Man vs. Man

In today's blog post I will discuss masculinity and how males are influenced to act as either the strong, dominant male or the "soft", weak male depending on where they are employed.

Today I went to Landmark and simply walked around and observed people's behaviors. I was very confused as to how I could relate my outing to masculinity. So I decided to compare male employee's behaviors in feminine stores to male employees's behaviors in masculine stores.

The first store I entered was the Body Shop. Their products consisted mainly of moisturizing creams, body lotions, and females cosmetics. There was one male employee among three females. The male was not masculine in any sense. His appearance did not represent any hint of masculinity. He was not physically built, he was very kind and sweet, and smiled a lot. His behavior represented the "soft," sensitive man.

 I entered a an Adidas sports store. All of the employees were males. They were all dressed in yellow adidas t-shirts. They seemed quite fit and had a more confidant masculine posture as they stood tall. This reflected the traditional masculinity male. However, they were very friendly and assisted me with my needs. This reflected the "kindergarten commando" because they were masculine in their appearance but kind and friendly. I assume this is because of how they are trained to serve customers in the store.

We see these types of behaviors in our day to day interactions with people. Some males are more accustomed to being the "ladies man" where they understand females better than the "traditional" male figure. They are more sensitive and understanding of the female gender's needs. The more "traditional" male figures view these "softer" males as weak and submissive, and that is what causes the power factor to exist. The physically larger and stronger males tend to feel like they have more power and influence over the "softer" male figure. However, in today's world we are experiencing more of the "kindergarten commando" where the physically strong men have been "remasculinized." They seem tough and insensitive on the outside. However, once you interact with them you see the more sensitive and  "soft" side to them. 

Mama's Boy or Hybrid Masculinity?

Once again, Sociology has given me another chance to look things differently. What I learn in class can almost always be applied to everything around me on daily basis.

In today’s class, we learnt how masculinity is portrayed in cinema. During the early cinematic ages, men were portrayed as masculine, rough, tough, aggressive, powerful and competent. However, in the 1970’s, the embrace of feminism directly influenced the media industry. The “New Man” was more soft and sensitive. Following the feminist era, the reclaiming of traditional masculinity backlashed the feminist and the political state America was in during the 1980’s. This decade could be best described as “remasculinization”. Nevertheless, things changed. The end of 1980’s introduced hybrid masculinity. By hybrid masculinity, I mean the combination of sensitivity, compassion, and vulnerability with toughness, aggressiveness, and decisiveness.



Masculinity was not only portrayed in the cinema, but within stars and artists. The artist who stood out the most to me was Tupac Shakur, as his masculinity was constantly being questioned because of his songs such as Dear Mama. This may be because he expressed his sensitive side by dedicating some of his songs to his mother. On a social scale, rappers and men in general are expected to be tough, heartless and tough, but Tupac wasn’t. Tupac had more of a hybrid masculinity expressed within his music. He had sensitive songs such as Dear Mama and rough-aggressive lyrics such as Only God Can Judge Me.



In the song Dear Mama, he says, “Dear mama, Place no one above ya, sweet lady, your are appreciated, Don’t cha know we love ya?” Again, we get to see his sensitive side mentioning his mom in the lyrics of his song, Keep Ya Head Up. This is evident when he says, “And I realize momma really paid the price, she nearly gave her life, to raise me right.” On the other hand, he expresses his rough side in his song Only God Can Judge Me by saying “I’d rather die like a man, than live like a coward.



All in all, Tupac Shakur exemplifies the hybrid masculinity throughout his music by mentioning the difficulties he endured and the social problems his community had. He tends to be sensitive and compassion while being tough and aggressive.




“… They say I’m wrong and I’m heartless, but all along I was lookin' for a father he was gone… Dear Mama, you are appreciated...”