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    Halbert Sam Masculinity

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    57 views22 pages

    Halbert Sam Masculinity

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    Nilmalvila Blue Lilies Pond
    Halbert Sam Masculinity

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    {com Female Masculinity by Judith Holberstam ea? (1998, Duke University Press) 2 This as een potable mot common gus: BEB Geek ert pe yor le wtng on oe By cal otc cata nd ined Beale tech t Ldeomt cata y ust not and cannot and should not reduce downto the rale its fect. also venture oasert that though we sem o have il tne defining masculinity, as society we have lite rouble in and indeed we spend massive amounts of time snd money jand supporting the versions of masculinity tat we enjoy and ofthese “heroic mascabinities” depend abrlutly onthe sy of alternative masculine | clam in this book that fa fom ‘uitation of malenes, female masculinity actully affords ws 3 oF how masculinity i constructed as masculinity, in other words, le toasclinisies ar Framed atthe reece scraps of dominant mas By in oder that male masculinity may appa to be the tal thing a Dex ha we unetin eemay ben pre by cron: bth male and female bdies. “This opening chapter does not simply offer 3 conventional tore ‘al introduction to the enterprise of conceptualizing mascliity without ten; rahe, t attempts to compile the myths and fantasies about mt tality tht have ensured thet easalnity and maleness are profoundly (ica to pry apart. then offer, byway of = pelminary attempt ore- fmagine masculinity, numerous examples of altematie masculine in fiction, film, and lve experince. These examples are mostly queer and female, and they show ley how fnportan isto recognize altematne masclinities when and where the emerge- Throughout this introduction, 1 dewal the many ways in which female masculinity has been bltanty ‘gored both i the cate at lrg an within academic studies of mascu- Tiny. This widespread inference to female masculinity, I suggest is leary ideological matiations and has sustained the complex soca stu tures that wed masculinity to maleness and to power and domination [emily believe that a sustained examination of female masculinity ca ‘make crac Interventions within gender studies, cultural studies, queer stadis, nd mainstream discussions of ender in general ‘Masculinity in thi society inevitably conjures up notions of power and Tetimacy and pile; it often symbolic refes tothe power of the state and to uneven disbstions of wel. Masculinity seems to extend Cutward into patric and imvard into the family: masculinity repre- ‘sents the power of inheritance, the consequences ofthe trafic in women. and the premise of social privilege But, obviously, many eter lines of ieatifcation traverse the train of mascality. dividing is power into complicated differentials of class, race, sexuality, and gender. I what we fall “dominant masculinity” pears o be a naturalized relation between ‘malenes and power then it makes lite senseto caine men forthe om ‘ours ofthat masculinity’ socal construction. Masculinity, this book wil claim, becomes legible at masculinity where and when it eaves the whit ‘male ridle-chos body, Arguments about excessive masculinity tend to focus on Blac bodies (male and fel), aio/a bodies, or working dass ‘bodies and neuen masculinity all 00 oer uted by Asian bodies ‘rupper dats bales: these sereetypial constiction of variable masci- Tiny mak the proess By which masculity becomes dominant in the pte of white middle-class malenest. But l to many stale that ur ‘ently temp to account fo the power of white masculinity recener this “white male body by concentrating all ther sry efforts on detain the forms and expressions of wie male dominance. Numerous studies lof Fs white male youth, white mae feminism, men and marriage and domestctons of maleness ama information about a subject whom we Jnow intimately and ad nauseam. This study professesa degree of nif ‘enceto the whiteness of the male and the masculinity ofthe white male and the project of naming his power: male masculinity figures in my projet, asa hermeneutic, and ar 3 counterenrple tothe Kinds of masculinity | Gat seem most informative sbout gender relations and most generative of social change, This ok seks Eis onl inthe female Eis impersonator “his Heres: it