Sathya Tadinada

Period 3

7 December 2020

Short Texts on Masculinity

1. Marlboro Man:

Marlboro, a cigarette company, took a photo of a rugged “western” man using the cigarette for

the product to appeal to more men than women (who were the primary users at the time). After

this campaign launched, sales increased by over $15 billion, despite a growing health concern.

2. Being a Man:

The modern perception of masculinity is very insulting to men and how they should aspire to

behave in society. Being “manly” does not have any benefits, it only leads to emotional damage

and social insecurities. When kids aspire to be a manly person, they end up alienating themselves

from the company of women, whereas femininity refers to pleasing men.

3. About Men:

The stereotypical cowboy is more myth than it is fact. The cowboys in the advertisements and

popular media depict them as individual, tough people, but in reality, cowboys are rarely alone,

and they rarely pride themselves on their physical strength. The origins of this stereotype go back

to America’s notion of heroism. Real cowboys (and by extension, real men) do not stop

themselves showing their emotions when they want/need to.

Page 1 of 4
4. Putting Down the Gun:

Adult males are not the only ones who feel the burden of embodying gender stereotypes. Middle

school kids, especially boys, are facing the challenges of conforming to certain “categories”

within the masculinity department (whether it be athletics or computers). This ends up limiting a

boy’s true self and makes them pretend to exemplify the qualities of that category.

5. Why Johnny Won’t Read:

Ever since mass publishing in the mid-19th century, there has been a gap in the genders who pick

up books and read more. Girls, as research shows, tend to give a higher priority to reading in

their leisure time than boys do. In addition to this, boys have consistently enjoyed reading books

with action, war, and adventure while girls prefer stories about personal relationships and

fantasy. Even though the school system claims to use books that appeal to boys, most books in

the middle school and elementary are about such fictional topics, a genre that boys tend to dislike

going into high school.

6. Mind over Muscle:

On average, it has been proven that girls outperform boys. They are more attentive, less likely to

have to repeat a grade, and are less likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder. Girls also tend

to get higher grades in every subject. Boys are supposedly not wired to sit in a class all day and

listening silently. Boys might perform better in school if they spent more time outside than

“chained to a desk.”

Page 2 of 4
Essay:

I think two of the biggest questionable claims made was that boys only enjoy action or

adventure in everything that they do to, from reading books to playing video games and sports,

as well as not being able to properly study inside of a classroom (as opposed to girls). There are

many, many cases where that is not true, but popular culture does nothing but promote this false

narrative.

To start off, boys in popular culture are viewed as reckless, immature children who do

what they do because, “Boys will be boys.” There are several instances in cases like the movies

or in modern novels where boys will intentionally be portrayed in such a light, further rooting

this stereotype in our society. However, this is not true because there is a large group of boys

who avoid action-packed entertainment or reckless behavior, simply because their personalities

do not match with the societal norm. Personally, I was never the immature and reckless child on

the playground in elementary and middle school. I would often take long walks in the field with

friends and just chat about life and very rarely would I get involved in school athletics. That

being said, the media does not view these multiple personalities as something that boys can

obtain, and so they push this stereotypical description onto boys.

Additionally, there were several claims that boys were not meant for the classroom and

instead were meant for the rugged outdoors. This might have some truth in it, but the claim as a

whole is pretty questionable. Sure, boys might be physically stronger, and they might have a

greater desire to use those stronger muscles outside, but that does not necessarily mean that boys

cannot concentrate or focus inside of a classroom. This assertion probably stems from pop

culture, even though it was most likely their fault in the first place for endorsing this stereotype.

Popular culture views boys as independent and rough children, which is why boys supposedly

Page 3 of 4
require greater freedom outside where they can roughhouse and physically play. However, had

this have not been addressed by the media, neither girls nor boys would have a problem studying

in a classroom, as much as our society wants to promote or reinforce this antiquated belief.

In conclusion, as informative and eye-opening as some of these sections were, there were

some questionable claims that were added that do not really tell the full story or are only half-

truths. Boys were raised in a society where they are valued more by being independent and

immature and therefore, the claims made that boys are inherently prone to such characteristics is

false.

Page 4 of 4