Manhood in America

Destany Johnson
Professor Smith
English 100
12 November 2012
Man Hood in America
Manhood is the state or status of being a man. Young men today range from being weak to silly and immature. As children young men are taught to be a certain way like if there are to parents in the household the mother can teach him how to treat a lady or some womanly things and the father can teach him manly things like sports, how to throw or catch a ball, how to play sports, and how to fix a car. Denae argues about the “metrosexual movement” which is a man who is in touch with his feminine side. Young men have to unlearn certain things they learned from the world before they can learn the right way. Some young men you are more feminine than other guys are probably raised by only women because their fathers were not there so they would have to work at masculinity even more. Men who act feminine get made fun of a lot in high-school or in life. For guys it is not cool for a man to be or act feminine. A Misconception of manhood creates confusion to be a black man in America because men are raised to be tough and expected to do manly things.
Some misconceptions of manhood are wrong teaching. Young men who are taught wrong or raised by their mothers are raised differently. Young men have to unlearn certain things they may have picked up in the world before they can learn the right way. Like the men who make fun of gay guys because they are different or the men who go around saying “that is gay.” The men who are raised by woman are different; men who do not have a father figure in their lives will have to work at masculinity even more. Some may act more feminine because they don’t have a father there to teach them to be a man. A father is supposed to teach his son to be a man and teach him to do manly things like how to catch and play sports and how to shave.
Some other common misconceptions of manhood are real men are tough; they do not cry, real men do not let people tell them what to do or men are better than woman. Manhood is the opposite of boyhood —not the opposite of womanhood. You become a real man when you leave behind the traits of a child. People say lack of a father figure means that you could make the same mistakes he did or you will never understand what it means to be a man. Men that have had a less-than-ideal childhood can rise above their circumstances. It can be difficult to grow up with an inattentive father or no father at all. Most families are split so this means that the mother is often left to raise the kids alone. Some young men do not have a good example of a father figure in their lives due to a variety of circumstances.
As children men are taught to be the man of the house and take care of the family. Like in the 1960’s the woman stayed home and took care of the kids and cooked and cleaned while the husband went to work and mad all of the money. It is different now days because the woman does that to and some men do not work and they stay home. A man should also have character like knowing right from wrong even in the face of pressure and temptations. Character is also revealed through a man’s actions so it defines who he is. What it takes to be a real man is for him to take control of his life and not be like other people who are “just along for the ride” or act like their friends just to fit in. a man should show good judgment in all areas of life which means he cannot be indecisive. Most young men do not care and they just go with the flow
True manhood is having a purpose in life meaning he should have long and short term goals and when he figures that out then if he wants to have a family then he should prepare to lead a home and care for his wife and kids so that means he should learn to be a gentleman. In America it is a struggle to be a real man because you have to follow a lot of rules like a man should be able to win fights because if you do not win then your considered soft. The struggle for manhood is riddled with obstacles of social myth, and uncertain blundering. The circumstances surrounding this type of transformation vary significantly between cultures, but in the end, when a boy truly feels that his actions at all times will affect his life forever, he will man up. This realization is not always found easily, and sometimes not at all. Because of incorrect notions about the habits of men, many youths are lead into a false sense of manliness which hinders them in their quest to make the leap to adulthood.