searches fr te political contours of masculine privilege ‘oki en uti the Ives of eristcratic European crossdressing women inthe 19208: it describes the det of masculine difference by comparing ‘ot men and women bt btch lesbians and female toma wanssenals; ‘examines masculinity’ icanicity ot inthe male matinee sol but i a ‘istery of Buches in cinema: ind, ultimately thatthe shapes and forms. —ofrmodein masculinity ae best showcased within female masculinity. ‘How elie to begin book on female masculinity but by depesing one | ofthe most persistent of male heres: Bond, ames Bond. T strate my point that moder masculinity is mast easy recogized as female masci- Tiny consider the James Rond action m,n which male mascality very = often appears sony a shadow of ore powerfil and convincing alterna "Se masculinity: tn Geldeny (1995), for example, Bond bates the usual “aay of bad guye: Commis, Nazis, mercenaries and 2 superagpressive ‘let femme type. He puts on his unl performance of debonair action “advensre her, anh has his usual supply of gadgetry toad hima e- tracable beta bomb caguised as pen, laser weapon watch, and so But thee something curly aking i Goldeneye, namely, edible “masculine power. Bond’ boss. M, isa noticeably butch elder woman who “als Bona dinosaur an chastise him for being a misogynist and 2 sex- “4S. His secretary, Mis Moneypenny, accuses him of sexual harasment, ale bud betrays him and calls him a dupe snd wlimataly women seem not ogo for his charms —bad sults and lots of sera inmuendo— ‘which ser 3 ol and a ineffective 2 is gadget. Masculinity, in this ater acionles fi, primary prosthetic and, this and countless otber action fis has litle if anthing todo with Pilogcalrslenese and sige more often a a tecncal special eect. ‘in Goldene te M who mot consincingly performs masculinity abd she ‘does so partly by exposing the sham af Rand's own peformance, I M ‘who convinces us that sexism and misogyny are not necessarily part and parcel of masculinity, eventhough historically it has become dca ‘ot imposible, to untangle masculinity fom the oppression of women, ‘The action adventure hero should embody an extreme version of norma tive masculinity, bo instead we Bind that exesive masculinity furs into «parody or exposure ofthe norm. Beaute masculinity tends to manifest at natal gender itself, te action fic, with templates on prostetic cmtension, actully undermines the heterosexsalty ofthe hero eve at extends is masculinity. So, in Goldene, er example, Bond's acuity is linked not only toa profoundly unnatural form of masculine mbox ‘ment but also to gry masclinites. In the scene in which Bond goes to ick up his newest set of gadgets, acarpy and almost queeny science nerd {ies Bond his brandnew acessories and demonstrates each one with [rat ehusism tis no accident atthe scence net ie called Agent Q, ‘We might ead Agent Qt a erect del ofthe interpenetration of que and dominant regimes is precisely an agent. 2 quer rubject who ‘expones the workings of dominant heteroveual masculinity. The gay tas. callin f Agen Q and the Female masculinity of M provide remarkable representation ofthe absolute dependence of dominant masculnities on ‘minority masculine, When you take his toys away, Bond as very ite propping up his pecformance of masculinity Without the slick with al sie the iga- rete lighter that wansforms into alter gun, our James hero without the action or the adventure. The masculinity of the white male, what we might cal epic masculinity” depends absolutely, s any Bond fick dene ‘onstrates, ona vast subterranean network of seret goverment group, ‘welMfunded scientists, the army, and an endless supply of both beat fal ba babes and besiful god babes, and fly it relies heavily onan Immediately recognizable “bad guy"The "bad guy" standard generic Aearae of epic masclinity naratves think only of Parade La and its ‘eschatological separation between God and Del; Satan, if you ike, ithe orginal Bad guy. Which is otto say tha the bad guy's masculinity bars ‘im from the rewards of mae pvlege—on the contrary, bad guys may also look ike winners, but hey art tend te de more quicly. Indeed, there jis currently tine of clothing called Bad By that revels i the particlar ower ofthe bad guy and reveals how quickly tranagression ads up to nothing moe than consumerism nthe sper ofthe wie male. Anoter at inde in the consumer potenti of male ebelon eat This