Tayla Conroy

SWK-072-01
4/16/17

Sexuality Development: The Conditioning of Hypermasculinity

Sex roles in American culture is conditioned into all societal members at a young age.

Children learn from their environment, and society has taught them specific roles and rules to

adhere to base on their sex. Limiting society to two genders, criteria is made for both sexes of

male and female. The general consensus in society assumes that gender doesn’t exist on a

spectrum, therefore men and women must have polar distinctions in character. There is a criteria

in place for what makes one feminine and masculine, and no cross contamination can exist. If a

woman were to display masculine traits, she would be looked upon with discomfort. However, if

a man were to display feminine traits he would be ostracized from his community and may face

physical threats. Both sexes have ramifications to conflicting with their sex roles, however, the

implications it has on men can be grandiose. The only remedy for men to avoid conflict is to

restrain oneself to society’s expectations, and that means resembling hypermasculinity.

The list of characteristics for men are not idiosyncratic, but rather a consensual

distinction made by society. Characteristics include strength, leadership, violence, callousness,

lack of emotion, sexual prowess, athleticism, wealth, etc. Both women and men alike are

restrained to a box of characteristics, and it’s hard to escape the box. Men can’t have any

characteristics that contrast these notions, elsewise they are depicted as feminine. Any relation to

femininity or women causes them to be ostracized. Labels like girl, gay, or faggot are used as
criticism toward men who astray from these expectations. There is a notion in place that the

worst thing for a male to resemble is a female.

Such a concept creates institutional and social ramifications. Given the expectations that

a man is inherently superior to a woman, he is expected to aspire to certain leadership roles. Men

must have high paying careers and make more than their female counterparts. It’s important for

men to be the breadwinners, elsewise they will feel insecure about their male status. Recent

studies suggest, “that while men tend to applaud their spouses when they help to bring home the

bacon, husbands aren’t always as enthusiastic when women start bringing home the filet

mignon” (Thaler, 2013). A sense of insecurity is instilled within men when women out perform

them, and it is because of society’s cultural expectations for men and women. Studies

hypothesize that “social norms about gender identity appear to be adversely affecting family

formation and stability” (Thaler, 2013). As women are transcending societal norms, and

receiving more pay, there has been an increase in divorce. The characteristics and responsibilities

men are taught to adhere to are detrimental to their ability to make healthy relationships.

To establish a healthy relationship, one must get their needs met. To perform this task it

is important for men to voice their emotional needs. However, men are taught to never be

vulnerable, sensitive, or emotional, elsewise they are considered feminine. When men do voice

internal conflicts they are met with invalidation by their community, and are seen as weak. They

are frequently met with the command of “Man up!” Such a statement indicates that they are

diminishing their status as a man when they are expressing themselves. Repression is a frequent

coping mechanism for men, and this strategy has been proven to be related to health

complications such as stroke, heart disease, and hypertension. The relationship a man has with
himself is also repressed. Individual desires, separated from the community, often are repressed

because these feelings do not align with society’s concept of masculinity.

Gay men often feel the need to repress their desires for other men, because they are

afraid to be categorized as feminine. In a short documentary titled Age before Beauty: Growing

Older in The Gay Community, a gay man explained his personal challenges with embracing his

sexuality and his male status. Reflecting on this identity conflict, he confessed, “I grew up with a

sense that there was something very wrong with me, and part of that had to do with the fact that I

was attracted to men, but a lot of it had to do with failed masculinity. There was this concept that

if you are gay you cannot be a man”. Desiring men is considered to be a feeling exclusive for

women. Men who contrast this notion, and have homosexual desires are therefore considered

feminine. LGBTQ members are common targets of hate crimes. The mass shooting of the gay

night club, Pulse, last year in Orlando is an example of society’s intense disdain for

homosexuality. Homosexuality conflicts with societal gender roles, which upsets community

members that pride themselves in their adherence to their roles. Dominic J Parrot described this

phenomenon when he explained,

“It is posited that overt violations of the male gender role (e.g., homosexuality) represent
a significant threat to the self-concept of men who endorse an extreme male gender role
orientation (Herek, 1986, 1988; Whitley & Kite, 1998). To cope with this threat, these
men attempt to bolster their identification with the male gender role by displaying highly
stereotypic masculine emotions and behaviors (e.g., anger, aggression). Expression of
anger and aggression toward gay men may alleviate this threat and reaffirm one’s
masculine identity” (2007).
To maintain masculine identity, men often resort to tendencies of hypermasculinity. They may

try to reinforce their heterosexual identity through physical violence, or objectifying women.

Men are to be considered as aggressive, and sexual. The more intense these

characteristics are, the better the reputation one has a male. However the combination of these
characteristics, and media’s objectification of women prove to have harmful ramifications. Sex

roles and objectification of women can manifest in pornography, movies, television, and

magazines. Society’s consumption of these values perpetuates rape culture, and rape culture is

perpetuated by “the combination of the sexual objectification of women and an emphasis on

male characteristics, such as aggression and violence, as hypermasculinity” (Pazzani, 2007). The

likeliness that a women will experience sexual assault sometime in her lifetime is high, and the

perpetrators of this crime are most frequently men. Sexual encounters are important for the male

ego, and the objectification of women creates a dangerous combination.

Men are judged on their ability to lead, demonstrate physical strength, and exercise

sexuality with women. These expectations create a dangerous environment for women, as well as

men. Hypermasculinity is in place because of society’s sex value system. No man wants to be

considered deviant, because he doesn’t want to lose his identity as masculine. A man’s

masculinity is the measure of his worth, and if he loses that then he may be ostracized by his

community. However, society’s concept of masculinity is detrimental to the health of men, and

potential communities that fall victim to the effects it has on men. To solve this problem

education must be enacted to combat the fallacies in place regarding sex roles. Young boys and

girls must learn to refute the expectations media and society portrays, and the only way to do that

is through education. Media has a job of displaying accurate, and healthy portrayals of men and

women. To develop a healthy sense of identity in an individual, surrounding communities and

families must learn to support all members. Institutions should also have policies in place to

eradicate gender inequality. The more gender equality, the less emphasis a society will have on

gender roles. The best way to negate hypermasculinity is by instilling feminist ideals into a

community.
References

Parrott, D. J., & Zeichner, A. (2007). Determinants of Anger and Physical Aggression Based on

Sexual Orientation: An Experimental Examination of Hypermasculinity and Exposure to

Male Gender Role Violations. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(6), 891-901.

doi:10.1007/s10508-007-9194-z

Pazzani, L. M. (2007). The Factors Affecting Sexual Assaults Committed by Strangers and

Acquaintances. Violence Against Women, 13(7), 717-749.

doi:10.1177/1077801207302699

Thaler, R. H. (2013, June 01). Breadwinning Wives and Nervous Husbands. Retrieved April 17,

2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/business/breadwinner-wives-and-

nervous-husbands.html