Growing Up

Growing up masculine appealed to me the most out of chapter 7. Society sets rules on how boys are supposed to be raised or how boys are supposed to act while growing up. Instead of allowing children to be genderless, they basically have to fit into this pre-oriented manner of how guys have to grow up and be like daddy. The first point that I would like to address comes straight from the book in chapter 7. Woods says, “Early in life, most boys learn they must not think, act, or feel like girls and women. Any male who shows sensitivity or vulnerability is likely to be called a sissy or mama’s boy.” This quote is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Boys should be allowed to grow up any way they want too. If a young boy wants to cry because he received an injury, then I think he should be allowed to do this and consoled by the father or mother. The fact that a boy is limited to how he can act is unfair. Every boy is different so each boy should be given an option on how to grow up. Teaching a boy what is right and wrong is ok for a parent to do, but teaching them to grow up in a particular socialistic manner is wrong.  I found a small article from PBS that discussed a few things about how boys are supposed to be raised. An interesting quote from this article, “Boys pay attention to what society expects of them and act accordingly.” To read more on this article follow the following link,

Raising Boys

This quote says it all. Even though some boys are born to be masculine, a majority of boys pay attention to the way society wants them to act. That is one of the main reasons why I think some homosexual boys are ridiculed so severe. Other boys don’t’ accept them because that is not what society expects from them. Society needs to take a closer look and understand that the world is changing. Every child should be allowed to grow up how they want to.

Any opinions on this would be much appreciated.

Reference List

N.A. (2012). Understanding and Raising Boys. Retrieved from    

http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisingboys/masculinity02.html

Woods, J. (2011). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender and Culture. Boston, MA: Wadsworth,

Cengage Learning.

Bodily Disorders

Women are not the only ones that have to worry about having bodily disorders. The media focuses in on women more than men, but men face severe bodily disorders as well. The media feeds society that there is a perfect way to look or a perfect weight for a certain height that men and women should obtain or maintain. While women normally worry about body weight, men focus in on their muscle size sometimes. Castle and Phillips say, “Men with body dysmorphic disorder are most commonly preoccupied with their skin, hair, nose, and genitals. Nearly all mean with body dysmorphic disorder perform repetitive and time-consuming behaviors in an attempt to examine, fix, or hide the defect.” (Castle & Phillips, 2001) This leads me to my next point. Men with this disease that focuses in on their muscles work out constantly. While working out they also take dangerous drugs to boost the results. Steroids are a drug that people sometime over look, but it is a dangerous and addicting drug if used too much. It is dangerous because there are side effects that can harm the human body. Liver damage and failure is the most common. I know all of this because I took a physical education class that focused in on steroids and sports. It can be especially addicting to people with this disorder. They are going to repeatedly workout and take this drug in an attempt to stop being small. In all reality no matter how big they get they will still look in the mirror and see themselves as being a small person. The media doesn’t touch on men having disorders because in society a man is supposed to be strong and under control, especially of himself. I also found this article that talks about media and its effect on body image. Here is a question to think about, “Many of us have the phrase, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but do we know who the beholder really is?” (Manasia, 2011)

To read more about this article follow the link,

 Effects of Media

References

Castle, D., & Phillips, K. (2001). Body dysmorphic disorder in men. BMJ, 323, 1015. Retrieved from 

https://colstate.view.usg.edu/webct/urw/tp0.1c21194011/

Manasia, T. "Health Psychology." Effects of Media on Body Image. Vanderbilt University, n.d. Web.  3 Dec 2011. <http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/media_and_body_image.htm>.