abel etre advertisement wih skyaving sting en wh show tec nest y wearing the No Far log and death eying stunt in thet lear ime. To tst how domes hs bel ata, we have only to imagine what No Fear might ines ni an ang how es in martial at uti wold hardly nat nto sang ty he No Fears haya cant way De eg th of oi belo wei lo 2 ong literary and cinematic history that celebrates the fhe male if James Stewart, Ciegry Peck, and Pred Ate fe faces of god gy apples Dean, Malan Brands and eft De Niro represent te bad gy ape, and realy t becomes qe to separate one rou om he other. bv, bd oy representa Jn the sos captured someting of «white workngasrblion niles society and agsnet partici forms of domestic, today’s eel wilhoot + cane tmorow's investment taker, nd eben tends toward rerpecaiy athe ewards fr conormity ame to outweigh the reard for oc ebelio. To prapiase “Gerrade Sin, what's the point of being rebel boy you ae ang 19 [prow up tobe a man? Obvnsy, where and when réblion erases 0 be te miles ratereblion (nvidia ad loeazed within the Tone mal or een generalized int the boy gana end becmes cls ree thm race retin = ery diferent thes merge. "What happens when boy rebelin is located not inthe testosterone: induced pout of Ue holgan but in the ance ofthe tomboy? Tomboy (enerly describes an extended cildhood period of female masculinity Ifwe ae to believe general accounts of childhood bebo, tmbosism is ‘git conanion for gs snd does not generally give rice to parental fear. Because cmpurable coeriderifction behaviors in boys do often give "he fo quite hysterical cesponses, we tnd t believe that female gender | deviance s much more tolerated than male gender deviance | am not ste thot tolerance in such matters can be measured or at any rate that | response to childhood gender bebaios necessary tellus anything con- Crete about the permed parameters of adult male and female gender I ii evince, Tomboyis tends tobe asocisted with natural” desire forthe sgremer freedoms and mobilities enjoyed by boys. ery afte itis ead a8 4 sign of independence and se motivation 3nd tomboy may even been ‘courage tothe extent that it remalss comfortably linked toa sabe sense of gil identi. Tomborism i punished, however, when it appears to be thesia of extreme maledeticaton (aking a oy's ame or resin i] clothing of any ype) and when threatens to extend beyond childhood and into adolescence? Teenage tomboyism presents a problem and tend o be subject to the most severe efforts to reorient We could sy tht tomboys {stolerated as long asthe child zemains prepubescent; a oon as puberty ‘begins, however, the fll ore of gender conformity descends on the gi (Gender conformity is pressed onto al gis, not ust tomboys, nd his is ‘wher it becomes hard to uphold the nin that male femininity presents 2 greater threat to social and fail sabi than female masculinity Female adolescence represent the crise of coming of age asa itl in ‘male-dominated society. Iadoescence fr bos represents ait of passage (emu celebrated in Wester terature inthe form of the biegsteran), andan ascension to some version (however atemsated) of social ome, ot (2, adalecence lest in etait, punishment and repression. tis in the contet of female adolescence that the tomboy nits of ilions of gisare remodeled nto compliant forms of fern. “Thatany gle do emerge at the end of adolescence as masculine women iequiteamzing. The growing sly and indeed respectability of lesbian communities to some degree fiat the emergence of masculise young women But as even a curory survey of popular cinema confi, the ‘image of te tomboy can be tolerated only within a nartative of boseming ‘womanhood; within sich anarative, tomboys represents a resistance to adulthood ise eather dan wo ad fesininy. In bo the novel and ‘lm versions ofthe classic tomboy narrative The Meer ofthe Weng by (Cason McCullers, tomboy Frankie Addams Sights losing bate against ‘womanhood, andthe tex estes womanhood or femininity a rss of reprerenaton tht confronts the heroine with unacceptable fe options Asher brothers wedding approaches, Fane Addams pronounces cel ‘mired ina realm of unbelonging, ese the symbolic partnership ofthe wedding but also alenated fom belonging in almost every category that night desrbe ber. McCulles writes “It happened that green and crary summer when Frankie was twele year old This was the ser when fora lng time she had net been a member She