Books a million

Brooke Star

English 1010

Response

13 September 2012

“Manliness”

In Robert Jensen’s, “The High Cost of Manliness” he writes about masculinity

and the characteristics associated with masculinity. It is a good solid summary of the

argument pro- feminist men have been making for years now: men have a real

investment in working with feminist women to transform the culture. The cost for

men of trying to live up to the unattainable ideal of true masculinity are real,

profound , and devastating. Jensen comments saying “ men deny themselves the

opportunity to be fully human, cutting themselves off from a wide range of

emotions (4). Too many men either lead lives of “desperation,” or are eternally

fearful of falling short in a competitive culture, or as it seems increasingly common

among the young adults living in a fantasy world of video games, unwilling to live up

to the masculine ideal.

Jensen believes “it would be better for the men and women if they would

stop trying to be so masculine (5). He acknowledges that the biology culture both

contribute to the problem of masculinity. If masculinity was defined as a conquest,

It means “men will always struggle with each other for dominance(7). Not one man

created this system, but we live our lives in that system. When Jensen comments

about the U.S. , I see all of those traits evident. I think being competitive or

aggressive can be a virtue if channeled for positive results. Jensen although, puts a negative spin on these traits, but it really depends on how you use them. I also say

that competitive and aggressiveness are not bad traits. What is a bad thing is that

men who are not naturally aggressive are often forced to choose between

pretending to be or facing scorn.