Blog Post #12
12 years ago
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Blog Post #8
In today's society despite the fact that most of people are trying to breask free of stereotypes, I can affirm that there is an "escalator effect" and a social pressure undergone by males working in the "Female" professions.
Williams, Christine L. "The glass Escalator: Hidden advantages for men in the "Female" Professions". Men's lives, 5th ed. S Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, Ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2001, 211-224, Print
This article shows us the contrast existing between females entering male-considered jobs and vice versa. Williams demonstrates that while women are facing a "Glass ceiling" keeping them from pretending to higher positions within their jobs, men are undergoing a "Glass escalator" that pushes them towards more valuable, and higher positions within their jobs even though they're not longing for them.
The author of this article is Dr. Christine L. Williams, the Department Chair Professor of the Department of Sociology of College Liberal Arts. Besides, she is using credible sources which are documented in her works cited page. So we can infer that this article is a valid and reliable source.
Williams says, "Often despite their intentions, [men] face invisible pressures to move up in their professions" (214). That quote shows us that men are being pushed towards higher positions, so it will help me support the idea that there is an "escalator effects" undergone by men in the "Female" professions. Moreover, Williams underlines the fact that men are victims of a social pressure that is keeping them from doing what they really like by saying, "Men who enter these professions are considered "failures" or deviants..... these stereotypes do not seem to deter women to the same degree that they deter men from pursuing nontraditional professions" (221). Thus, that quote will corroborates with my thesis of men undergoing a social pressure.
Williams, Christine L. "The glass Escalator: Hidden advantages for men in the "Female" Professions". Men's lives, 5th ed. S Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, Ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2001, 211-224, Print
This article shows us the contrast existing between females entering male-considered jobs and vice versa. Williams demonstrates that while women are facing a "Glass ceiling" keeping them from pretending to higher positions within their jobs, men are undergoing a "Glass escalator" that pushes them towards more valuable, and higher positions within their jobs even though they're not longing for them.
The author of this article is Dr. Christine L. Williams, the Department Chair Professor of the Department of Sociology of College Liberal Arts. Besides, she is using credible sources which are documented in her works cited page. So we can infer that this article is a valid and reliable source.
Williams says, "Often despite their intentions, [men] face invisible pressures to move up in their professions" (214). That quote shows us that men are being pushed towards higher positions, so it will help me support the idea that there is an "escalator effects" undergone by men in the "Female" professions. Moreover, Williams underlines the fact that men are victims of a social pressure that is keeping them from doing what they really like by saying, "Men who enter these professions are considered "failures" or deviants..... these stereotypes do not seem to deter women to the same degree that they deter men from pursuing nontraditional professions" (221). Thus, that quote will corroborates with my thesis of men undergoing a social pressure.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Blog Post #7
In "Chicano Men and Masculinity" Zinn states:
We must understand that while maleness is highly valued in our society, it interacts with other categorical distinctions in both manifestation and meaning. As Stoll (1974:124) presents this idea our society is structured to reward some categories in preference to others (e.g., men over women) but the system is not perfectly rational. First, the rewards are scarce; second, other categories such as race, ethnicity, and other statuses are included in the formula. Furthermore, the interaction of different categories with masculinity contributes to multiple societal meanings of masculinity, so that "one can never be sure this aspect of one's self will not be called into dispute". (29)
