Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

guy code

Good Essays
1144 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
guy code
Guy code is basically a way of life where you act like you constantly know what you are doing specially when you don’t.

Bros before Hos
In Michael Kimmel essay Bros before Hos: The Guy Code talks about what being a man means. To many young men now they believe it means men don't cry, don't show feelings, don't ask for directions, don't give in, don't show fear. All these don't s man should not do.36 years ago being a "man" meant pretty much the same thing. Man act the way they act not to impress women but they do it because they want to be accepted by other men. Men see women as property, something they need to have to show off to other men. Men do not see women equal to them
A guys manhood is the most important thing to them. Eminem was asked why he uses the word faggot so often in his raps and he answered, " The lowest thing you can say to a man...is to call him a faggot. Faggot means taking away your manhood." (pg. 612) Many man may have homophobia but do not even know it. Homophobia is the fear of man, that they will think of another man as a failure. Homosexuality is not manly and most man want to be considered manly not homosexual. Most men stay in the " im a man" box because if they step out of that box than other men would be mean to them. Not only mean but they will get teased for life it would not be the same for them. They would feel lonely and because of that loneliness they might fall into depression and want to kill themselves or the ones that are bugging them. Many men take risk too prove their manhood by exposing themselves too risks. That is why men " drink too much, drive too fast, and play chicken in a multitude of dangerous venues." (pg.614).
Being a man starts very early in a boys life, there is also a boys code that all little boys need to follow so their guy friends can accept them. The pressure of being a boy/man comes at a very early age. Boys are told not to cry and to not be a sissy. Boys are taught to not cry and not show any type of emotions. The boy code tells boys to act tough but their mothers show them the complete opposite. That is why many boys disconnect themselves from their mothers because they do not want to learn about girl things. Many get angry and violent because they think is the only emotions they can show. " No wonder boys drop out of school, are diagnosed as emotionally disturbed four times more than girls, and get into fights twice as often." (pg616) Boys get into much more trouble and have more pressure beucase they need to show their boys and not girls. The boy code/guy code puts a lot of pressure into boys/guys on becoming a man, pressure they really do not need.

Men in this society have unwritten rules and expectations that they generally follow whether consciously or not. In his essay, “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code, Michael Kimmel discusses the exact unwritten rules that most males follow on a daily basis. Of these rules, number 1 is: “No Sissy Stuff! Being a man means not being a sissy, not being perceived as weak, effeminate, or gay” (609). American society tends to believe that anybody that expresses emotion is being effeminate or weak. Even worse, a man could be viewed by his peers as homosexual. Kimmel explains the great fear that men have of being viewed as gay, “[h]omophobia- the fear that people might misperceive you as gay- is the animating fear of American guys’ masculinity. It’s [...] what drives the fear that other guys will see you as weak, unmanly, frightened” (613). Fear is the basis for internalizing ones emotions. This means that expressing ones emotions can make them feel very vulnerable. The truth is is that everybody has similar feelings at some point or another, they just deal with them in different ways. Some can easily express that they feel sad or hurt, but these people are usually viewed as girly. Therefore, if a man wants to be a man, he can’t show that he has these feelings. We have a great fear of being judged negatively by our male peers and this is a large problem for the expression of emotions in our patriarchal society. Kimmel says, “[o]ur peers are a kind of ‘gender police,‘ always waiting for us to screw up” (612). Guys aren’t scared of what girls think but rather what other guys think. They are the critics that matter because they have the power to judge and humiliate. Emotional suppression can have huge negative effects in many aspects of a persons well-being along with the well being of their surroundings.
Men in this society have unwritten rules and expectations that they generally follow whether consciously or not. In his essay, “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code, Michael Kimmel discusses the exact unwritten rules that most males follow on a daily basis. Of these rules, number 1 is: “No Sissy Stuff! Being a man means not being a sissy, not being perceived as weak, effeminate, or gay” (609). American society tends to believe that anybody that expresses emotion is being effeminate or weak. Even worse, a man could be viewed by his peers as homosexual. Kimmel explains the great fear that men have of being viewed as gay, “[h]omophobia- the fear that people might misperceive you as gay- is the animating fear of American guys’ masculinity. It’s [...] what drives the fear that other guys will see you as weak, unmanly, frightened” (613). Fear is the basis for internalizing ones emotions. This means that expressing ones emotions can make them feel very vulnerable. The truth is is that everybody has similar feelings at some point or another, they just deal with them in different ways. Some can easily express that they feel sad or hurt, but these people are usually viewed as girly. Therefore, if a man wants to be a man, he can’t show that he has these feelings. We have a great fear of being judged negatively by our male peers and this is a large problem for the expression of emotions in our patriarchal society. Kimmel says, “[o]ur peers are a kind of ‘gender police,‘ always waiting for us to screw up” (612). Guys aren’t scared of what girls think but rather what other guys think. They are the critics that matter because they have the power to judge and humiliate. Emotional suppression can have huge negative effects in many aspects of a persons well-being along with the well being of their surroundings.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    to be brutal, to never cry, to be a “manly” man. Females grow to realize that they are expected to…

