Judith Halberstam examines masculinity, its confines and why men are so intimidated by their masculinity being seen in anyone else but themselves. She reflects on homosexuals, lesbians and their ability to function just as the straight, masculine man is able to, and how that poses a threat to the unsuspecting, masculine junkie of a man. Perhaps men just get a little twitchy when they see a woman able to take care of business, but Halberstam explains it as their inability to properly grasp the idea of their masculinity being one in the same with that of a woman’s. Men are supposed to be tougher and rougher than any lady around, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that a man would have a negative connotation towards a masculine female. The gender equality that has become such an argument between men and women have ‘meninists’ questioning why women don’t start doing labor themselves, holding doors for themselves or reaching high shelves for themselves… Ironically, Halberstam hits this nail right on the head.

For masculine men, their masculinity is not a social construct, but a large part of their identity. Their ability to identify as a man as a gender comes from their masculine features and actions. The manlier they are, the more man they are. Not only does it serve to solidify their understanding of what it takes to be an anatomical man, but also their actions. A man’s privilege to be ‘above’ a woman comes from the power their masculinity gives them. Masculinity is associated with power, and power is associated with being on top without any room for any others. A man’s actions are reliant on who can out man who, who can be the bigger man, who can take more pain than the other man, who has more power than the other man, etc.

Notice how I’ve done nothing but compare men to other men? Because masculine men cannot cope with being put on a level field with a woman, or worse to them, a homosexual who may be just as ‘manly’ as they are. A woman is below a masculine man, and a gay man is even lower. Both types of people are the exact opposite of ‘manly’ to a ‘manly man’. What I really loved about Halberstam’s analysis of men was her examples of movies and plots where a man must compete alongside another woman or gay man for the affection of the gorgeous leading lady. Because a ‘manly man’ doesn’t get beaten, its more wounding to get ‘beat’ by a woman or homosexual.

In 2015, it’s hard to imagine that people still live in this ‘manly man’ perception, but it is true. There are men who still feed into gender roles, and apply their expectations of individuals around them according to their gender or sexual orientation. Once again, as has been touched upon countless times within this semester, labels do a disservice. Maybe everyone just wants to be the most powerful, or maybe manly men should learn how to suck it up. Either way, everyone is entitled to what’s theirs, and to act however they want, whether it be masculine, feminine, animalistic. The social strains embedded into people’s heads should probably stopped at this point and this article was a prime example as to why. People should be threatened by others by their abilities, not because of a self denial of perhaps not being as good as getting the girl as a woman or gay man who are probably more deserving of the beautiful lady than the ‘manly man’.