Soci 314 Midterm 2 Flashcards
(39 cards)
What did men’s platonic friendship look like historically?
- men kissing on the cheek to say hello
- taking photos very close and intimate
- hand holding as a sign of friendship and respect in middle eastern countries
Example of men’s romantic friendships in the west
In the Victorian era, many men could share love letters, express deep affection for one another, share beds, touch, and even cuddle or kiss without suspicion of being sexually deviant
Romance was practice for marriage and helped provided a need for emotional security, especially in high-stakes economic conditions
Conditions that allowed romantic friendships included:
Sex-segregation institutions like schools and lodges
Social prohibitions on friendships between men and women
The lack of a gay identity; understanding of gay “types” of people as sexually different were not widespread
The lack of a nationwide educational system through late adolescence
When romantic friendships end in the west and why
In the late 19th century men’s same-sex romantic friendships began to disappear (Emergence of sexual identification as a concept)
Before World War 2 “boys were not expected to express any romantic interest in girls at all” during middle or high school, and those who did were considered “infantile or effeminate” instead they were encouraged to form intimate passionate bonds with other boys or with men, that went above and beyond what today are considered best friend relationships.
After WW2 boys interests in women was seen as a sign of masculinity and normal sexuality
After WW2 boys interest in other boys or men was seen as feminine or homosexual
Contemporary friendship trends (Facebook photos)
Photos of two women together were far more common than photos of two men together
Photos of large same gender groups were more likely to be men rather than all women
Gender differences in friendships
Men are more likely than women to have friendships based on activities and especially group activities
Women are more likely than men to have emotionally intimate friends that meet one-on-one
Why are male friendships important?
Friendships are the first relationships we develop outside of our family. They are incredibly important developmentally and offer early lessons in empathy, compassion, and reciprocity.
Men’s Friendship Recession
20% of single men saying they have no close friends and men saying men are not satisfied with the size of their friend groups
Men are feeling more and more alone, lacking friendships and keeping them.
Women are better at building friendships
Men are 80% of suicides
Men are more likely to be isolated than women
How can men reverse the friendship epidemic?
Be intention about male friendship and fighting loneliness
Create spaces
Loneliness vs Social Isolation
Loneliness = feeling
Social isolation = more objective, amount a time people spend alone
Gender and Social Isolation in Older Adulthood
Although most older adults have at least one close confidant, women are more likely than men to have any close confidant and to have close confidants that are both family and friends
Among men in older adulthood higher endorsement of conservative masculinity attitudes is associated with a lower likelihood of having any confidant
Some young men in Hong Kong demonstrate interest in women, but not too much interest, because doing so evokes the image of “toxic men” who are lustful yet cannot satisfy desires with real women.
Same for Pascoe’s reading were boys who expressed interest in girls were seen as deviant.
Some adolescents and young men in Finland navigate the expectations to be “successfully” heterosexual by:
Approaching girls and women to flirt with them while being careful to pay attention to social cues and not come off as too aggressive
Not make advances in certain environments, such as school or the gym
Paring sexual success with romantic involvement
Not bragging about sexual experiences
Emphasizing consent
A variety of changes threatened men’s sex lives and, thus, how they perceived their masculinity:
Less sex with women partners as both aged
Separation from women partners
Age-related bodily changes
Erectile dysfunction
(When sex is an act of affirming manhood, and men can no longer have it in the way that mirrors dominant sexual scripts it is no surprise they feel not just sexually inadequate but inadequate as men”.)
Men and dieting?
Although people of all genders may diet, some men who diet masculinize their practices by describing their actions as involving strength and self discipline and using aggressive terms such as “shredded” and “ripped”
If cooking is often feminized, then what explains the demographic overrepresentation of men among chefs?
Work as chefs, including gourmet chefs, is masculinized because the work takes space in public (rather than at home) and is framed as involving considerable skill, innovation, creatively, competence, and hard work
Masculinity and Meat
Meat consumption varies considerably by culture, religion, and socioeconomic class
Within the Western world, there is an association between meat - especially red meat - and masculinity.
Among men, higher self-rated masculinity is associated with greater consumption of beef and chicken, but not pork or fish
Vegetarians?
Women don’t eat meat for environmental reasons and animal welfare concerns
How strong is gender connected to environmental attitudes today?
One study analyzed representative data from 32 countries (all continents) to analyze attitudes about environmental protection, awareness of environmental threats, and willingness to pay to protect the environment
Societal with higher gender equality, people have higher awareness of problems
Wealthy qualities have greater environmental concern and willingness to pay, poorer countries have lower pro-environmental attitudes
“In societies with higher levels of gender inequality, economic scarcity, power distance, and collective, people have higher levels of awareness of problems but lower levels of pro-environmental view and willingness to pay” (96)
“Gender differences in environmental concern are larger, rather than smaller in more gender-equal societies” Because men and women enjoy more freedom of self expression there are larger gender differences in environmental concern
Gender and Health - and Climate Change
Men are more interested in meat-based diets than women, on average and often to eating meat to their masculinity
This diet has consequences for their health. What consequences does raising animals for consumption have on the environment?
Raising animals for consumption contributes to climate change and freshwater depletion more than non-meat food production. Energy wasted, resources needed to raise the animal
Beef has the highest greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production, cow who produce dairy first emit less greenhouse gas
Animal products are response for in house gas emissions compared to crops and plants
Mens spending results in more emission than womens (Holidays, transport are the two biggest categories they differ from women)
Women in many countries surveyed more likely than men to consider climate change a major threat
How strongly is gender connected to climate change?
Gender is a small part of the story
Political affiliation and ideology are the biggest categories in climate change beliefs
Canadian attitudes towards climate
Masculinity and femininity were not significantly associated with attitudes in any subset
Gender polarization was associated with climate attitudes only among right-wing men (Higher gender polarization, less support for climate policy)
Right wing men there levels of dislike towards the left are the most important variant in support or not
Takeaways - Gender and Climate Attitudes
In some countries there is a relationship usually small between gender identity and attitudes about climate change
In canada gender identity and self-rated masculinity and femininity explain little variance in climate policy attitudes
Gender polarization is significantly associated with climate policy attitudes but only among men on the right, and the percent of variance it explains is moderate
key themes for historical changes in masculinity
Changes in masculinity often follow changes in femininity
Example Use of high heels, it was common for men to wear high heels and they were not worn by women. Marker of masculinity in upper classes. Associated with horse riders. Associated with status.Then changed to women wearing high heels. Associated with lower status