To perfectly comprehend that statement we have to break it down. First Zinn says, “We must understand that while maleness is highly valued in our society, it interacts with other categorical distinctions in both manifestation and meaning.”(29) In other words, masculinity, or “maleness” as she calls it, is something that is praised in our society, and nobody would deny that. Paradoxically, despite the fact that everybody agrees that “maleness” is praised in our society, it is nearly impossible to find a common agreement on what it means to be masculine, and what the characteristics are. (The raw type of Black male masculinity of Marable doesn’t seem to match the cowardly barbarian type of white masculinity of Theroux, which itself doesn’t seem to match the feminized type of Asian masculinity of Espiritu. But we all agree that every one of them is talking about masculinity.) Besides, Zinn adds that “maleness” has to interact, in our society, with other concepts, or “categorical distinctions” (gender for instance), that face the same dilemma. She then follows by “As Stoll … presents this idea our society is structured to reward some categories in preference to others… but the system is not perfectly rational” (29). This is no news. There are privileged people, and less privileged people in our society. It all depends on which social category you fit into. This concept goes back to that social stratification Judith Lorber’s “Night to His Day” was referring to. Next she explains her statement “First, rewards are scarce; second, other categories such as race, ethnicity, and other statuses are included in the formula” (29). That’s a constant that we see in Marable’s, Theroux’s, and Espiritu’s readings as well. It’s not enough to be masculine to be highly valued. You also have to belong to a certain race, belong to a certain ethnicity (at least), to be able to pretend to those scarce rewards. Espiritu underlined that aspect of our society as well in his “All Men Are Not Created Equal: Asian Men in U.S History” by saying “Ideologies of manhood… have as much to do with class and race as they have to do with sex” (37). Finally, Zinn concludes “Furthermore, the interaction of different categories with masculinity contributes to multiple societal meanings of masculinity, so that "one can never be sure this aspect of one's self will not be called into dispute"” (29). So, according to Zinn, our cosmopolitan society gave birth to multiple facets of the term masculinity, which are all legitimate, but questionable depending on which category we’re into.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Marable Vs Espiritu: Blog Post #5
There is a saying that says: "Behind every great man there's a great woman". As far as I'm concerned behind every man there's a woman, and I think Marable and Espiritu understood that concept too. That might be the reason why their notion of masculinity was inseparable from women. I think, according to both of them, the construction of masculinity can't be achieved without the presence of a woman. But that's not all, not only is the presence of a woman required, but also she has to maintain her expected "lower status" in the couple, in order for the man to fully consider himself as a man. In both Marable's and Espiritu's reading that 'social equilibrium', where women are at disadvantage, is not maintained. That's a common point between the two reading, but the difference is, the way that unbalanced 'social equilibrium' shifted. In Marable's reading, that's the ascension of the Black women to the position of "Matriarch" that "stripped the Negro man of his masculinity" (Marable 20), whereas in Espiritu's reading that's the descent of the Asian men (or their "feminization"), that caused them "to be stripped of male privilege" (Espiritu 35). But no matter how that social equilibrium shifted, the result is still the same in both cases: depression, anxiety, and domestic violence from the man deprived of his masculinity, which stress out the importance of women in the construction of male masculinity. Women have the power to construct, or inversely ruin the masculinity of a man. It's really not a surprise that both authors conclude their texts by mentioning women, (in Marable's case "The strongest ally Black men have in their battle.... is the Black woman"(23)), because men can be tall, strong , powerful, CEO of a big company and whatnot, but at the end when it comes to establish their masculinity, it always comes down to women.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Who's the man
The common idea between Theroux's reading and Marable's one is that masculinity is dependent on validation from other men. While the first one put the accent on how men enjoy being among themselves when they have been acknowledged by their peer, the other one put the accent on how devastating it can be for men who haven't been acknowlegded by their peer.
WORK CITED
Marable, Manning. "The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes". Men's lives, 5th ed. S Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, Ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 17-23. Print.
Theroux, Paul. "The Male Myth". Across Cultures: A reader for Writers. 7th ed. Sheena Gillepsie and Robert Becker, Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. 101-105. Print.
WORK CITED
Marable, Manning. "The Black Male: Searching Beyond Stereotypes". Men's lives, 5th ed. S Kimmel and Michael A. Messner, Ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 17-23. Print.
Theroux, Paul. "The Male Myth". Across Cultures: A reader for Writers. 7th ed. Sheena Gillepsie and Robert Becker, Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. 101-105. Print.
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