Masculinity is also Artificial
June 12, 2008 – 11:41 am
Seriously, folks. Masculinity is just as constructed as femininity. Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl, riffs on this point in an interview at My Husband Betty. Very little that we do as humans is natural. Not our cell phones, pencils, automobiles, central heating and air, having a cornucopia of off-season foods flown freshish to our local supermarkets and certainly not our genders.
In the book, I talk about how masculinity often comes off as natural while femininity comes off as artificial. For example, many feminists have argued that high heel shoes or make-up are inherently unnatural and artificial, and that they only exist to appease or attract men. What underlies many of these arguments is the presumption that their masculine counterparts are inherently natural or practical. But this clearly isn’t the case. Most men shave their face (something that is arguably unnatural), and those who do it every day often do so in order to look presentable or attractive. But nobody ever talks about all of the time and money men waste on razors, shaving cream, and aftershave. And plenty of men spend an exorbitant amount of money fancy Italian shoes or the latest fad sneakers – there is nothing practical about that.
I agree with you that we live in a highly consumerist culture, and I’ll be the first to critique that. But I also think that when people talk about consumer culture and feminine presentation without also addressing masculine presentation, it seems to me to be really one-sided and sometimes even downright anti-feminine. Granted, women typically spend way more than men on clothing and most grooming products. But while growing up, I knew lots of guys who spent tons of money on things related to their image and presentation: they’d buy overpriced sneakers, or spend lots of money on prettying up their cars, and flaunting their money in other ways to impress women they’re dating or interested in. I’ve found that many (albeit not all) men are just as concerned about their overall image as many women are. It’s just that men are expected to spend money to enhance their image in different ways than women are, and they are far less often critiqued for it when they do.
One Response to “Masculinity is also Artificial”
I don’t know if you’ve heard of these two, but Kenneth Kidd and Annette Wannamaker are doing A LOT of work writing about how masculinity is constructed, particularly in our shared field of children’s literature (both have been my advisors at different points on my academic path).
I think you may find their writing interesting, and if you would care to borrow Annette’s book, please let me know (it’s from Routledge so it’s expensive to buy and I don’t know which libraries may contain it).
Blessings and peace to you and Miss H. Trac and I send our warm wishes!
By Jennifer Gee on Aug 5, 2008