Explain and Briefly Evaluate How Males Are Socialised Into Traditional Masculinities
Explain and briefly evaluate how males are socialised into traditional masculinities
Hegemonic masculinity describes the patriarchal working class males, those who have labouring or manual jobs. He has to be physically tough and dominant to assert his masculinity. He is definitely heterosexual, technically competent, is sexist and aggressive. Males are socialised into traditional masculinities by a variety of socialisation agents.
The school is instrumental in the socialisation of males into traditional hegemonic roles. Becky Francis (2000) found that, although they were more harshly disciplined than the girls, boys’ behaviour was tolerated more by the teachers. This encourages the boys to demonstrate the traditional masculinities. Subject choice is also an important factor in male socialisation as they were traditionally gender biased. This was studied by Grafton in a comprehensive school in which he showed that there were only a limited number of placements available for those who wanted to study non-traditional subjects for their gender. This reduces interest in those subjects and guides males into the more traditional, craft subjects. Males are canalized meaning they are directed into playing with certain toys and activities. For example, boys may play football while the girls play ‘house’.
While the education system is very important in the socialisation of males into traditional masculinities, the family is the main socialisation agent. Parents may encourage and reward behaviour that they deem appropriate and discourage that which they think is inappropriate. For example, parents may encourage their daughters to focus on their appearance and their sons to watch and support sports. Also, Oakley referred to the labels (For example, ‘princess’ and ‘pretty’ for girls; and ‘brave soldier’ and ‘strong’ for boys) as verbal appellation and says they teach the children society’s expectations. Children also imitate their parents because they are their significant
Hegemonic masculinity describes the patriarchal working class males, those who have labouring or manual jobs. He has to be physically tough and dominant to assert his masculinity. He is definitely heterosexual, technically competent, is sexist and aggressive. Males are socialised into traditional masculinities by a variety of socialisation agents.
The school is instrumental in the socialisation of males into traditional hegemonic roles. Becky Francis (2000) found that, although they were more harshly disciplined than the girls, boys’ behaviour was tolerated more by the teachers. This encourages the boys to demonstrate the traditional masculinities. Subject choice is also an important factor in male socialisation as they were traditionally gender biased. This was studied by Grafton in a comprehensive school in which he showed that there were only a limited number of placements available for those who wanted to study non-traditional subjects for their gender. This reduces interest in those subjects and guides males into the more traditional, craft subjects. Males are canalized meaning they are directed into playing with certain toys and activities. For example, boys may play football while the girls play ‘house’.
While the education system is very important in the socialisation of males into traditional masculinities, the family is the main socialisation agent. Parents may encourage and reward behaviour that they deem appropriate and discourage that which they think is inappropriate. For example, parents may encourage their daughters to focus on their appearance and their sons to watch and support sports. Also, Oakley referred to the labels (For example, ‘princess’ and ‘pretty’ for girls; and ‘brave soldier’ and ‘strong’ for boys) as verbal appellation and says they teach the children society’s expectations. Children also imitate their parents because they are their significant