    • 1551 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lab Report

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the article “How Boys Become Men”, written by John Katz, he analyzes situations he experienced while growing up. Katz believes that boys become men by not showing fear or feelings and not ratting on others. As in the novel, The Other Wes Moore, both Weses are forced to become men at an early age. They experience events that push them to make decisions that make them grow and think like men do. Katz details the maturation process for boys, as the book, The Other Wes Moore, does with both Weses. They make decisions and take actions to mature and become a men.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Men are really hard, they have the power to keep everything inside, they most of the time keep their secrets and trust nobody and they do not share their ideas and fears. Because once they do, they would feel like they…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Manhood in western societies is pre-programmed, pre-packaged and forced-fed to boys from birth to adulthood. Historically the puriest example of a real man was the military standard. Military manliness dictates that a man must be strong, both physically and mentally, a man must be unfeeling and must be loyal to their fellow commrades. Men must show a certain level of respect for women but never acknowledge them as equal.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe its something that we are trying to get rid of, but fail to do so because we have so many different conflicting viewpoints on how we want and think men should act. We say we want them to open up and express their emotions, but turn around and call them pussies or punks because they are crying. We say we don’t want men to be violent, but most women want a man to fight for them. If a man just walks away from a fight, we say he was scared when in reality he is just being the bigger person. In Bell Hooks feminism is for everybody, she explains why men are holding on to their masculinity saying that we are a society of “domination”. She says “Cultures of domination attack self-esteem, replacing it with a notion that we derive our sense of being from domination over one another” (pg.…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Exploring the construction of hegemonic masculinity, we go through a contradicting state of the definition of manhood. Although contradictions appear, it is socially adapted and able to reside without conflict. Take manhood as this, “We think of manhood as a transcendent tangible property that each man must manifest in the world” (Kimmel, 1994). Meaning that manhood is merely an idea which is drilled into a man’s head by society, “Gender, we said, was an achieved status” (West and Zimmerman, 2015) in other terms, manhood is a socially agreed upon idealization of how men should act or who they should be. In West and Zimmerman’s “Doing Gender”, Hegemonic masculinity is accomplished by the unavoidable categories of sex and gender and ways we act upon them; collaborating together in a socially constructed standard of how to be.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Man Box

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “People change for two main reasons, either their mind has opened, or their heart have been broken”, quotation.com. Tony Porter in his ted talk “A Call to Men”, states some facts what men use to believe into and he also defines the definitions of “Man Box” and what it means to them. Some men believe that they are superior and women are interior, because “women are objects to men, especially sexual objects” and how this problem leads the two genders in bigger conflicts in our society. These are the statements that some kids were taught by their parents to follow because of their “Man Box”.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bros Before Hos Analysis

