Masculine Identity in The United States

The article i have chosen to look at this week is Our Identity Crisis written by Ray Williams on his personal website.

http://raywilliams.ca/blogs/our-male-identity-crisis/

The article is quite interesting as it draws your attention to the fact that there is significant shifts in the nature of education and employment trends which in Ray Williams' eyes will have a huge impact on male identities. According to several studies boys are underachieving in public schools and men barley compromise 40% of University or college student graduates. Throughout this article the challenges of American masculinity is quite clear as Williams touches upon the fact that women are more likely to be the bread-winner in a family, unmarried women are more likely to buy a house and the number of women in government are starting to edge up in recent years. This is suggesting that The United States is not being held up by Blue Collar jobs and women are now doing what used to be thought of as "a man's job". It also indicates that men are therefore losing out to women for jobs. For example "For the first time, less than 50% of law school graduates are men in North America". Men being beaten out by women is therefore not seen as masculine and this is a main concern for masculine identity.

The article carries on to talk about wages and the percentage of women in the workforce. According to a study done recently young women in New York and other big cities were more likely to earn more then their male counterparts. He states that in 1967 women made up just 30% of the workforce.

The article continues on to talk about the portrayal of men and identity in contemporary western society and he feels that males are seen in a negative light. " Men today are extensively demonized, marginalized and objectified. The issue of male identity is of crucial importance, because males are failing school, committing more suicides and crimes and dying younger". All these factors suggests that continuous negative portrayals of men in the media, along with the feminization of men and loss of fatherhood in society has caused confusion and frustration for the younger generation men as they do not have specific role models and are less able to define their role in society.

Ray Williams feels there is clear issue with masculine identity in America and that undoubtedly there is a new social standing for men which will have a significant impact on Western society.

Changing views on Masculinity.

The article I chose to look at for this week is Why We Need To Re-imagine Masculinity written by Matt Sayles on the website Newsweek. It can be found here.

This article is rather quite interesting as it deals with the decline of masculinity in America, through the loss of masculine jobs that is greatly effecting the way men see themselves. Throughout the article it states how masculinity in America is being effected, not only by loss of jobs, women bringing in more money, but also on how men themselves are reluctantly changing the way they lead their lives. The challenges of American masculinity is quite clear in this article as it says that "As the U.S. economy has transitioned from brawn to brain over the past three decades, a growing number of women have gone off to work. Men’s share of the labor force has declined from 70 percent in 1945 to less than 50 percent today, and in the country’s biggest cities, young, single, childless women—that is, the next generation—earn 8 percent more than their male peers." This is suggesting that economy isn't held up by the blue collar jobs that men have been doing anymore. It seems that as time goes on, economies and businesses are looking for jobs where it doesn't tax you physically but taxes your ability in working through problems.
It is also suggesting that men are losing out to women, who are seemingly more of the labor force. Men losing out to women isn't really a masculine thing, thus there is concern for the masculinity of American men.

The article also goes onto say that paternal leave is necessary for men to take. It states that America is one of the few countries that does not support a paid paternal leave for men, the article also suggests that men who do not take paternal leave are most likely losing out in the long run. It also pairs this with housework, with women doing 400 percent more than the male, even if he is unemployed. The article says "All told, most new fathers take off two weeks or less for a new child, no matter what. Baby time is simply not seen as masculine." This is clearly saying that men who look after their own children, or take time off for them seem not to be included in being part of the masculine men who work at all times.

The article then goes onto state that, masculine jobs are now much harder to come across than before. However many new jobs are being put out, with such jobs as teachers, nurses, home health aides and customer service reps (which are mostly occupied by females) most likely will not be filled by men, seeing as they can still only see that men should fill a narrow range of jobs that are acceptable for men. The article suggests that these challenges of masculinity are mostly the inability of current men to change their own opinions of what is acceptable for men to do. The article finishes with this point "Ultimately, the New Macho boils down to a simple principle: in a changing world, men should do whatever it takes to contribute their fair share at home and at work, and schools," which is rather true. The last line of the article suggests that it doesn't matter what a man does for work, as long as he is a strong father figure for the next generation, "After all, what’s more masculine: being a strong, silent, unemployed absentee father, or actually fulfilling your half of the bargain as a breadwinner and a dad?"

