Introduction
One of the most prominent and probably the most transparent categories in the society is gender. Both the males and females play significant roles in the society and they are are defined by the nature of responsibilities and social obligations that each gender undertakes. Aaron Devor, the author of “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” and Reihan Salam, the author of “The Death of Macho” have illustrated gender in contrasting ways. One author believes that the time of male dominance has to come to an end while the other one describes gender as an identity that establishes role in the society.
Devor and Salam’s writings can be compared on the grounds of similarities of subject. First, Devor talks about gender in general and described masculinity as dominant characteristics of the male gender. On the other hand, Salam similarly focuses on masculinity and how it is slowly diminishing in the modern era. There is an apparent contradicting nature to their writings in terms of describing the male gender. Devor emphasizes the masculinity as characterized by dominance and aggression (Devor 530), while in Salam’s writing; Masculinity is no longer in dominance because of the notion of gender equality in the modern society (Salam 631).
In terms of approach to the context of gender, Devor believes that equality is not always apparent on both genders the development of one’s self constitutes different impacts to each individuals (Devor 531). On the other hand Salam s is greatly convinced that men are losing grip of their dominance in the society due to economic reasons (Salam 629). However, the two authors appear to have different anticipation of the male gender dominance because according to Devor the popular conception of masculinity involves hierarchical appraisals. Therefore, there is no such thing as dominant gender. In contrast, Salam emphasizes the effect of globalization, which has the power to shift the dominant characteristic between genders. Recessions put large number of males out of employment, thus opening new opportunities for the females.
The two authors obviously has similar subject of discussion, but the difference is that Devor focuses on both male and female genders as equally essential to the society. Meanwhile, Salam’s writings indicate the presence of inequality because there would not be a shift or a fading statute of “macho” nature of the male gender if male and female were already equal from the beginning. In a more contrasting rationale, Devor suggests that masculinity requires self and social organization in a hierarchical way to achieve success and that success require’s aggressive behavior and competitiveness, which only the male gender can demonstrate (Devor 533). Salam’s writings contradict this perception because according to him, males cannot own gender dominance due to the fact that the economic factor also impacts gender dominance. Therefore, females can also achieve success without showing aggressive characteristics.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the works of Devor and Salam shares the same contextual perception of gender. Similarities include roles and fundamental understanding of male dominance in the society. However, conflicting ideas refutes each other’s arguments for the reason that the author’s notion of equality is not the same. For instance, Devor believes that all genders are equal, while Salam thinks they are not. This is due to the fact that Devor’s argument is based on the tenets of hierarchal appraisal of genders, while Salam’s argument were drawn from analyzing the effect of economic factor that impacts dominance.
Works Cited
Devor, Aaron H. "Becoming members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender." Rereading America. 8th ed. New York, USA: Bedford/st Martins, 2010. 527-536. Print.
Salam, Reinan. "The Death of Macho." Rereading America m. 8th ed. New York, USA: Bedford/st Martins, 2010. 629-636. Print.
