Canadian View of Masuclinity and Its Portrayal in News

Running Head: CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN
NEWS
Canadian view of Masuclinity and its portrayal in News
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CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS1
When it comes to detecting a pattern of masculinity, historians and anthropologists
have not been able to find one coherent pattern. Various cultures have come up with different
histories, and hence have constructed masculinity is various ways. Hence, the construct of
masculinity is different for different cultures, from one moment in history to another. It is
also surprising to know that even within a single culture, there are various versions and
meanings of masculinity. For example, the concept is not identical in the West in comparison
to that of the West. Countries such as the United States, France, and the UK consider
homosexuality as another version of masculinity, which in various Arabian countries are
considered to be a complete rejection of the concept of being masculine (Thompson Jr &
Pleck, 1995).
Hence, according to the argument put forth by R.W. Connell, there is no uniform
concept of masculinity that is found in the course of history, and is uniform for every culture,
religion, race as well as social class. From the multifaceted definition of genders, masculinity
as a concept too has gained various dimensions. Connell says- “Knowledge about
masculinities has developed very rapidly over the past two decades and the accomplishments
of researchers in the field are considerable, with new methods, new topics and investigation
and new groups being studied (Thompson Jr & Pleck, 1995).”
Men have been the focus of studies since a long time and there are three models based
on which the governing social scientific theories and their research on men and masculinity.
The first model involves biological models where researchers have concluded that the
differences in men and women in terms of their biological evolution has resulted in the
formation of difference in social behavior (Thompson Jr & Pleck, 1995). Second model is
from the anthropologist’s point of view which has examined masculinity from the dimension
of cross-culture and has put stress on the variation as well as similarities in behavior that is
usually associated with that of a man. The third model is known to be the sociological sex

CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS2
model- it stresses on the importance of men and women’s socialization as per their sexual
roles that are rooted in their biological sexes (Thompson Jr & Pleck, 1995).
Just like many other terms, masculinity and being masculine is difficult in terms of
their definition. It underwent further changes in the second half of the 20th century when
being masculine meant the ways a society accepted a man. At present, hegemonic
masculinity is the most studied form of masculinity which Connell defines as “... the
configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the
problem of legitimacy of patriarchy which guarantees (or is taken guarantee) the dominant
position of men and the subordination of women (Messerschmidt, 2005)”. Connell also
claims that it is up to women to dismantle this hegemonic structure in order to defy the
domination of men over women.
National Post on May 2019 in an interview with Rachel Giese, writes about the
possibility that young men will be young men continues. A portion of our thoughts about kid
culture can be very hazardous, similar to when we accept that viciousness, preliminaries,
tormenting and pitilessness are simply commonplace kid conduct or a characteristic soul
changing experience into every single male condition, similar to brotherhoods or groups
(Giese, 2019). That reasoning standardizes destructive conduct and lets young men free when
they hurt others. Furthermore, for the exploited people at St. Michael's, other alarming
thoughts about manliness likewise become an integral factor, similar to the conviction that
"young men don't cry" and "narks get lines (Giese, 2019)." Those convictions, that young
men shouldn't exhibit defencelessness or portray any expression of hurt- young men should
never take a stand in opposition to their gathering, imply that unfortunate casualties are
reluctant to request help for dread that they will appear to be unmanly or not steadfast.