On page 3 of “Masculinity” Kimmel states that “Institutions accomplish the creation of gender difference and the reproduction of gender order through several gendered processes.” In simpler terms the message he is trying to relay is that our environment breeds the inequalities in gender that we see around us today. To get a better understanding of this, we must first understand what a gendered process is. A process that is gendered is one in which the prerequisites of whatever it is you are trying to do, encourages one to adopt traits or characteristics that are normally used to describe either a man or a woman. An example of this is applying for a secretarial position in an office. When we think about a secretary we tend to think of a woman, and the fact that we make that connection without even thinking just goes to show how we have become blinded to the gendered processes that directly enforce gender norms and sexist ideas. An “ideal” secretary is one that is caring and easy to talk to, because part of the job is getting to know whoever it is you are a secretary for. These characteristics tend to describe the socially constructed ideal of a mother (and therefore woman). This seems to be a reoccurring theme, as seen in the fourth episode of “Man Enough”. In which, they push the message that the way everyone lives their day to day life makes a cycle of the behaviour that encourages the objectification of people (mainly women) as sexual beings and nothing more.

In the same text, Kimmel delves into the idea of plural masculinities rather than an ideal singular masculinity. What he means by this is that there are too many different kinds of men to fit into one box. By using plural masculinities to describe how every man is a man in his own sense, we can begin to understand the ” (…) unimaginable possibilities of social change.” that Kimmel speaks about in “Masculinity”. Once again, we see reoccurring themes in the fourth episode of ” Man Enough”, in which they speak about how every man is a man in their own way and all they need to do is take control. This very forward and freeing outlook on the situation at hand reinforces the idea that the possibilities of social change start with individuals (individual masculinities, if you will) and that we are only limited by the barriers that we set ourselves.

It is mentioned on the third page of “Masculinity” by Michael Kimmel that “institutions accomplish the creation of gender difference and the reproduction of gender order through several gendered processes.” By stating this he is explaining that the various institutions in our society have expectations based on a persons gender. These differences vary from having boys and girls stand in different lines in elementary school to separating men and women in prisons and treating them differently. This statement relates to the fourth episode of “Man Enough” when they were discussing how boys are expected to enjoy and be good at sports which puts extra pressure on them should they not fit into that box.

On the fourth page of Kimmel’s article, he states that “understanding how we do masculinities…opens up the unimaginable possibilities of social change.” The use of the word “masculinities” in this quote describes the immeasurable multitude of possible definitions for male gender norms, per culture, and social standing within ones culture, etc. The use of this term is preferable as it encompasses all definitions of masculinity rather than just one. And, reminds the fact that masculinity is an arbitrary adjective withheld only by a culture’s respective construction of reality. In “Man Enough” they discuss how important it is for North American society to stop imposing limiting social norms ruled by gender. These limiting expectations cause many issues for all members of society as they enforce things such as rape culture, toxic masculinity and reinforce bad mental health practices amongst men and boys.

Institutions gender.

Michael Kimmel wrote  “Institutions accomplish the creation of gender difference and the reproduction of gender order through several gendered processes.”

This refers to the fact that we generaly give gender to jobs. For example elementary teacher is for woman and director is for man.

There will always be a visible minority that is dedicates by the view of society.

Masculinities

Kimmel prefer the use of “masculinities” over the use of “masculinity”,

It is do to the fact that there are many ways of showing masculinity. Which is why we use it at plurals.

In the discussion, every man had a different view on how a man should act and behavior.

With 7 billions humans on earth. There are 7 billions ways on being a man.

He means that institutions are creating gender difference because the positions within the institutions lead us to believe the people are a certain way because of their gender when actually it is the position that determines the way they act. In addition, usually the higher positions are created in such a way that it is geared towards a unique gender. For example: higher positions usually expect the person to be almost completely devoted to his work or role, but this clearly becomes a problem when women give birth and also need to take care of the children. They are also left alone to deal with that which doesn’t help. In the discussion, they talked about the inequalities between genders and how they are trying to change that by raising their kids along with their partner and teaching their children to respect and appreciate women. Another thing from the documentary that can be linked to what Kimmel said about gender being situational is how the men change their behaviours depending on the environment/situation (friends, family and workplace).

            When talking about masculinities Kimmel suggests that there are multiple definitions for what it means to be a man. He uses this term because he thinks the term “masculinity” doesn’t encompass all the different forms of masculinity that exists in our world. The quotation “Understanding how we do masculinities…opens up the unimaginable possibilities of social change.” means that we are constantly creating and changing gender with our actions. The documentary talks about breaking or changing the man box in order to stop and prevent violence against women this is an example of how understanding better gender and society we can change things for the better. 

Micheal Kimmel says “Foundations achieve the making of sexual orientation distinction and the multiplication of sex request through a few gendered forms.” Many institutions differentiate these groups of people bu their gender. The way society sees males is that they’re manly,strong and independent, as for females they’re seen to be weak,dependant and feminine. For example, the text mentions that Institutions accomplish the creation of gender differ- ence and the reproduction of the gender order through several gendered processes. Basically what he’s saying is that in every field you want to study in, there’s a number of females and males that will go in that course and it’s most likely that there will have more than the other gender. In the engendering field, it’s scientifically proven that there are more males than females that would study that. In the episode 4 of “Man Enough”, Justin talks about how if he walk down the streets he wouldn’t have to worry about someone harassing him or even rape him unlike females who go through that situation many times. Basically the relation between these two is that men are more advantaged since women are seen to be weak.

Kimmel prefers the use of term “masculinity” and pluralizes it because there are a lot of different views on the meaning “to be masculine” around the world. He says that a “consistent gender behavior is less a response to deeply internalized norms or personality characteristics and more a negotiated response to the con- sistency with which others demand that we act in a recog- nizable masculine or feminine way.” It’s more of a characteristic trait that others see’s the meaning of being masculine/feminine. At the end of the episode 4,these men we’re talking about the definition of masculinity the way they thought it was that’s why they call it “masculinities” since they’re are different meanings to it for each individual.