By Dr. Pamela Hill Nettleton
A student asked me recently, “Why do you study men? Most feminists study women.” An excellent question!
I asked her, “Well, who has the power?”
If humans are to come to a fuller understanding of our selves as gendered beings, scholars also need to study the other gender (hint: there are at least two, and women aren’t the only folks on the planet who are gendered).
I am far from the first person to repeat the wisdom that White is a race, too; male is a gender, too. Being White and male (and we can toss heterosexual in here, as well) becomes culturally invisible when it is considered the “universal” condition—though it obviously is not universal at all. Those of us who study race, sexuality, and gender gain much information and insight from turning the research spotlight onto those who are so in the center that society treats them as symbols of universal humanity.
And so I study masculinity as it is created and performed in the media. Often, on television. Continue reading ‘Masculinity in the Media’
