Masculinity and Gender Equality
Masculinity refers to the possession of attributes or qualities that are usually associated with men. Males have long felt superior to women, despite the fact that women are considered the weaker sex. Males are socialized to believe that they are the stronger gender and that they can execute certain things better than their female counterparts. From the heyday of feminism (the 1980s) to post-feminism, the discussion over gender equality has dominated the media.
Gender Equality in Politics
In politics, masculinity is still an important issue that has been debated over the years. Women struggle for equal treatment in leadership and representation at the highest levels of government. This paper focuses on 2016 elections in the United States which became the topic of discussion across media platforms. Most people felt that Donald Trump took advantage of his masculinity to campaign for a presidential position against his female competitor Hillary Clinton.
The Influence of Masculinity in Trump's Campaign
Clinton was campaigning to become the first female president of the US. However, days before the Election Day, a video recording of Trump bragging about sexual assault on women in his conversation with Billy Bush became the center of discussion for major media houses and online comments. This led to controversial reactions from the public and the media. Two media commentaries, namely; "Will Trump inspire debate on masculinity?" By Rob Okun on Courier-Post website, and "Trump's Toxic Masculinity Is Propelling Women in the US towards Clinton" by Monobina Gupta on the thewire.in website, commented on this gender war between the two presidential candidates.
Trump's Use of Demeaning Words against Women
Gupta talks about how Trump came out to talk more against women during his presidential campaign by using the word "locker-room talk" with an aim of attacking his female counterpart. The commentary further discusses how New York Times revealed a report of women who testified of having being sexually assaulted by Trump. The current US president was strongly supported by his son who came out to campaign for his father. Gupta quotes Trump Junior’s words that undermine women in leadership, "...if you can’t handle some of the basic stuff that’s become a problem in the workforce today, than you don’t belong in the workforce. Like, you should go maybe teach kindergarten. I think it’s respectable position… You can’t be negotiating billion-dollar deals if you can’t handle, like, you know" (Gupta).
Fighting Against Masculinity Culture
According to Monobina Gupta, Trump and his son reflect “a deeper cultural malaise” present in the country. Such discriminating talks by men have led to the rise of feminists like Phyllis Schlafly and Michelle Obama, whose aim is to fight for equality between the two genders. Trump is against the feminism culture that is slowly gaining popularity. The feeling of masculinity and the notion that women are not strong enough to handle some physically demanding jobs has been a challenge for those women who strive to compete with men in such areas of work. Michelle came up strongly against Trump’s campaign that is based on discriminating women by terming them as a weaker sex. She talked of a post feminism era where people should be talking of equality and not a fight among male and female genders. To her, Trump’s masculine chauvinism takes the country back to the 1980s when feminists rose against gender discrimination on women (Gupta).
Masculinity and Leadership
Towards the end of his commentary, Gupta still displays his doubt on women leadership. He mentions several female leaders like the British Prime Minister Teresa May whom he doubts her effectiveness in leadership. To him, women will still lag behind when it comes to such demanding roles as a presidential position.
Trump's Use of Toxic Masculinity in Campaign
On the other hand, Rob Okun still comments on Trump’s use of masculinity in his presidential campaign. Okun talks of how the majority of the US citizens rejected his "locker-room" idea on manhood. To him, Trump used his manliness to his advantage. He uses discriminatory words against women to win the attention of the voters, and convince them that women do not have the capability to carry out presidential responsibilities.
Fighting Against Gender Discrimination
Okun states that Donald exhibited negative traits that gender justice movements have been fighting against. This means that masculinity is deeply rooted among men in the United States. Hence, several movements have come in to fight against this belief. Young boys are been taught by organizations such as MenEngage Alliance on how to socially relate with their female colleagues without necessarily taking advantage of their sexuality (Okun).
The Culture of Male Superiority
Rob sees sexual assault in political affiliation as irrelevant. To him, a man should not use discriminating words against a woman in order to compete with her. He mentions that, men fear to be labeled as weak if they speak against Trump. This shows how the masculinity culture in men is rooted. To him, talking against women is a 'guy talk'. This means that men feel superior when they talk in favor of their gender, and how they are capable of delivering good results when it comes to the so-called 'masculine jobs' than women (Okun).
The Impact of Trump's Masculinity in 2016 Elections
These two commentaries discuss how Trump used his masculinity based trait to campaign for the US presidential position in 2016. The discussion that ran across all media platforms gained popularity and received criticisms about how Donald used his "Toxic Masculinity" to campaign against his competitor Hillary Clinton. The video recording that went viral in the internet confirmed Trump’s sexual assault against women.
Masculinity and Gender Roles
From the two commentaries, it is clear that masculinity still dominates the character traits in male. They do not want to feel inferior to the female gender. This culture pushes them to do anything possible to stay superior to their female counterparts. Such discrimination has led to the rise of feminists who stand strong against gender discrimination. In the current world, more and more feminists are coming up to fight for gender equality. Although most activists believe we are in the post feminism era that is characterized by the end of feminism and the start of equality in gender, masculinity still exists. Men still believe that they are the superior gender.
The Fight for Women's Rights and Masculinity
The 20th Century was characterized by the fight for justice, opportunity and freedom for women. Women fought for equality, property ownership, and inclusiveness in areas believed to be male dominated. This progress led to the appreciation of the female gender, although many fight against discrimination is still on. Men in America are brought up with the notion of being the leaders and having the responsibility to provide for their women. This notion is what Donald Trump implants to the American men. He uses it against his female counterpart. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 52% of men had an unfavorable view on Clinton, simply because she was a woman. The feeling that presidential responsibilities are manly and overrule a woman’s capability dominates the minds of American men (House).
The Role of Women in Activism
The women on the other hand came out to speak against female discrimination and fight to have equality in leadership, as well as sexual molestation. Women like Michelle Obama came out to support Hillary Clinton with the aim of speaking for gender equality and the activation of post-feminism.
Awakening of Masculinity Debate
Trump awakened feminism, and made men believe in their masculinity. Citizens were given the opportunity to debate and talk about contemporary masculinity. The feeling of masculinity in men has traditionally been an inward feeling that is not commonly expressed in the current world. However, the America’s 2016 presidential campaigns awakened the feeling of expression and people started speaking and debating about it openly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the fight for equality, with men using their masculine power to discriminate women has been there for decades. Although there have been attempts by feminists to counter this believe in men, women suffer from sexual assault, discrimination and abuse. Clinton made a huge step in proving that women can still compete with men in the so called male dominated areas. Although she did not win in the presidential elections, she proved to men that their masculine nature cannot hinder women from fighting for anything they would want to get.
Works Cited
Gupta, Monobina. “Trump’ Toxic Masculinity Is Propelling Women in the Us Towards Clinton.” The Wire. thewire.in 20th Oct. 2016, Accessed on 24th August, 2017,
https://thewire.in/74462/how-trumps-toxic-masculinity-is-propelling-american-women-towards-clinton/
House, Freedom. Freedom in the World 2016: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Okun, Rob. “Will Trump inspire debate on masculinity?” Courier-post. PeaceVoice 10th Oct, 2016, Accessed on 24th August, 2017,
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/10/10/commentary-trump-inspire-debate-masculinity/91876468/