belonged 9 no cb and Fgh loge ro cb aed ya member fang ol” Hiss Fake Adar ar ie are os Be nh Me of he eig (es dec by Fed Zona fs & rember of nothing n the world, Frankie was an unjoined person Ww ng around in doorways, and she was afraid” McCallers postions Frankie onthe verge of dclescence when Franke was ele years ali") And inthe mids of an enduring sate of being “unpined She belonged ono dub and was member of nothing inthe world” Whi childhood in general may qual as perod of “unbelongin,”for the boyish gi anv Ingo the daorte of womanhood, her sttusas “unjlned marks her out forall manner of socal violence and opprobram, A she dawdles i the Tartlight oF childhood, Frankie addans has becene a tomboy who “hang Broa ix doorways, and she was arid” ‘Asa genre, the tomboy fim, a6 I show in chapter 6, “Looking Butch suggests thatthe caegeries availabe to women for racial, gendered, and Seni dentication ate simply inadequate. In her novel, MeCules shows this inadequacy to bea diet result ofthe tyranny of Inguage— srs. ture that fies people and things in place atlclly but socately. Franke tres io change her identity by changing her name: “Why is it against he a ee ee law to change your name?” she atk Berenice (07), Berenice answers: “Be ‘aut things accumalteaound your name,” and abesseses that witout ‘ames, confusion would reign and “the whole world would go cary” But ¢ Berenice aio acknowledges tht theft conferred by names also taps People into many differnt identities racial ar wel a gendered: We lof ‘ussomehow caught... And maybe we wants to widen and bute, But ‘no mater what we do we sill ght” a). Frankie thinks that naming represents the power of defi, and name changing confers the power to reimagine identity, place, relation, and even gender. “I wonder if its guns the aw to change your name, sys Franke, "Or ad to... Wel "on care... Jasmine Addams” (5) Paychoanalysis posts crucial relationship between language and desire such that language structures desire and expresses therefore both the fll ness and the ftlity of hunszndesire— fll because we alwys desi, tle because we are never satisfied. Frankie in arial understands desire sand sera tobe the mest regimented forms of sacl conformity—we ate supposed to desire only certain people don a certain ways, but bet este doesnot work that way, nd she Sind here torn between longing and belonging Because she doesnot dsice in conventional wa, Fane seeks to avoid desir altogether. Her struggle wih language, her tempts toremake herself ough naming and remake the world with anew der of being, ae ultimately heroic, but unsuceesfal. McCall pesiism has to do witha sence of te overselsing “order of things,” an oder hat ‘cannot be affected by the individual, and works through things as basic as language, and forces nonmembers nto memberships they cannot uli, My book refuses the faity lng asociated withthe traboy narrative ‘nd instead seizes on the opportunity to recogize and ri diferent tgendeted bodies ad subjects. Moving rom the nineteenth centr to the present and examining dares, curt case, novels eters, lms, pe. ormances, events, critica sty, videos, news items, and testimonies, tis ‘ook argues forthe production of new taonomies, what ve K. Sedgwick ‘humoroisly called “nonce taxonomies" in Fpisemslgy of the Cle, e- Seaton of desi, physicality and subjectivity that temp to intervene in hegemonic processes of raming and defining, None taxonomies ae cate gore that we une dll to make sense fou world bt that werk 0 well ‘hat we actualy fl to recognize them. In this bock, I attempt to bring ome ofthe nonce tatonomies of female mascaliniy int view, nd I deta ‘he histres of the suppression of thee ategores Here, and inthe rest eee “ofthe book, ov sing the topic female masculinity to explore 2 ger “pubic portion tt con mcceaslycalngebegeronic model of gen “Ger Contry, Feral asclniy paral te of vet gon becus it as boon iif by beterosnt and feminist womans Prose alike ne rae emi, which ila kin of ual fine Honin mac hornscial cles, ferae masculinity i general received Dpto and homo-nocmate clues ra pathological sign of misiden- ‘cation nd malsurtent, a alngingtobe and thaw power thats “mays jst out ofeach, Wil esi conten, ele maeclnty has “beensitated athe place where arr gorstowrkon the fel ry. She and eerotes sag win females. Tere have been o date _remalaly fw suds o heres abot the inevitable ech of fly "iclted