    • 1857 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In the modern society, men are defined by their actions and personality they reveal to the public. In “Boy,” the coach says to the boy “We do not show any emotions.” The social concept demands men to hide their feelings, because over the past generations this is the dogmatic characteristic has corresponded with males. In “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code” the author states “The Boy Code leaves boys disconnected from a wide range of emotions and prohibited from sharing those feelings with others” (Kimmel 548). In essence, men should not provide any emotions, because they will be going against societies expectations. Furthermore, this could lead to emotional illnesses. In “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code” by Kimmel, the author states “boys are more prone to depression, suicidal behavior, and various other forms of out-of-control behavior” (548). In other words, not showing emotions causes boys from a young age to develop illnesses. Additionally, crying is a form of emotion that men are prohibited to…

    • 1857 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Masculinity In Canada

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Geoffrey Canada wrote in his book Reaching up for Manhood, "The image of male as strong is mixed with the image of male as violent. Male as virile gets mixed with male as promiscuous. Males as intelligent often gets mixed with male as arrogant, racist, and sexist." In this way many people define the masculinity and try to conform boys in these stereotypes which negative influence on boy’s development and behaviors. This image of masculinity started in antiquity and is still predominate in our days. Gender roles are distributed when babies are born by their parents then by the society. All these roles restrict men to behave like women and reverse. To have healthy society with healthy men we need to reexamine our attitude on the male education.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Back when the Lord of the flies took place. People were not to chicken to stand up and not be offended by others. Because they were nurtured better. Like they were nurtured to have hearts of steel and bones of iron and weren’t a week person. Emotionally or even physically. During wartime it was appropriate for men to be manly. Or even maybe expected of them to be. So the fact that be boys get more of a manly version is because at home it may have been expected of them and so it might have just kicked in when they landed on the…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Examples Of Social Norms

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many individuals may believe that gender stereotypes and typical norms amongst the sexes are long gone, but these traditional views for both men and women, according to society, are still quite prevalent today. This human experience, that men and women both have specific roles to play in society, has been around since the beginning of time and will most likely continue for decades and centuries to come. Men are viewed, by societies standards, as being strong, dominant (at least more dominant than a women), leaders, and they should always restrain from showing weakness. Ronald Levant, a physiologist, explains in his article Men and Masculinity that men are prone to be raised as their fathers were,…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Growing up in our society and transforming into various norms, values and beliefs, is revolutionary amongst young men and ladies, and today I will specifically focus on young men. My little brother is 12 years old, he is already expected to “act like a man” or “man up”, and He will be told to show no weakness. This kind of advice will hinder my brother from becoming a “true man”. According to tough guys 2 by Jackson, Katz 86% of armed robberies are committed by men, 77% of aggravated assaults are committed by men, 87% of stalkers are men, 86% of domestic violence incidents resulting in physical injury are perpetrated by men, 99% of rapes are committed by men, Men commit approximately 90% of murder, and over the past 30 years, 61 of the last 62 mass…

    • 1962 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    True Women and Real Men

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages

    True women and real men are only the image that children have been brought up to become as they grow. Little boys aren’t always hardwired to like only dinosaurs and trains. This is just the same as how girls don’t necessarily choose to play with dolls. Even colors such as blue and pink are made to be associated for specific genders at an early age. The concept is just a grouping of stereotypical male and female characteristics that don’t necessarily always apply to individuals in either gender. Examples include such statements as that men must not show emotion and that men believe the most important thing is sex. Masculinity is also thought to be displayed by a man who is able to provide for his family by holding a job and excelling at a profession. However, a hate of having to commit and to always act tough in all situations isn‘t in all male genes. Sometimes men in many cases actually greatly value a woman’s loyalty. A female can be independent and successful without a husband or any other men in her life. They take up jobs and strive…

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Society

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The phrase, “let the boys be boys.” before, is often repeated by parents regarding their sons. So what makes a boy, a boy? Bulging muscles? G.I. Joe like characteristics? Short hair? Wearing blue? Boys must learn what boys and men like, what they do, and even how they think and feel. Men are encouraged to act tough, strong, aggressive, and show no weakness. According to this…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Male and Female Psychology

    • 2434 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Note: These notes are based on varies internet searches and books. This does not by any means cover every aspect of the male psychology, not does it refer to every single male out there. Each gender has a variety to adopt and express themselves, but the general idea remains. This is what was meant to be portrayed in these notes.…

    • 2434 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics