English
My earliest childhood memories are mostly devoid of color, except for one. Pink. That was what I was surrounded with as a child. That was the color of my first notebook, my schoolbag, and my pencil case. The color pink was something that was to determine the course of my life to come. A part of this present notion dates back to antiquity, men have been called hunters and women have been assigned the role of homemakers. Apparently, Walt Disney seems to agree to it. Father's hunting in the forest, mother's cooking in the home is a rhyming tune that lingers on in the mind of many who grew up watching cartoon shows in the 90's. In particular, The Jungle Book, a Disney classic, depicting a young girl pleasantly reciting the said lines.
The precedent for such prescribed gender roles started to become ever so clear over the coming years, in particular, due to being raised in a semi-conservative household, my parents being of Asian descent only helped the said cause. It appeared as if the female identity had to conform to performing specific tasks, setting table for meals, doing laundry. In contrast, the male members of the family were charged with the duty of conducting more arduous assignments, such as shoveling snow, hauling garbage bags, repairing broken fixtures and once in a while, opening a jar. These set of predetermined activities predispose the male figure to take the dominant role in life. Even the most humble and modest men are often regarded as saviors and knights in shiny armors within their respective households.
Whether this behavior is a function of one's biology, of being born a male or a female as Steven Goldberg mentioned, or whether the gender profiles are neutral by default and are identified by socialization as discussed by Sigmund Freud appears to be a never ending debate. Whatever be the case the assigned gender stereotypes do affect the defining resolutions of one's life. One of such important aspects of the said notion is gauging the intellectual level and the skill level of people based on sex. I can relate to it in a certain way because the male siblings were expected to have good grades at school, whereas my grades were acceptable as long as I didn't fail miserably at studies. The time worn question of Who is the smarter sex? seems to have stayed unanswered over the decades, however growing up I got the idea of who is deemed the smarter sex through various experiences.
I thought of this gender discrimination behavior a result of the age differences between myself and my brothers. That my brothers being elder didn't need the same structure and discipline that I was subjected to. Later on, I realized it was more due to my biological makeup. I was born female, I was supposed to be submissive and emotional, and hence my parents needed to be more protective of me, and that I could not take care of myself in the real outside world. There were these unseen guidelines that I needed to follow. My keen interest in fishing and hunting was frowned upon, and I was gently reprimanded when I told anyone I want to grow up to become a firefighter or a football player. In my case, such discrimination resulted in a lack of confidence during the earlier years of my life.
A prefix that is commonly used with the word masculinity is hegemonic. To me, this is just a fancy word to justify the dominant social roles of a certain type of men over women and all other forms of gender types, often referred to as feminine. The said roles start to take its effect due to certain social pressures in the early childhood. The gendered toy is an important factor. Boys get toy guns, girls get pretty dolls. Their first exposure to school often includes an introduction to male generic pronouns. One step for man, a giant leap for mankind is not going away anytime soon. During the middle childhood, the masculine gender is increasingly identified with physical aggression and boys tend to arrange themselves according to a certain hierarchy. Having good athletic traits seems to earn a higher rank in the said hierarchy. A common expression of such physical abilities that is socially appropriate is sports, in particular, football. Although I was a fairly skilled athlete at school, my interest in playing football was only limited by the fact that females looked better being spectators, or being a part of the cheerleader group.
It is assumed that people who get into act of bullying basically face immense pressure from the social environment. Boys who don’t perform according to the set standards of masculinity often face being marginalized from the ranks of the social order. Growing up with two brothers I was bullied by my elder brothers when they reached adolescence ahead of me. Being a part of the same family, the issues tend to resolve over time, but the victims at school do suffer lasting psychological damage.
The asserted hegemonic masculinity requires the boys to be somewhat emotionally stoic, this is ingrained in their personality through notions like boys don’t cry. An attitude of complaining about a certain issue is often regarded as girly or nagging. This can lead to an increased risk of insecurity and can have its effect on relationships to come in later life like being a boyfriend a husband or even fatherhood.
Changing the concepts of traditional masculinity is an important step towards gender equality. Only by encouraging males to openly discuss their masculinity at all levels and age groups can improve their impact on the lives of women and all other gender types. The absence of such an approach would increasingly restrict the males to conform to their masculine roles within their respective domains.
