Custom «Manhood in America» Essay Paper

In studying the role of men in America today, various issues are put into the existence. The moment a young person is growing in the American society, various roles are played and these roles determine the view of manhood. It does not matter what equality campaigners say but what matters what roles men play in the society. This paper will serve as the in-depth analysis of the topic to assist its needs and relevant data. The definition of man status, their situation in the past, present and future form of society. From all the facts stated in the sources of this research, I could be able to define, construct, describe, and deconstruct the ideas and perspectives of the literary pieces depending of the society or culture that they are dealing with. It is also important for us to understand how each culture works for their men in their society to combine, compare, and contrast the different perspectives into the American society. In this case, I could be able to defend the thesis of this research. Because there are several different perspectives that lie within the issue of men’s role in the family, the three distinct perspectives that will be tackled here are the sociological, psychological and economic viewpoints. The sociological perspective is important in this topic because men’s role in whatever aspect of their being depends on the sociological point of view. Meanwhile, the psychological perspective is also important because it is the manifestation or effects of the probable reasoning and formation of the society towards the status of the society within their families. Because of this, the role of men in the society will be given a distinct analysis towards the rationales and perceptions of men towards their past, current, and future situations as women of their homes. Lastly, the economic perspective is also an important factor to be discussed in the role of men in their families because of the current struggle of men in the society especially in America for their freedom and equality.

American view of manhood

The role of men in the family is very complex. It is not simple as providing the material needs of the family but an emotional capacity that will provide the family the strength to become better individuals of the society. The sociological perspective of manhood and fatherhood are connected to one another when it comes to the role men as a father to their children. The father is the basic hands and feet of a child to face the world. The men are supposed to perform many activities in the family. The father role consists of providing, caring, protecting and caring for their health, education, character building, etc. It has been said that men and women are the composition of the society but in this formation, men are higher than women in every way. Men dominate women when it comes to power and authority. Men have the capability to go out and enjoy while most women could not. In the traditional perspective towards men and women status are based on their creation. Men will provide for their family while women will nurture the family. Men must be there to support while women are obliged to obtain. It was seen that even if men have the responsibilities women’s role are more complicated and unpredicted in a deeper thought. Men’s role in the family is a combination of sociological, psychological, and economic perspectives in general. “Not only does it provide specific information about the problems involved in the application and manipulation of a number of different legal codes dealing with family roles and relationships, but it throws some light on the evolution of the traditional, patrilineal, patriarchal family in its adaptation to an alien sociopolitical environment (Rassam, 1980).” The trend and pattern of men role depends on the social perspective but also derived the psychological agenda of the people as well as the man’s justification. In this linear connection, the economic perspective emerges in a deeper sense to make the goals, purposes, and obligations of men become more rationalize in the society.

African American manhood

In America, race has remained a major concern for policy makers. The racial gap has remained significantly huge and education reforms that have been geared towards eliminating them have been ineffective. Native Americans and white Americans have continued excelling in higher education, workplace, as compared to their African American and Hispanic counterparts. The intellectual capabilities of these populations are under utilized and the needs of this part of the society remain unattended to. In America this can be attributed to the fact that there is a huge association between these two races and poor social economic status. Their integration into the higher institutions of learning has gone down dramatically since 1967. The prejudice against these two races especially among the blacks is highly visible in the performance of the scholastic aptitude tests which are a prerequisite for major college admission. The number of college admissions into state universities is supposed to reflect the race composition in the population. However, even for universities that are spearheading the fight against racial inequalities like Berkeley, black students comprise 7% of the total students, and yet the population is comprised of more than 12% black Americans. This demonstrates a shortcoming in the college admission procedures (Acemoglu& Robinson, 2004). In a recent study carried out among black and white men, researchers discovered that as opposed to the white men, black men faced more challenges in the completion of their studies. In addition they were less likely to commit to the pursuit if higher education due to the lack of funds caused by lesser wages in the job market. Black and Hispanic communities dominate the poorest neighborhoods in America (NCES, 2005). They attend the poorest schools which are often overcrowded, under funded and have insufficient and at times low quality teachers. In addition to this they are expected to pay for tuition fees as their other counterparts.

Masculinity and feminism

Masculinity and feminism

plays important roles in determining manhood in the society. The moment a young woman reaches a stage that she can bear children, her movement and opportunities could be checked because the family may fear that such a girl might be sexually mistreated. many boys in a lot of societies are brought up with a belief that dominant conduct towards girls is part of showing masculinity. Masculinity conduct normally shows power, vigour and competitiveness. As Hoff-Sommers (2000) explained the meaning of masculinity and femininity differs from one culture to another, he further explains that the meaning can as well vary within the same culture as time goes by. Maybe most significant, the meaning will as well differ among various individual within the same group in a given time. Initially, Hoff-Sommers (1994) had underlined the interrelationships among the definitions of masculinity and femininity and he asserted that definitions of the term masculinity are traditionally reactive to the changing definitions of femininity. The society’s standards of masculinity and femininity clearly exist, but, they might or might not be exhibited in a girl’s individual definition of her femininity or a boy’s individual definition of his masculinity behavior. Young people create their masculine selves through self-reflection where by other individual mostly, peers schools and parents play a central point. Masculinity has got two aspects: power and quality. Power is determined through an individual’s self-reflection. A young person’s effectiveness and attempt to devote time in his hunt for societal resources of masculinity as well as his capacity to use conductive reserves in his attempts. Hoff-Sommers (2000) explain that, masculinity is a fundamental organizing feature of an individual. In a recursive procedure, masculinity is the creation of the self as well as an influence of the self. Young people use masculinity to communicate their behaviors. In order to understand the particular post-modern development of young men we have to comprehend the general system of dynamic advancement of an individual. But, Giddens (1991) explains that, young men can become less emotionally and be less capable of expressing what they are going through as men. However, there are other aspects that create some uncertainties mainly regarding body language which have transverse across the borders of gender. Sometimes young people have hoped that if they could change themselves, for example through dieting or plastic surgery, their youth lives would change immediately. There is a miraculous quality concerning their imaginations as these young people hope that having a small transformation of their appearance, would make their sexual lives much happier. Both young men and women experiencing various pressures the moment they are born, the society has different norms and values that they expect these young people will follow. However, as these young people undergo the adolescence stage they are force to show the masculinity and femininity among both boys and girls. It has been noted by Hanke (1998) that generally; young men are aggressive and show forceful attitudes as their way of experiencing their masculinity. On other hand, young girls are more concerned about their bodies and their take great care about their bodies as a way of showing their femininity. At the same time young women show tenderness and care towards others. But both the boys and girls have got a problem with negotiating this stage. It has been noted that these young people might resort to alcoholism or drugs in order to deal with crises that are associated with stage.

Conclusion

Manhood in the American society is determining d by the roles the man play in the modern society. Through various literatures that have been used in this paper it can be seen that men are leaders, providers, protectors, caretakers and therefore the play a very important role in the society. It is important to note at this stage that even where there are single mothers there is a man behind the scene, who can be the father or plays some roles. It is a significant facts that men are behind most successes of families. Although the role of men is disappearing very first because of the modern equality statements that are being floated allover the world, the role of men can not be substituted in both poor and rich American population.