Origins
The extent to which masculinity is due to socialization versus inborn factors has been the subject of much debate. Some have argued that it is based largely on biology as masculinity is inextricably linked with the male body. In this view, masculinity is something that is associated with the biological male sex and having male genitalia, for instance, is regarded as a natural aspect of masculinity. Others have suggested that while masculinity may be influenced by biological factors, it is also culturally constructed. As such, masculinity is not restricted to men and can, in fact, be female as women frequently display behavior, traits and physical attributes that are considered "masculine" in a given historical and social context. Proponents of this view point out that women can become men hormonally and physically and that many aspects that are assumed to be natural are linguistically and therefore culturally driven. Facial hair, for instance, has been linked to masculinity through language in such forms as stories about boys becoming men when they start to shave.
Masculinity does not have a single source of origin or creator such as the media, certain institutions, or certain groups of people. While the military, for example, has a vested interest in constructing and promoting a specific form of masculinity, it does not create it from scratch and masculinity has influenced the creation of the military in the first place.
Read more about this topic: Masculinity
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: “Look what I killed. Aren’t I the best?””
—Katharine Hamnett (b. 1948)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)