Fight Club Masculinity
Moreover, the men accurately show off what it means to be a man by joining the fight club. The men have gained the perception that to show off as a man, they get to feel the true sense of being. This has caused the men to think that if they are part of the fight club, they are following the correct meaning of manliness. The fight club has become a place for the men to let out their anger. As it all began with Tyler asking the narrator “to hit [him] as hard as [he] can,” it led to the expansion of their fight club (Palahniuk 46). When this occurred, both men realized that they enjoy the concept of fighting. Shortly later, they brought many men out to the fight club who had the same mindset of wanting to fight. For instance, the men in the fight
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club believe that to be a man, they need to fight against others to claim their strength and power. This has caused the men to overthink the stereotypes as they are only doing so to fit the stereotype of manliness. James Craine and Sturat C.
Aitken recognize how “the crisis of masculinity…suggests that men seek reassurance that other men think misanthropic thoughts” (290). This means that the fight club has caused the men to believe that they need reassurance as to whether they fit the characteristics of masculinity. Fight club is very different from the social life as “guys [who] are in fight club [are] not who they are in the real world” (Palahniuk 49). This demonstrates how the men change completely when they come to fight club, as they become a different person. It appears to be that the men want to show off their masculinity in front of other males, but act as normal beings who do not feel the need to show off in the public. Matt Jordan expresses how “fight club was set against an aesthetic or cosmetic masculinity, in which one’s appearance is objectified like an attractively packaged commodity” (377). Fight club has also become the place where males do not have to work out elsewhere such as go to the fitness center. As the gyms “are crowded with guys trying to look like men,” fight club becomes a place where males are displaying what it means to look like men. By being part of the fight club, the men believe that they are showing what it truly means to be a
man.
club believe that to be a man, they need to fight against others to claim their strength and power. This has caused the men to overthink the stereotypes as they are only doing so to fit the stereotype of manliness. James Craine and Sturat C.
Aitken recognize how “the crisis of masculinity…suggests that men seek reassurance that other men think misanthropic thoughts” (290). This means that the fight club has caused the men to believe that they need reassurance as to whether they fit the characteristics of masculinity. Fight club is very different from the social life as “guys [who] are in fight club [are] not who they are in the real world” (Palahniuk 49). This demonstrates how the men change completely when they come to fight club, as they become a different person. It appears to be that the men want to show off their masculinity in front of other males, but act as normal beings who do not feel the need to show off in the public. Matt Jordan expresses how “fight club was set against an aesthetic or cosmetic masculinity, in which one’s appearance is objectified like an attractively packaged commodity” (377). Fight club has also become the place where males do not have to work out elsewhere such as go to the fitness center. As the gyms “are crowded with guys trying to look like men,” fight club becomes a place where males are displaying what it means to look like men. By being part of the fight club, the men believe that they are showing what it truly means to be a
man.