Mind Over Muscle By Rebecca Walker Analysis
Many people can agree that females have the hard life, but many people do not think about how tough the life of a male can be. In society, for many years, there has been a stereotype that females have little to no advantages, while males have many. No one really stops to think that while women deal with the phrase “like a girl”, men deal with the phrase “be a man”. Social expectations have forced men into rigid gender roles that have limited their ability to express themselves and restricted their behaviors to those only regarded as socially acceptable for men.
Even though women are often looked at as the underprivileged gender, men also have struggles of their own growing up. Being an adolescent in the body of a male is very difficult as Rebecca Walker described in her essay, “Putting Down the Gun”, as her son struggles to “fit in” in his middle school. She says “...I would have to devote to ensuring that my son’s true self would not be entirely snuffed out by the cultural imperative”. In society, many are consumed by its expectations and what it wants them to think. As a mother, Walker has to ensure her son does not change who he is for the …show more content…
other’s likings. This goes to show that even though women are often seen as the ones who change themselves for society, men also have to meet certain expectation so that women will like them. Paul Theroux says, “Even the expression “Be a man!” strikes me as insulting and abusive. It means: Be stupid, be unfeeling,obedient, soldierly and stop thinking”. Society is creating robots of men rather than allowing them to wear their heart’s on their sleeves and show their true expressions; whether they are feelings of love, pain, anger, fear, or sadness.
Furthermore, males are often expected to be “tough”, but this is taken as being immune to any sorts of feelings. Often times the term “boy” and “man” have two different connotations. A “boy” is seen as someone that is weak, immature, and vulnerable; however, a “man” is perceived as someone who is strong, tough, and unsympathetic. Gretel Ehrlich explains in “About Men”, “It’s not toughness, but “toughing it out” that counts”. Here, Ehrlich explains that men do not show who they are by being masculine and tough but instead how they handle difficult situations that they face. Whether they are compassionate or unsympathetic, vulnerable or invulnerable, strong or weak, it all defines them as a being human. However, the way society defines genders is very contradicting. Society says to “be a man!”, but if a male is insensitive, he is a terrible person and this way male will never be able to please society. In addition, in “Mind Over Muscle”, David Brooks talks about how in the past, the stereotypical physically strong man was important because that was what a man’s profession called for.
During most of America’s history, the men were the ones working on farms, steel mills, construction sites, and other jobs that required manual labour. They had to be physically strong for their jobs, so this idea of a man’s “manliness” being defined by physical courage and strength actually makes sense. However, Brooks noted that in today’s world, this physical strength is not vital. Looking at the education system, it became obvious that a man’s physical strength is not of significance anymore. There are 133 female graduates in college per every 100 male. Colleges are now in favor of women, with the average being 60% women and 40%
men.
Mending this problem of how society has defined masculinity is not an easy task. However, small steps can go a long way. Males need to know that it is okay to show their emotions and express themselves. This way boys will feel less pressured to behave a certain way and live up to an impossible expectation that society has set up. In Ehrlich’s article, he talked about how a cowboy has been thought of as physically courageous, when in reality, they are “compassionate and kind-hearted; Instead of the macho, trigger-happy man our culture has perversely wanted him to be, the cowboy is more apt to be convivial, quirky, and softhearted. To be "tough" on a ranch has nothing to do with conquests and displays of power.” This is what little boys need to be taught.
Even though women are often looked at as the underprivileged gender, men also have struggles of their own growing up. Being an adolescent in the body of a male is very difficult as Rebecca Walker described in her essay, “Putting Down the Gun”, as her son struggles to “fit in” in his middle school. She says “...I would have to devote to ensuring that my son’s true self would not be entirely snuffed out by the cultural imperative”. In society, many are consumed by its expectations and what it wants them to think. As a mother, Walker has to ensure her son does not change who he is for the …show more content…
other’s likings. This goes to show that even though women are often seen as the ones who change themselves for society, men also have to meet certain expectation so that women will like them. Paul Theroux says, “Even the expression “Be a man!” strikes me as insulting and abusive. It means: Be stupid, be unfeeling,obedient, soldierly and stop thinking”. Society is creating robots of men rather than allowing them to wear their heart’s on their sleeves and show their true expressions; whether they are feelings of love, pain, anger, fear, or sadness.
Furthermore, males are often expected to be “tough”, but this is taken as being immune to any sorts of feelings. Often times the term “boy” and “man” have two different connotations. A “boy” is seen as someone that is weak, immature, and vulnerable; however, a “man” is perceived as someone who is strong, tough, and unsympathetic. Gretel Ehrlich explains in “About Men”, “It’s not toughness, but “toughing it out” that counts”. Here, Ehrlich explains that men do not show who they are by being masculine and tough but instead how they handle difficult situations that they face. Whether they are compassionate or unsympathetic, vulnerable or invulnerable, strong or weak, it all defines them as a being human. However, the way society defines genders is very contradicting. Society says to “be a man!”, but if a male is insensitive, he is a terrible person and this way male will never be able to please society. In addition, in “Mind Over Muscle”, David Brooks talks about how in the past, the stereotypical physically strong man was important because that was what a man’s profession called for.
During most of America’s history, the men were the ones working on farms, steel mills, construction sites, and other jobs that required manual labour. They had to be physically strong for their jobs, so this idea of a man’s “manliness” being defined by physical courage and strength actually makes sense. However, Brooks noted that in today’s world, this physical strength is not vital. Looking at the education system, it became obvious that a man’s physical strength is not of significance anymore. There are 133 female graduates in college per every 100 male. Colleges are now in favor of women, with the average being 60% women and 40%
men.
Mending this problem of how society has defined masculinity is not an easy task. However, small steps can go a long way. Males need to know that it is okay to show their emotions and express themselves. This way boys will feel less pressured to behave a certain way and live up to an impossible expectation that society has set up. In Ehrlich’s article, he talked about how a cowboy has been thought of as physically courageous, when in reality, they are “compassionate and kind-hearted; Instead of the macho, trigger-happy man our culture has perversely wanted him to be, the cowboy is more apt to be convivial, quirky, and softhearted. To be "tough" on a ranch has nothing to do with conquests and displays of power.” This is what little boys need to be taught.