Masculinity as Homophobia
Homophobia is a central organizing principle of our cultural definition of manhood, also put as men's fear of other men. It is made somewhat clear in this chapter, that most men are homophobic because of the way they regard other men. The author of this chapter, Michael Kimmel, basically used different examples to prove the idea that men are stuck in a bubble where they always have to act tough, strong, and sometimes, violent to prove to others that they are true men. If not, they are likely regarded as "sissy's" or "faggot's" and treated differently because they do not follow the social norms of what it means to be a man. Kimmel said it is 3 times more probable for men to commit suicide over women, based on their insecurities and a lot of their discomfort in their own skin. Another point I found interesting was that "In one survey, women and men were asked what they were most afraid of. Women responded they they were most afraid of being raped and murdered. Men responded that they were most afraid of being laughed at." I believe that based on this fact alone, all men are scared of sharing things like their feelings, emotions... let alone their sexuality. Men almost always have their guard up and knowing the backlash and disrespect they will receive upon being different, they have that right. I agree with all the points made in Masculinity as Homophobia and although I find it unfortunate that some people feel so strongly against the "demasculinization" of men, it is still today's reality. On the other hand, I feel that society is modernizing and the idea of homophobia is slowly improving.
