Reading Analyses #5

Danae Martin

October 19, 2017

Week 8

Your “takeaway” – this is the author’s central argument from the assigned reading, or the prominent theme that linked 2 or more readings

From week 8 assigned reading the author’s central arguments that linked the three readings was gender performance and masculinity as an ideal.

One of Neale’s arguments in “Masculinity as a Spectacle” was masculinity has not been discussed. However, it is evident that in films and media an idea of masculinity is strongly presented. In addition, this leads to the pressure and contradictions films are creating regarding this weeks topic on Manhood, Masculinity and Hypermasculinity.

Based on the second reading assigned “Porn Chic, Gender Performance and Halloween Fashion” by Katz, this created a realistic example of how children, youth, and even adults are suppose to conform to a specific gender performance and stereotype.

A take away from the readings for week 8 has emphasized how society encounters aspects of conforming to a social construct of male or female in many aspects of day-to-day life. A perfect example from Katz reading is Halloween costumes. While emphasizing this point, this leads to pressure from a dominant society to conform to gender stereotypes and fill an accurate representation based on film and media.

 A new theme or concept from the assigned reading, defined in your own words

A new theme and concept that was presented in “Masculinity as a Spectacle” by Neale is that male genres and films constantly involve sadomasochistic themes and are objects of the erotic gaze. In my own words the idea of a feminist film theory is a way to describe how film and media is a way of empowering men and objectifying women. This can also be related back to the gendered Halloween costumes in the Katz article. This concept also enforces gendered manhood and masculinity with the effects of hyper-masculinity. This also creates an idea of woman being an object of male desire. Again, as mentioned in the first question this can also be an example of the gendered Halloween costumes in the Katz article because the costumes are gendered to be an object of the male gaze.

How you might use the material in your own research/everyday life

I might use the reading material for week 8 in many different ways. I am curious about how Halloween costumes created a social construct of being gender conforming in the past and if they were more or less gendered. Based on the major gender stereotyping that films have created and how it is seen in many examples in day-to-day life, I would like to further research how this affects what children and parents believe their gender performance should be. In addition, if Halloween costumes were not gendered would this decrease ideal gender constructs, or is this something which is created from the time a child is born and at no fault of their own follow a specific gender binary resulting in conforming to a specific gender.