Assignment #2

Introduction to Sociology

Flags of our Fathers

In his study Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities, Michael A. Messner explores and interprets the meanings males themselves attribute to their boyhood participation in organized sport. In the followings, the focus will be on the connection between fathers and their sons. The involvement of fathers in their sons lives will be highlighted in order to prove how crucial this is. Although Messner regards organized sports as an institution constructed by gender relations, they could rather be seen as a surrogate that boys choose as a result of two needs their duty to carry on the tradition of masculinity and their need for closeness. The purpose of this study was to use feminist theories of masculine gender identity to explore how masculinity develops and changes as boys and men interact within the socially constructed world of organized sports. Herewith are provided two reasons why this approach could be problematic or easy to call in question. On the one hand, Catharina MacKinnon - as a woman is often accused of being condescending to women, while all she claims she is trying to do is enunciate and describe how women are condescended to. On the other hand, Pierre Bourdieu as a man is even more often inappellably accused with not being able to fully understand what women are struggling for ages with. Considering these two problems sociologists were already faced with, the interpretation of this study, which was done by a man using feminist theories, might have lost bits of its accuracy. According to MacKinnons case, it is appropriate for a man to study masculinity, although the risk of not being taken seriously does exist, but he has all the chances to misinterpret the results because of the use of feminist theories. Or he could easily be accused with doing so.

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Assignment #2

Introduction to Sociology

Another important aspect is the absence of the mothers in the process of constructing and developing the masculinity. As Bourdieu witnessed in a small community, the process of separation begins shortly after a boy is born. In this small community, the masculinity is regarded as something natural and boys separation of their mothers is a legitimate ritual that no one is questioning. In this type of society, such kind of ritual is not enough. In addition, the men make sure that all possible future mothers influences on the newborn boy are eliminated. In the first years of the childs life, this is done only symbolically (e.g. by placing between the mother and the son tools and utensils that are associated with manhood or cutting the boys hair). When they reach the age of four, the boys are becoming aware of their place in the community. In parallel, in the modern society, this is exactly the age when fathers begin to play with their sons, making them aware of their expectations, of their plans they have for their sons. And this is when their masculinity begins to be induced, when boys become aware that masculinity and its dominant character is an institution. In Bourdieus study, fathers take their sons to the market which is the axis mundi of masculinity, the place where men and only men gather. And further on, the father begins to initiate the son, to help him turn into a man. This is the moment when as both Messner and Bourdieu agree fathers start to pressure their sons, who are soon due to become men. In this phase of the construction of masculinity, fathers often become their sons role models. If this is not the case, given the circumstances, as Messner underlines, boys find role models who are men and in most of the cases, a family member. Considering the fact that most of the interviewees regarded their sport teams as families, we could conclude that masculinity is thought in the family the primary groups in which, according to the symbolic interactions theory, boys as well as girls learn their first social skills. Nevertheless, boys are not men until other men recognize them as being men. In this particular case, boys who live in the modern society are judged according to how competitive they are. Also crucial is the fact that the boys have to prove their abilities playing along with other boys. In one case mentioned by Messner, boys have to stand in

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Assignment #2

Introduction to Sociology

front of older and more skilled boys in order to obtain their approval. In another case, a boy has to compete against older and stronger boys. These unequal battles are often discouraging, but later on, when a boy happens to win, his enthusiasm is restored. This way, the construction of masculinity goes a step forward. Although in Bourdieus study the boys do not deal with such challenges, the pattern seems to be the same. The only difference consists in the fact that nowadays a boy has to accomplish more tasks in order to be recognized as a man while in an exotic society the result is always the same all boys become men. Apart from that, boys are still emotionally much attached to their fathers, who guide them through this process of becoming a man and also to be widely recognized as being a man. Or even when their fathers do not guide them like could happen in the modern society fathers still have high expectations from their sons. This leads to a great amount of pressure on modern boys shoulders. From one reason or another, although the boys still compete only against other boys so it still is a family matter - the pressure is higher. In Bourdieus study, boys are systematically integrated in mens world, without having to face any challenges and without even questioning this process. But in Messners study, men question boys manhood, test it in uneven fights and even put a bigger pressure on the boys. Therefore it must be concluded that boys are still seeking Bourdieus pattern. They are longing to be (regarded as) men or see it as a duty to themselves or to manhood but at the same time, they need the assurance and the support of other men, something that they no longer receive. This dualism, which is absent in an exotic society - where boys get not only support, but also guidance seems to be disorienting for boys. The construction of masculinity seems not to be anymore a natural process, a ritual that turns all boys into men, but a tough selection in which boys have to endure embarrassment and live under pressure in order to achieve a status that they were, in fact, born with. And all this in front of their families.

6/16/2010

Assignment #2

Introduction to Sociology

REFERENCES

Bourdieu, Pierre (2003). Dominaia masculin (Masculine Domination). Bucureti: Editura Meridiane Messner, A. Michael (2006). Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities. In Garth Massey, ed., Readings for Sociology. 5th ed. London: Norton & Co.

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