When I ask my students at the beginning of my Men and Masculinity course about “real men,” I get responses like, “real men aren’t afraid to show affection,” or “real men like to dance,” or “real men can cry in public and not care what anyone else thinks.” My students want to subvert the traditional “sturdy oak” model of masculinity. They mean well. But all they’re doing is swapping one unattainable ideal for another. Just as “real women have curves” delegitimizes countless slim women, “real men aren’t afraid to cry” shames those men who for any number of reasons are awkward about public displays of emotion. The contemporary “real man” ideal presents itself as inclusive, but it’s just another cultural straitjacket.
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(via adailyriot)

Source: hugoschwyzer

3361 Notes/ Hide

  1. monstersneakersreturns reblogged this from captainthermostat
  2. skylociraptor reblogged this from sexisnottheenemy and added:
    Oh god yes. I hate the phrase “real women have curves” cause I barely have any at all and it makes me feel inadiquite. I...
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  27. dancingpopsiclestick reblogged this from sexisnottheenemy and added:
    All men are real men. Transmen are real men. All women are real women. Transwomen are real women.
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  29. thosepaperscut reblogged this from teamanthro and added:
    I agree with this. It also brings up the #1 lesson I’ve learned from my education: Nobody wins. Ever.
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