Femininity, masculinity and body image Flashcards
1
Q
what is hegemonic masculinity?
A
- Hegemonic masculinity, or hegemonic masculinities, refers to a particular set of practices and societal norms that are seen as “masculine” and that are dominant in society.
Masculinity is the set of norms or expected behaviors and abilities that society prescribes to men. It is not “hardwired” biologically. - Antonio Gramsci defined hegemony as winning and retaining power that forms and destroys social groups in the process. Hegemonic masculinity relates to how masculinity constructs dominance and remains in control. This involves persuading a large portion of the population and often appears normal and goes unquestioned.
- The norms and practices that constitute hegemonic masculinity assist men in maintaining social control. In short, hegemonic masculinity is what it takes to be a “real man” in society.
- The set of qualities defined as hegemonically masculine varies from place to place, over time, and culturally.
2
Q
what do hegemonic masculinities look like?
A
- Hegemonic masculinities should be seen as the ideal that men in a particular culture at a particular historical time are expected to value. It is an exemplar.
- The rules of hegemonic masculinities are so stringent and the monitoring and enforcement by society so strict that the quest for hegemonic masculinity is a constant performance.
- It is also impossible to ever be truly hegemonically masculine, which is why the quest always continues; if being hegemonically masculine were easy, men who pursue it wouldn’t feel the need to try so hard to maintain it.
- The irony of hegemonic masculinity is how fragile a state it is and how susceptible to failure men are when they attempt to embody hegemonic masculinity.
3
Q
What is the ideal hegemonic man?
A
- Are economically successful, from racially and ethnically privileged groups, and visibly heterosexual.
-They are well educated or excel at their careers and work at the most prestigious and lucrative occupations. - Their hegemonic status is produced and legitimated by these valued attributes: whiteness, wealth, social position and heterosexuality.
4
Q
What are the advantages for men?
A
- Many men with social power are not ideally masculine—but these men can compensate for that with social power or by additionally emphasizing particular aspects of masculinity that they do embody.
- For example, a man may be of small stature but highly successful financially in a job with social power. The focus for this man may be to overemphasize his job power and attempt to call attention away from his physical limitation (in the eyes of societal standards).
- Although true hegemonic masculinity is nearly impossible to achieve, most men gain from its hegemony because they benefit from patriarchy because men in general gain from the overall subordination of women, but all men do not benefit in the same way.
5
Q
What are the disadvantages for men?
A
- Men must compete and continually prove their manhood. This leads to aggressive and exploitative attitudes that erode relationships. Men win or lose everything in the attempt (or die trying).
- Men are “trapped in the harness” of working to provide (make as much money as possible). They come to see everyone as a potential customer, always trying to sell or profit from relationships, foregoing opportunities for other intimate relationships.
- Men gain power (the ability to be dominant, to control or coerce) through success in attaining the masculine ideal. Achieving this masculinity requires pressure and sacrifice. Not all men achieve this power, and many end up feeling frustrated and angry in their powerlessness.
6
Q
What is hegemonic femininity?
A
- You are much less likely to hear the term hegemonic femininity. Though there is an idealized version for how to be feminine, it is typically not associated with the same degree of power as masculinity.
- Connell uses the term emphasized femininity to describe the dominant form.
- This version of femininity reflects sociability, empathy, and nurturance, rather than power or physical strength.
- Connell suggests that emphasized femininity is based on compliance with gender inequalities, accommodating others’ needs rather than pursuing one’s own.
7
Q
What are the top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures and minimally-invasive procedures?
A
Surgical:
- breast augmentation
- liposuction
- eyelid surgery
- nose reshaping
- facelift
Minimal:
- Botox
- soft tissue filler
- laser hair removal
- chemical peel
- IPL treatment
8
Q
what are the common demographics for these treatments?
A
- women = 92% of all cosmetic procedures
- 2% increase for women, 2% decrease for men
- women in the millions, men in the hundreds of thousands (over one million for minimal)
- mainly Caucasian, then Hispanics, Africans Americans, Asian
9
Q
how did Covid-19 impact cosmetic surgery?
A
- During the pandemic, 11% of women surveyed indicated they are more interested in cosmetic plastic surgery or non-surgical procedures now than before COVID-19, and the figure is even higher among women who have already had surgery or a procedure – 24%, respectively.
- Also, 35% of women who have previously had at least one cosmetic surgical procedure or minimally invasive procedure plan to spend significantly or somewhat more on treatments in 2021 than in 2020.
10
Q
what procedure saw the biggest boost in 2020?
A
- for years, breast augmentation had reigned supreme, with liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery and facelifts rounding out the top five. These procedures remained popular in 2020; after all, there is a reason why people are so interested in them, and the pandemic made getting and recovering from these procedures easier for many.
- However, interest in facial procedures grew significantly, thanks to Zoom and other video chatting platforms. Patients began requesting everything from chin liposuction to facelifts with greater frequency than ever before. There was also an increased interest in med spa procedures, such as Botox and fillers, prompting many practices to increase their focus on their nonsurgical offerings, or even innovate their delivery methods to accommodate drive-thru procedures.
11
Q
what is the beauty myth?
A
- Wolf asserts that the “beauty myth” is undermining women’s advancement by reducing them to beauties instead of serious competitors in the social arena.
- Even in the face of economic and professional advancement, women’s self-worth may be wrapped up in their appearances, and thus they are compelled to purchase and use cosmetics, visit beauty salons, restrict their caloric intake, and perhaps undergo cosmetic surgery.
- Wolf argues that some cosmetic surgeries, such as breast augmentation, are forms of sexual control of women and that the pain and danger women endure is often for the sake of male approval.
- She makes a case that choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery is not actually a choice: When the options are perishing in a society where one’s appearance is not valued or surviving by altering the body through cosmetic surgery, it is a false choice.
- Women make the choice for surgery under duress because they wish to keep their jobs and continue to be accepted members of the community.
- Furthermore, Wolf describes women’s obsession with appearance as a backlash against the women’s movement and claims that nothing short of a third-wave feminist movement will remedy the ills caused by this objectification of women.
12
Q
explain the docile body?
A
- Through the pursuit of an ever-changing, homogenizing, elusive ideal of femininity—a pursuit without a terminus, requiring that women constantly attend to minute and often whimsical changes in fashion —female bodies become docile bodies —bodies whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, and “improvement.”
13
Q
what is anorexia nervosa?
A
- An exaggeration of stereotypically feminine traits?
- A demonstration of self-mastery and control?
- A form of protest?