Masculine Identity in America

The article I found is entitled "Our male identity crisis: What will happen to men?" and can be found at:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201007/our-male-identity-crisis-what-will-happen-men

The primary issue that this article sites as a problem for the identity of America's males is the success of women within the education system as well as the workplace. It gives statistics and facts such as the ones below to back this statement up.

• "Men now comprise barely 40% of enrolled University and College students and graduates."
• "In 2009, for instance, women will earn more degrees in higher education than men in every possible category, from bachelor's level to Ph.D.s, according to the U.S. Department of Education."
• "U.S. women earn 159 degrees for every 100 awarded to men. For the first time, less than 50% of law school graduates are men in North America."

It focuses a great deal on the achievements of American women today and how an increasing number of families have women as the main breadwinners. Women are now also taking over aspects of American life that were primarily or completely male dominated such as state legislature.
"The New Hampshire State Legislature is now made up of a majority of women, a first for a legislative body in the U.S., and the number of women in government continues to edge up nationwide."
This article was written in July 2010 and so said about the then upcoming Congressional elections that there were an unseen number of women candidates in an area that used to be predominately male.
Men can't even rest easy that, even though there are more women within their chosen job sector, they earn more money because that is also changing. "A study of U.S. Census data conducted by Queens College sociologist Andrew Beveridge found that young women in New York and several other big American cities actually earn more than their male counterparts."

Historically the men went out to work and provided for the women and children, while the women tended to stay at home and do all things domestic. American men knew this to be their job or role and so now it makes it difficult for the men to know where their 'place' is these days, when everything is shifting and changing from what they knew and were used to. The fact that roles are changing means that the two versions of masculinity that were discussed in the lecture; the "self-made man" and the "Wild West" are becoming few and far between.

"Girls today grow up in a post-feminist environment, being told they can do whatever they want in life."
"It's a huge shift, when you think that a generation and a half ago our attitudes and expectations for what roles women and men could play in our society were entirely different than they are today." (Heather Boushey, senior economist at the Center for American Progress)

Another issue that's causing a crisis of identity is the constant negative portrayal of men within society, mainly as being criminals and because of the lack of fatherhood seen today. Something that is not helped by the ability of the women to gain custody of the children so easily when separations and divorces occur. The article states that "medical experiments have shown that male sperm can now be grown artificially in a laboratory" and this would lead many men to question the need for them to be here at all.

"Continuous negative portrayal of men in the media, along with the feminization of men and loss of fatherhood in society, has caused confusion and frustration in younger generation males, as they do not have a specific role model and are less able to define their role in society."

It also touches on how the media portrays men using the examples of Homer and Bart Simpson in comparison to how Marge and Lisa Simpson come across. "The majority of TV shows and advertisements present men as stupid buffoons, or aggressive evil tyrants or insensitive and shallow "studs" for women's pleasure." It is telling today's generations, subconsciously even that, that is how men are and is demoralising for the men themselves, creating more pressure for them to find their purpose. These tv shows that depict men in such a way is also realising the primary fear that men were said to have (1992) and that is being laughed at. Men are fast becoming the topics of jokes like blondes and Irish men are. "From once being seen as successful breadwinners, heads of families and being respected leaders, men today are the butt of jokes in the popular media."

Overall I think this article is useful because it lists numerous reasons as to why there is a masculinity crisis and backs up it's arguments with facts and figures as well as referring to the roles in which men once found themselves and now don't. It also references two different books on the subject matter and ends in a way to make us continue to question where male identity will go in the future.
"The last bastions of male dominated roles appears to be top leadership positions, particularly in the corporate world, the military and politics, although even those areas are slowly being eroded."