Crisis of Manhood

What really makes a man, a man? What factors determine a man? Is it how their raised? What culture they were brought up in? What is a model of a real man? Today I want to share with you the ideals of masculinity. This topic is intended for all male teenagers, young adults, and adults.
How do we define Masculinity? According to Dictionary.com, “having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, such as strength or boldness.” That’s not all the qualities associated with masculinity. There is one person in particular who has been recognized in Men’s Studies, Raewyn Connell, a transsexual woman professor at the University of Sydney in Australia. She talks about hegemonic masculinity. I need to research more about this because there are a lot more sources that talk about hegemonic masculinity. In an interview with Dr. Raewyn Connell she says, “Masculinities are not the same as men. To speak of masculinities is to speak about gender relations. Masculinities concern the position of men in a gender order. They can be defined as the patterns of practice by which people (both men and women, though predominantly men) engage that position. In pop psychology, and a lot of popular belief, masculinity is set in concrete, fixed by the genes or by God, and impossible for women to influence.” Although she is coming from Australia she reflects over men around the world. She mentioned “pop psychology”. The pop psychology is influenced by contemporary media today. I have another source that represents how men’s appearance is influenced by consumerism. Men’s appearance now is something that concerns men. What you where determine whether your gay or straight. In all honesty I do not know what area to talk about with masculinity. I am trying to break it down to the one that everyone can connect with the most. When people talk about masculinity they’re not only talking about one single factor involved like looks, but also how men behave and how they develop odd friendships. The history of manhood is important because it talks about how men developed masculinity and how it changed over the years. This is important because in my country men are the main supporters in the family. I can probably talk about the masculinity differences between cultures in America and cultures in Asia. This would be very interesting to talk about because of the social norms between the two cultures which would incorporate psychology into the paper. If I can do that then my paper would add logos and actually
“inform” people about the differences. The problem with this though is that I might have a biased opinion, and I may want to give my own personal opinions. That would not be very good for an informative paper.
I chose this as my audience because these people are all male, and they will become male adults. Male adults may have a sense of identity; however, young men are still trying to find their identities. Young men and teenagers are still trying to find their way in life, while most adults are already experienced with age.

Sources:

Academic Journal:
Randall, Don. "Charismatic Masculinity in David Malouf's Fiction." Australian Literary Studies RICCIARDELLI, ROSEMARY.
"Masculinity, Consumerism, and Appearance: A Look at Men's Hair." Canadian Review of Sociology 48.2 (2011): 181-201. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Sept. 2011.
.25.1 (2010): 71-81. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Sept. 2011.
Wedgwood, Nikki. "Connell's theory of masculinity - its origins and influences on the study of gender." Journal of Gender Studies 18.4 (2009): 329-339. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Sept. 2011.
Works Cited.Neville, Patricia. "Side-splitting masculinity: comedy, Mr Bean and the representation of masculinities in contemporary society." Journal of Gender Studies 18.3 (2009): 231-243. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Sept. 2011.

Books:
R.W Connell Masculinities
The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private by: Susan Bordo
Manhood in America: A Cultural History By: Michael S. Kimmel

School Under Capitalism? Respone IV

When I first heard this title I thought that this article was going to be how public education was badly structured. The article connects capitalism along with schooling, which will concern everyone. “Social relations of education” normally correspond to the social relations of production in capitalist society (Bowles and Gintis 13). I am not saying that it’s a bad thing to have, but it is odd. When the article talked about Taylorism, it talked about standardizing, setting rules and regulations. That’s probably where we had standardized like the ACT and SAT. I am pretty sure people have thought about how effective both tests are. That’s not the point though. The point is schooling under capitalism. Over the years since we adopted Taylorism the school system has been going downhill. The American Teacher magazine said, “Education must measure its efficiency not in terms…of so many student-hours per dollar of salary; it must measure its efficiency in terms of increased humanism, increased power to do, increased capacity to appreciate”(Callahan 121). I believe that to be so true. The teacher needs to have a passion to teach to the point where it motivates students to learn and succeed. It doesn’t matter how many students there are in a class. From a personal perspective, it’s better to for teachers to focus on people as individuals rather than just a group, that’s why I chose BCTC. “Although NCLB put new burdens and expectations on schools and teachers, total U.S. government spending on primary and secondary education as a percentage of GDP did not increase” (National Education Association 288). So basically it did not help as much as legislators thought it would. “The Dell Foundation claims that it is helping urban schools to use “technology to gather, analyze and report information” for better school management. It is a strong backer of school choice, for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) in charter schools, and charter school real estate development” (Scott 31). I see that their helping out, but another corporation helping is the Gates Foundation. “The Gates Foundation has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the support of educational advocacy groups meant to pressure public policy, all aimed at restructuring public education, promoting charter schools, encouraging privatization, and breaking teachers’ unions. Thus, it has given millions of dollars to Teachers Plus” (Teacher Education).

I always thought that businesses are only out there for the money, but I am glad that there are some businesses who like to make the United States a better place instead of personal benefit. One thing I think that is significant in the article is when Foster talks about child poverty. I know that child poverty plays a role in learning in school. We used to live in poverty in New York and in Eastern Kentucky. Luckily the charter schools that spewed up are helping children succeed. “As a result of the new standards, testing, and accountability measures of federal and state governments, plus the growth of charter schools, the K-12 education industry was expected to grow to $163 billion (20 percent of the K-12 education market) within ten years” (Think Equity Partners). Hopefully this growth will not only improve the education system, but also improve the quality of life children will live in.

Sources:
1.Bowles and Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 129.
2. See the analysis of Taylorism in Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998), 59-95.
3. Callahan, Education and the Cult of Efficiency, 121.
4.National Education Association, K-12 Education in the U.S. Economy, 10; National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education, 2010, 288.
5.Scott, “The Politics of Venture Philanthropy,” 120; ThinkEquity Partners LLC, New Rules, New Schools, New Market: K-12 Education, Industry Outlook 2005. May 26, 2005, http://educationindustry.org, 31.
6.“Teacher Education, STEM Washington and Bill Gates,” Seattle Education, March 22, 2011, http://seattleducaton2010.worpress.com.