- Michael Kimmel writes “institutions accomplish the creation of gender difference and the reproduction of gender order through several gendered processes”. In this passage Kimmel refers to institutions such as the Church, the state, schools, and even workplaces whose existence depends on the maintenance of gender differences. For example, the Church promotes marriage and heterosexuality, concepts in which the power dynamic belongs to the man. This idea is synonymous to the conversations in the “Man Enough” episode since all of the men were from different backgrounds and had experienced different gender processes and yet, they perceived manliness and their relationship with it in very similar ways.
2. “Understanding how we do masculinities…opens up the unimaginable possibilities of social change.” The use of “masculinities” makes the term and the concept more inclusive of different personalities in the hopes to break the strict code around toxic masculinity. In the same way, the participants in “Man Enough” were discussing the various ways in which they are learning to be better people towards women in order to break the cycle of toxic masculinity.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 