Canadian Masculinity and Its Portrayal in Various News Channels

This essay delves into the multifaceted portrayal of masculinity within Canadian news media, analyzing articles from various publications like the National Post, The Globe and Mail, and Huffington Post. The analysis explores diverse perspectives on masculinity, including hegemonic and toxic masculinity, and how these concepts are reflected in discussions about gender roles, societal expectations, and the experiences of men in Canada. The essay examines topics such as the impact of traditional gender roles on young Canadians, the challenges faced by men in various fields, and the evolving definitions of masculinity in contemporary society. The author references multiple articles to provide a comprehensive overview of how Canadian news outlets frame masculinity, highlighting the complexities and contradictions inherent in these representations. The essay also considers the intersection of masculinity with issues like homophobia, violence, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in Canada, providing a nuanced understanding of masculinity's role in Canadian society.

Running Head: CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN
NEWS
Canadian view of Masuclinity and its portrayal in News
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1CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
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

2CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
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.

3CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
In the Opinion section of The Globe and The Mail, Jamil Jivani tries understand
whether the prime minister of Canada can actually understand the concept of masculinity.
Justin Trudeau has put forth an admirable attempt to demonstrate he is the women's activist
Prime Minister (Jivani, 2018). He has reliably flagged his duty to woman's rights in the
organization of his bureau and in his arrangement of economic accords. Be that as it may, the
Prime Minister's depiction (that was extremely negative) of manliness at the Group of 20
summit held in Argentina is upsetting, in light of the fact that it uncovers a limited
comprehension of the lives of Canadians (Jivani, 2018).
Critics of Mr Trudeau have focused on limitedness of his announcement that concerns
the sexual orientation impacts of development labourers who identify themselves as males in
country zones. The Prime Minister's Office asserted his words were being taken outside of
any relevant connection to the issue at hand. Be that as it may, more setting doesn't refute the
Prime Minister's faultfinders (Jivani, 2018).
Conno Garel in Huffington Post writes about the growing number of male dancers in
the National ballet school. However male ballet artists are regularly tormented and derided.
In spite of the fact that men in the expressive dance world improve, monetarily, than ladies,
that does not implay the absence of social powers which demoralize them from setting foot
on the field by any stretch of the imagination (Garel, 2016).
“Every argument that shames men for wearing too-feminine skinny jeans assumes
that women aren't an important part of our society worth equal treatment (Mizera, 2016).” -is
what the popular opinion of the public when it comes to establishing masculinity with the
help of clothes and outward appearance- writes, Nicholas Mizera, the Editor of Huffpost
Canada. (Mizera, 2016).

4CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
The regularly ridiculed image of enlivening included the presentation - or, even more
precisely, renewal- of thin jean made specifically for men. The kickback was not only quick,
but also focused on the whole on the thin thought of being a "genuine" man.
Derek Abma talks about traditional gender roles that many Canadians prefer to follow
in his article for National Post. Youthful Canadians are hauling around some sexual
orientation generalizations that appear to be more in accordance with what their folks or
grandparents may have thought, another worldwide examination recommends (Abma, 2011).
The report, discharged Thursday by the improvement organization Plan International,
discovered 31 percent of Canadian young men matured 12 to 17 accept a lady's most
significant job is taking care of her family and dealing with the home. That contrasted with
15 percent of young men in the United Kingdom, yet well shy of 73 percent in India and 68
percent in Rwanda, who addressed a similar way (Abma, 2011). At the point when the
inquiry was posed of Canadian grown-ups, 24 percent concurred that a lady's essential job
ought to be in the home (Abma, 2011).
The Globe and Mail’s Opinion section indulges in a discussion about the toxic
masculinity and its effect on men. It questions that traditional definition of masculinity and
holds society responsible for the manifestation of it. Margaret Wente highlights why reason
behind the responsible figure of committing violence in the society as she upholds the
definition of traditional masculinity which is needs someone to be stoic, competitive,
dominant, and aggressive. She also critique the lack of discussion of the American
Psychological Association on the evolution of masculinity. It ignores the presence of any
positive side of being a man such as leadership qualities, being courageous, enduring,
sacrificing etc. (Wente, 2019).

5CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
R.M. Vaughan, a Canadian writer based in Toronto talks about the living conditions
of gay men in the reality which is extremely homophobic in his article ‘Gay men in Canada
live with daily violence unimaginable to straight people’. The Opinion section of The Globe
and Mail has always been filled with extremely significant topics which needs to be voiced to
the public. Canada is known to the entire world as a country that is liberal, and educated with
an extremely open mind to the LGBTQ community (Vaughan, 2018). Vaughan however
portrays an ugly picture which shows the other side of the story- the old-fashioned
homophobia is very much a thriving reality in Canada.
Lastly, in National Post’s Special Edition, Jay Hamilton addresses the issues of
redefining masculinity by keeping the focus on Canadian Literature. Presently consider the
ongoing flood in youthful creators distributing accounts of men acting gravely (Hamilton,
2016). Naben Ruthnum, champ of the Journey Prize, consistently adds on to Canada's
scholarly magazines, stories of little league hoodlums and liars. Debris, a short story by
Kevin Hardcastle showed an assortment fixated on unemotional, sporadically fierce men, as
of late which won Trillium Award (Hamilton, 2016). In March, Hamilton surveyed Andrew
F. Sullivan's Waste, his work based on two butcher shop representatives got up to speed in
the intrigues of sorted out wrongdoing. What's more, Kris Bertin, whose story assortment,
Bad Things Happen, centers around life at the edges of society, is one of CBC Books' Writers
to Watch in 2016.

6CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
Reference
Abma, D. (2011). Many Canadian youths believe in old-fashion gender roles: study. National
Post. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/many-
canadian-youths-believe-in-old-fashion-gender-roles-study.
Garel, C. (2019). Canada's National Ballet School Makes History With Mostly Male Grad
Class. Huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canadas-national-ballet-
boys_ca_5d83e575e4b0849d47262d89?utm_hp_ref=ca-homophobia.
Giese, R. (2019). Toxic masculinity harmful for women and really, really bad for me.
National Post. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/toxic-masculinity-harmful-for-women-and-
really-really-bad-for-me.
Hamilton, J. (2016). Redefining masculinity in Canadian literature: Men can still be
knuckleheads, but don’t have to be Neanderthals. National Post. Retrieved 21 March
2020, from https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/books/redefining-masculinity-in-
canadian-literature-men-can-still-be-knuckleheads-but-dont-have-to-be-neanderthals.
Jivani, J. (2018). Does our feminist Prime Minister truly understand masculinity?. The Globe
and Mail. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-does-our-feminist-prime-minister-
truly-understand-masculinity/.
Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and
Society, 19(6), 829-859.

7CANADIAN VIEW OF MASUCLINITY AND ITS PORTRAYAL IN NEWS
Mizera, N. (2016). It's Ridiculous We're Still Shaming Men For Wearing Skinny Jeans.
Huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/nicholas-mizera/skinny-jeans-men_b_12314852.html?
utm_hp_ref=ca-homophobia.
Thompson Jr, E. H., & Pleck, J. H. (1995). Masculinity ideologies: A review of research
instrumentation on men and masculinities.
Vaughan, R. (2018). Gay men in Canada live with daily violence unimaginable to straight
people. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 March 2020, from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/gay-men-in-canada-live-with-daily-
violence-unimaginable-to-straight-people/article37920392/.
Wente, M. (2019). It’s official: Traditional masculinity is sick, sick, sick. The Globe and
Mail. Retrieved 22 March 2020, from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-its-official-traditional-masculinity-
is-sick-sick-sick/.