Despite the progress made in gender and culture, there are still numerous incidents of gender-based discrimination, harassment, violence, abuse, and hate crimes. This essay will examine the notion of patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and gender conflict. Years and centuries of history, cultures, traditions, norms, and practices have shaped us into today’s people, including our tolerance towards the homeless in society. While change and growth are essential aspects of our environment, it is also crucial to realize that gender disparities persist in our community. Patriarchalism promotes the concept of toxic masculinity while also uprooting societal roles that cause gender conflict. As a man, I can see these issues in our community that still negatively impact many people’s lives and create a conflict and inequalities in gender. These concepts cover a variety of principles, including essential aspects of culture and society and their influence on individuals.
Patriarchy is a system of connections, ideas, and values that structure gender inequality between men and women and is ingrained in political, social, and economic institutions. Traits deemed “feminine” or “about women” are devalued, while attributes considered “masculine” or “about males” are valued. Both the private and public realms are structured by patriarchal relationships, guaranteeing that males govern both (Nash, 2020). Toxic masculinity is characterized by cultural pressures on males to act a specific way. And all boys and men may be affected in some way. It relates to the belief that certain people’s definitions of “manliness” encourage oppression, homophobia, and violence. This concept that men must act strong and hide their feelings may damage their mental health and have severe societal implications (Morin, 2020). According to Capobianco, Davis, and Kraus (2020), most of our perceptions of gender differences are variations in our culturally manufactured gender roles and gender stereotypes, not underlying gender or sex differences. This is also true in terms of communication and conflict resolution approaches. Gender stereotypes assume that women are more inclined to avoid confrontation while males are more willing to compete in conflict circumstances. We may think that toxic masculinity is to blame for society’s disparities in conventional and gender roles. However, according to one article, the underlying problem is found in these three ideas, not in anyone. But, to begin at the micro-level, I’ll quickly explain the socialization principle, which is toxic masculinity refers to micro-level social factors that reduce persons to communities, beliefs, and ideas. Going back to the essence of our goal is to eliminate the misconceptions. This widely held belief asserts that males are essential to women’s societal importance and socioeconomic value (Kononova et al., 2019). As a result, we may deduce that patriarchy is an actualization of the underlying problem. Since then, this idea has affected behaviors, traditional and cultural norms, and new beliefs.
I’ve come away with some thoughts after talking about gender and culture. Until recently, I felt that society’s gender-related conflicts and difficulties resulted from men’s actions. To be honest, I utilized concepts and practices connected with gender and patriarchy. At some points, I can really see and assume that it was men’s fault. Based on my experience, I didn’t even know that I was patriarchal before because I thought being a man should show masculinity, which is toxic and conflict with our gender.As I concluded, the problem was not with the guys but with the notions themselves from my perception and facts. These ideas will not be established until they are put into action. The actual problem was societal norms and culture, not solution ideas. I’m intrigued about the origins of norms and customs, yet there’s still some confusion about it.
Before, I thought that men are needed to show their manliness and prove that they were real men. They should be brave, be masculine, and even have more power than women. I also think that it is the fault of men that they were just trying to cope with the norms of our society and aren’t educated about the reality that is happening because of men’s doings. I also thought that men are experiencing more suffering than women because of this toxic masculinity. After learning key concepts in Module 2 of GED109, I now think that we have the right to show and express ourselves regardless of the designated sex, being a man or a woman. People have a hard time showing who they really are because of the expectations of society to us, and also in the teaching of Prof. Castillo that our gender is like a rainbow, we didn’t know when it would come out. But once you feel your true self, you should not be afraid to show it to the people and be who you are. I also learned that being a man who lives in these societal norms and beliefs in religion, I should correct all the wrongdoings of how these norms and beliefs imply gender discrimination, gender inequality, toxic masculinity, etc. We should change the perspective and beliefs of the people on having gender roles that keep out our true selves. With the learnings in this module, I know now that women are experiencing more suffering than men. As a person that is educated in this matter, I should take action about this problem by telling people the facts and causes of society in our behavior, beliefs, and norms. Its purpose is to stop these tragedies that affect many people’s lives in our country, even all over the world.
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