n
an advocate of the rights of men
adj
of, characterized by, or relating to men's rights
Masculinism is not a common concept. In fact, I only really thought about it after seeing SurvivorsUK's London tube advert, trying to raise awareness about sexual crimes against men. Maybe the reason why masculinism has such a quite voice is that men aren't technically a minority. However, this doesn't mean that men are fairly represented, or that they are somehow immune from feeling the pressure to adhere to social conventions.
 |
| Government estimates say only up to 11% of male victims report attacks. |
Once I saw the tube awareness advert, evidence of pressure for men to behave a certain way was everywhere. ITV4's Tetley's sponsorship adverts are a classic example of what 'real men' are 'supposed' to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEW9UjC687E&feature=endscreen&NR=1
Does this advert imply that, if you are loving and affectionate with your wife and children, you aren't a 'real man'? If you prefer to drink gin and tonic are you not a 'real man'? If you are a man married to a man are you not a 'real man'? And what is fake men's television? I watch programmes on ITV4 and I am not a man... are they not meant for my cocktail drinking eyes?
The frequency at which I hear the phrase 'man up' just makes me wonder how one 'mans down', or is at any point less of a man than usual. A man is not something you have to try to be, a man is what you are*.
At a recent gig I was stood next to a young lad of about 14. Now, at this gig one of the support bands didn't go down very well and many a bottle was thrown their way. This lad was wearing one of said bands T-shirts and seemed to shrink as their reception grew worse and worse. Suddenly this huge hulking man was asking him what band was on his T-shirt and calling them 'faggy'. Maybe by doing so, this guy's ego inflated just a fraction, or perhaps his genitalia grew an inch, but all I saw was some great big bloke undermiming a young lad's masculinity because of his music tastes. Personally I didn't like the band either, but would never dream of insulting someone, or putting someone down because of their taste in music. Maybe this lad wasn't a 'real man', maybe he had a prosthetic willy.
The definition of a man includes every single man out there whether he be thin, or fat, muscular or not, a rugby player or a ballerina, a 'hipster' or a 'chav', gay or straight. All we can conclude is that there is only one type of man- a man.
Ten responses to the phrase 'Man Up'
http://feministing.com/2012/02/09/ten-responses-to-the-phrase-man-up/*Taken from the wise words of Carlton Banks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOY9CbIK9zk
No comments:
Post a Comment