photo courtesy CTC Images that exemplify varying ideas of masculinity in society. (top left) Jackson Katz, a gender scholar who has done research on masulinity. (top center) G.I. Joe's biceps woul be 6 inches larger than Mark McGuire's. (top right) George Washington was considered very manly in his time because he wore powdered wigs and perfume. (bottom left) Eminem portrays negative images of masculinity in the media. (bottom right) Clarence Thomas accused of harassment.

“The whole race is suffering from masculinity and man and woman are alike to blame for tolerating it.”

–Nellie McClung

The vast majority of violent crimes and activities in our society today are committed by men. Major league sports, an enormous source of male role models in society today, has been plagued by issues of excessive violence both in the sports arena and in the personal lives of players. One might well ask: what’s wrong with masculinity?

Nothing is wrong with masculinity, but there is something very wrong about society’s perception of masculinity.

We have restricted masculinity to a very small range of concepts and behaviors that not only pressure a lot of men to be something that they are not, but that are actually detrimental to men’s health and to society in general.

If you ask a small boy what it is to be manly, chances are he will respond, “To be tough and strong.” Physical strength is placed at a premium, and with it comes the tendency to expect men to be strong and stoic, expressing emotions like anger and affection through violence.

This is particularly prominent among marginalized groups such as ethnic minority males of low socioeconomic class. Given few opportunities to express themselves otherwise or to improve their lives in concrete ways, they are left with nothing but their “manliness” to be proud of, and they often react with violence against the society that has rejected them.

Men and boys themselves are the greatest reinforcers of these stereotypes. It is the boys that fit this pattern who are labeled cool, while boys that do not are called either girly or gay, a serious insult for a gender that prides itself on its manliness. Men do not allow each other to step out of the box, which places an enormous amount of pressure on them to be someone they are not.

This pattern is very harmful to men, as it teaches them to repress their feelings, rather than explore or share them in meaningful way. It also hurts society, since 90 percent of violent acts committed against both men and women are perpetrated by men.

If this stereotype of masculinity is so harmful, why does it continue to exist? One of the reasons is general ignorance. Although femininity has been carefully examined by the feminist movement of the last several decades, masculinity has been considered the norm, and the norm is seldom examined. It was not until a few years ago that any scholarly work was done on masculinity.

Another major reason is that this image of men is perpetuated by the media. Former NFL player Jackson Katz, now a gender scholar who has done an enormous amount of research on masculinity, has created a video called “Tough Guise” which shows clearly the predominant images of men in the media. While images of women have grown progressively smaller, the ideal man has grown progressively larger. An example of this is the current GI Joe doll, whose biceps, were he lifesize, would be 6 inches larger than the biceps of Mark McGuire.

The media also abounds with portrayals of physically strong men who deal with all problems by resorting to violence. The violent man has been glamorized by movies such as James Bond and Rambo, culminating in the Terminator movies of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

The media would argue that they are merely reflecting society, rather than influencing it.

So what do we do about this problem? Obviously it should be an issue of concern to us. 90 percent of all violent acts is not something to joke about. Jackson Katz suggests that individual men need to stand up and take leadership. Men listen to other men and that perpetuates the stereotype. Men need to talk with their friends, condemn violence and explore ways of being open and emotionally involved.

Women too have a role to play. Women need to tell their stories to the men they love. Let them hear how violence has hurt women personally and how it has hurt those they love.

Women need to support the men in their lives and encourage them to break out of the box that gender stereotyping has put them into.

This is not an irresolvable problem. Definitions of gender are fluid, not static, and it is possible to change how we think of masculinity. George Washington, after all, was considered very manly in his time, because he wore powdered wigs and perfume!