Masculinities in Teen Magazines: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Response

The article by Diane Prusank titled “Masculinities in Teen Magazines: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” is about a study done of numerous generations that looked into the different types of male personalities by comparing them to articles found in typically female oriented magazines. Prusank found that “masculinity is a social construction, therefore, there are many forms of masculinity present in any culture at a given point in time and those masculinities may not be the same as the ones which existed in the past or may exist in the future.” In one of the magazines that they followed over the years, Seventeen magazine, they can across numerous articles consisting of ways to deal with a break up, what he really means when he says… and how to keep a guy. All this articles portray the image that it is a female’s responsibility to get a male companion instead of the other way around. The articles had a tendency to instill girls with the message that physical appearance and romantic relationships were critical aspects of life. Nearly all of the articles portray girls in traditional ways assigning them the role of keeper of romantic relationships. The study conducted over a series of decades divided males into categories such as the new man and the bad and the ugly. The “new man” in these texts refers to the “feminized male” and the “new man-as nurturer” image. The “new man” experiences and expresses emotions, values personal relationships and can be viewed as vulnerable. Women are typically associated with being the fragile and delicate sex. However, now studies have discovered that some men may be more in touch with their emotional side. The typical male is seen as being dominant, muscular and the protector of the relationship. Nowadays a new type of man is emerging into the scene, one that is more realistic. Most magazines make out guys to be jerks and only having sexual desires on their agenda. They stereotype the male gender and categorize the so called “nice guys” into this category as well, when in reality they are nothing of the sort. In men’s magazines there is a similar stereotype for women. Most articles are on “how to get a girl” or “top ten things she likes in bed.” The targeted audience for these articles are for the men that fulfill this stereotype.

The Cult of True Womanhood Response

After reading “The Cult of True Womanhood” I realized how grateful I am for living in today’s world and not back in the nineteenth century.  One quote that stood out to me while reading the article was "The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society could be divided into four cardinal virtues - piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sisters, wife - woman." Women during the 1860s were expected to live out these virtues. If they failed to do so, they were not considered a “true woman.” Times have changed tremendously since the 19th century. A woman’s place in the home was considered to be in the kitchen and making her husband happy. Nowadays a woman has options as to where she wants to be, whether it be at home or at a job. The entire article describes the culture of that time. It goes to show you that culture is never permanent and can change every year. Women lived out their culture just like women today do. Culture is similar to fad and trends. At that time, it was normal and expected for women to live their lives as obedient women. In today’s culture it is normal for women to be independent from men and have their own careers. After reading the entire article, I was outraged. Knowing that my gender lived that lifestyle truly astonishes me. Women had a strict outline of how they were expected to behave. These days women do not have to be submissive nor fulfill domestic duties in the home, however, women will always have to endure the gender stereotype of women being a housewife.

Devor Response

“The dominant gender schema in North American society […] leads us to believe that female and male behaviors are the result of socially directed hormonal instructions which specify that females will want to have children and will therefore find themselves relatively helpless and dependent on males for support and protection. The schema claims that males are innately aggressive and competitive, and will therefore dominate over females. The social hegemony of this ideology ensures that we are all raised to practice gender roles which will confirm this vision of the nature of the sexes.” (Devor 431)

I find myself in a disagreement with this statement said by Aaron Devor. I do not believe that we were all brought up with this mentality. The above stereotype of men being aggressive and dominant and women being feeble and domestic is not true for many people. Although society pushes these images as being the norm for us, not all people grow up this way. Some men are not raised to be the competitive and dominant male we may see in television shows or movies today. There are some men who may even be a little bit more on the feminine side and some who believe in equality. On the other side of the spectrum, the purpose of females according to society is to reproduce, raise the children, and complete the domestic duties of the house. However, women do not need to follow this path. Nowadays, women have the right and freedom to decide how they want to live out their lives. Women should have the right to determine if they want to have children or not. I, personally, at the moment do not have any intentions of having children in the future. This does not mean that I should be looked down upon for not fulfilling the stereotypical roles of a wife. Women today can also sustain themselves without any assistance from a male. They are fully capable of being independent from a man. This social ideology is completely false and could have maybe described the lifestyle of a couple from the 1950’s. However, today in the year 2009, men and women can live freely as they chose and live in equality.