The Society's Expectations of Men
The society often dictates the behaviors and characteristics that people display in their day to day lives based on gender. These social constructions are the emblem of masculinity and the supposed dos and don’ts that men must subscribe to in order to cement their place in the society as men. The book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men by Kimmel (2008) tries to explore the transition from boyhood from manhood. In an article in the same book, Bros before Hos: The Guy Code by Kimmel (2008) gives a detailed view of the problems that arise from this social construct.
Expectations of the Standard Man
In this article, Kimmel summarizes the current expectations of a standard man in regard to such things as emotions, strength and wealth. The society expects men to be emotionless inanimate beings never admitting to or showing physical or emotional pain which is construed as weakness. The article draws on literary work by other psychologies to-with the rules of masculinity which magnify the need for male aggression, reliability, strength, and dominance exemplified by power, wealth and status. Kimmel also builds his argument, on transcribed words from the respondents he interviewed, to suggest that the Guy Code ideas are passed on by fellow men who are the evaluators of conformance or rather the Gender Police. The Guy Code elaborates the values and traits which define a man. Application of the Guy Code starts very early in the life of a boy child where their personality is disassembled and then assembled along the social constructs of masculinity.
The Lofty Anticipations of Modern Society
Kimmel primarily brings to focus the lofty anticipations that the modern society places on the male gender, both young and old, in order to be regarded as belonging in the echelons of the male society. The author exemplifies some of the anticipations and suggests them to be outrightly outrageous. Some of the agreeable expectations listed downplay emotional vulnerability as girlish and should not be associated with any man of good standing lest they are labeled as weak. The view is supported by some of his respondents who were construed as being weak if they could not play some type of games, display discomfort or fatigue. Kimmel’s arguments against compassion and kindness
The Detrimental Effects of the Guy Code
The author presents a case for the high prevalence of depression among children of the male gender in addition to proneness to suicide, attention deficit, and hyperactivity disorder and out of control traits. He labels the boys more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with these conditions as compared to their female counterparts. This he evidences by how boys are brought up from a very young age to be emotionless, strong and handling situations like a man with no room for weakness. Their progress to adulthood is punctuated by such expectations as revenge, "It's all good," centrality of success, aggression and his resemblance to a rock in crises.
The Influence of Women and Writing Styles
The assertion that men try to conform to the ideals of the Guy Code not to impress women or themselves but rather to earn the positive evaluation of fellow men is not entirely true. In the current society, the traits of men are often shaped by women where men desire to be attractive and eligible to women. Kimmel mentions that women have a view on the kind of man they desire, and men’s mannerisms make women label them as gay or not. The author could have, therefore, argued for both statements rather than dismissing one view entirely.
The author employs more than one writing strategy. The first style is the Cause and Effect style where Kimmel explores the cause of the behaviors that are often associated with manhood. He attributes these behaviors to the Guy Code, which is a construct of the society’s expectations. As an effect, the author accredits to the Guy Code issues such as the prevalence of depression, suicide and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder among boys as compared to girls. The second style the author employs is Description. Kimmel describes in detail the character of manhood expected of real men in the society. He does this by giving a list of the top ten current Guy Code commandments. He depicts the ideals of masculinity through his research interactions with his students and those represented by research done by other notable researchers in the field of psychology. The image portrayed of a real man is that of an aggressive, emotionless and eccentric being. The final style utilized by the writer is that of exemplification where Kimmel develops an argument to show that the Guy Code is detrimental to the lives of men. He argues that striving to conform to these social norms drives them to depression and suicide among other ills.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the author effectively uses description, argumentative and cause and effect styles to advance his message. While most of his points of argument are agreeable, others, such as the female gender having no influence on male behaviors, are not entirely true as demonstrated. The author ultimately develops a strong case against the Guy Code with documented proof of its detriment to the lives of men.
Work Cited
Kimmel, Michael S. Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. 2008. Web. Nov. 26, 2018.