fers ascii o 3 sersngy forte ale masa "Sometimes frie masclinty coincides with the exeses of male su _premay ad sometimes tcoiera urge for of il een: fen Female ascii te sgn of sel ater, oral rks Ieleroseral ation; sometimes female mately marks he place of utloy, and every now and then i epteens the heal aeratie {oat are conser the hint ofconentinal eines Tanto caefly proce a mode of fra masini tht remaka “en tiple frst aan alls for new and sel conscious femations Poteet ever zone. Sich fratons begin ol by subverting " mitaline power or taking op post aginst miaslne power bby " tuming ld ee to conventional macnn and refoing to eng _ Fran Addams, or example, constitter ber reblion not a cppeston tothe aw bt hugh inderence tothe she ecpsizes hat may D Be asin te lt change one's name or a oH, Dut be ala has 4 | Simple response sch ileal avy "Wel ort care” tm no aig itis book hat we allow the Sle pth of what Fons all | Tsang to power” ut am aserig tha power ay ihe within i = fee frm of efi: "Wel dente” | Queer Methodlopiet | This book deploys murerous mathodlopies in order to pursue the mule tiple forms of gender variance presented within female masculinity. Oa | dezount ofthe iterdscpinary nate of my projec, Ihave had to craft 4 methodology cut of availabe disciplinary methods. Deploying what 1 | eS ‘would all “queer methodology? {have used some combination of tx- tual cits, ethnography, historical suey, archi research and the production of taxonomies. cll thie methodology “queer: beeuse i. tempts to remain supple enough to respond tothe various cations of information on female maseslnity and betrays a certain dlysty 0 con ‘ventional disciplinary methods. Obvious, [could have produced meth ‘ological consistency by confining mysel to literary txts, bt the quect ‘methodology used here, then typifies just one ofthe forms ffl that discussed in my last seen Although cme ofthe most informative work on alternative sex com ‘munities has come inthe form of ethnography, and although autbiogr- pics and narrative histories ted tobe the material that we turn to for {information on sensl identi, there fs nonetheless some disagreement ‘among queer scholars about how we should cilect and interpret such information on seml identity indeed. some of the most iter and long- lasting disagreements within queer studes have been about dsipinaity and methodology Whereas some cultural siies proponents have argued that social science methods felling, collating, and presenting sexual room” Conversely, readings of tens also require historical content and tome relation tothe lned experience of subjects. The text-based method- ‘logis err on the side of abrtracion, and the secilgial studies err on ‘he side of overt rationalizing sexual behave. Final, although some hve eran iterary or cltral studies preacher fo denityeaneeuc> sion as apollo ahistorical, theories tht te the history of senslty ‘unproblematilly to eeonamics o the movement ofeapital tend to pro (queer methodology, + ways = scavenger methodsogy that uses ‘compulsion toward dscpinarycobereace. Although his book will ely recognizable as 2 work of cultural studies, it wil not shy rom the more empirel methods asocated with etinogeapic ee ‘tural suis ie, masculinity has recently become afaerite want to ty hereto account forthe growing popularity of «body sk on masculinity tat evinces absolutely no interest in masculinity ‘men. I fst noticed the unprecedented interest in masculinity 1994 when the DIA Center forthe Performing Arts convened & sp of important elles old forth on the tpi of masculine. On the opening night of this event, one commentator wondered, “Why why now” Several thers, mle rites scholars, ate lo papers about their memories of being young boys and about thes hips wit their ahers. The one lesbian a the panel a poet. ead oer about rape. At the end ofthe evening only ene panelist cormmented on the littons ofa dacusion of masculinity ha in mascliniy” 25a synonym for men or maleness? This lonely highlighted the gap between mainstream discussions of mas and men and ongoing quer discussions about masculinity which far beyond the male bod. Inded, in answer tothe nave question began the evening, "Why masculine, why now” one might tte: Esse masclinty inthe 1ggos has ill been recognized a, atleast Pan, a onstaction by fale: a welt mle-born people” |The anthology ths the conference produced provides more evidence ