiences in a bonding ritual
in which women---supposedly the agreed—upon
raison d’etre for the evening---are ignored or,
when they make their presence known, scolded.
(Grazian 327)
This comment reiterates what the author in Friday Night Lights: refers to as he writes:
………..So desperate was she to intergrate herself
with the football players that she bought one of
them a brand-new backpack and then offered
him fifty dollars to sleep with her
(Bissinger 141).
Both authors, Grazian and Bissinger argue, that women are perceived as sexual objects or some sort of trophies that men can raise up high as a sign of prowess--- just like an Olympic athlete does when raising his medal after a hard fought victory--- to show their buddies who is in charge, and as if to say “the persisting bolstering of our egos has paid off”. Another method by which women are subordinated, is the way public perception of gender is manipulated in society as a whole ,especially here in the United States. For example, the author in Gender Trouble: writes:
The political assumption that there must be a
universal basis for feminism, one which must be
found in an identity assumed to exist cross—
culturally often accompanies the notion that the
oppression of women has some singular form
discernible in the universal or hegemonic
structure of patriarchy or masculine domination.
(Butler 5)
Butler illustrates the political and linguistic methods that are used to undermine women’s liberation and representation. Femininity has suffered a great deal under the political patriarchy which has misrepresented women, labeling them as nothing more than a confused gender with a specific purpose of attending to the needs of their husbands or other privileged male figures. The gender hierarchy has conceptualized femininity as being digressive and divisive in nature. This type of sexist behavior that is illustrated by Butler, is what Grazian talks about when he refers to the college students who volunteer in a survey and share their personal accounts on homosocial bondings that create environments where they can be themselves and release tensions and anxieties associated with the anticipation of being rejected by their peers or a potential romantic flame. Just as Butler describes men as being cohesive when coming together to establish laws intended to label women for the purpose of limiting their roles and regarding them as sexed objects. Grazian, on the other hand, illustrates how men come together to bolster their egos to gain camaraderie and make themselves feel ready for the unforeseen urban life drama of exotic encounters.
The author, David Grazian in “The Girl Hunt” Suggests, the performative aspect of masculinity is not only a learned behavior but a means by which it conveys gestures and body expressions; social responses carried out under the influence of gender rules made up and governed by male—dominated institutions (337). For men, collective rituals are ways of solidifying their self-esteem, masculinity, and in-group-status. young men come together to share their most testosterone-boosting stories about how much money they got, what cars they drive, and the number of girls that desire to be with them. Although, this type of behavior is what labels women as sexual objects, it releases animalistic tensions from within the male structure that would otherwise inhibit their ability to function as heterosexuals. In other words masculinity is not pre-conditioned, but rather constitutes collective performances compatible to the current patterns of socialization initiated by young adolescents seeking emotional support and a favorable environment in which they can express “the ideal characteristics of manhood”.
Works Cited
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town A Team And A Dream
Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 1900. Print.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminisim And The Subversion Of
Identity New York: Routledge Classics, 1900. Print.
Grazian, David “The Girl Hunt: Urban Night light And the performance
Of Masculinity As Collective Activity” Men’s Lives. 8th ed. Eds.
Michael S. Kimmel And Michael S. messner: New York:
Allyn And Bacon, 2010. 320-337. Print.
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