Crisis of Manhood

There are many reasons pointed out in the chapters about why masculinity is in crisis. Kimmel describes the crisis of contemporary manhood as being something created out of the pressures for a man to live up to specific ideas about what it means to be a man. The idea of the Masculine Mystique, was created in the 1960s to group men as being sober, a responsible breadwinner, the master of his own fate and a hero. Even if this was eventually deemed as being false, it still planted a seed inside the minds of men. For example, in work, the strive that defined the Self-Made Man was no longer the shining star after fears and anxieties became more prevalent. Even to the point where Kimmel says that being a self-made man, was the cause to an early death. Which isn’t a very motivating. But since they were seen as needing to be the breadwinner of the family, men carried on with the relentless competitiveness and strive.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that masculinity is in crisis. At the time when things were beginning to change, in terms of things like the wimp and what it meant to be a man, I could see how people would worry a bit. But nowadays there is such diversity between how masculine (tough) or feminine (sensitive) a man is, especially with the rise of acceptance towards gays. Although I do agree with Kimmel that when women became more prominent and basically redefined the responsibility of the man being the sole breadwinner, masculinity took the hit.