The Man Box Poem Analysis

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5. If you were to ask a WGS scholar what the definition of masculinity is, they might describe it simply as “[t]he set of characteristics or attributes traditionally ascribed to maleness” (Launius and Hassel, 196). Yet, what does this mean? If I asked you to picture someone “masculine,” what would they look like? If your ideas about masculinity have been rigidly shaped by the traditional views of society, you might picture someone who is aggressive, logical, physically strong, emotionally unexpressive, in control, and sexually aggressive, in other words, “whatever isn’t [sic.] womanly” (Launius and Hassel, 43). This describes the confining attributes associated with the idea of “the Man Box” which Tony Porter defines as “the collective socialization …show more content…
Now, after careful consideration, I propose that masculinity should be used to describe these such people who actively work to not be confined by the negative aspects of the Man Box and traditional definitions of masculinity. This is an idea similar to that of poets and social justice advocates Guante and Carlos Andres Gomez, who “claim for themselves a reimagined manhood that, as Guante puts it, entails having meaningful, emotional relationships with other men, admitting weakness, and being ‘strong in a way that isn’t about physical power or dominance’” (Launius and Hassel, 46). In turn, this also entails “reimagining masculinity toward the end of preventing violence” (46), as the focus on physical power and dominance breeds a culture of violence, often against women. In other words, those under this redefinition are such people that are aware of and act according to “the bystander approach”. Jackson Kats describes this term in Violence Against Women—it’s a men’s issue! as giving bystanders, or anyone who is not a perpetrator, the tools to not be silent, as silence is a form of consent and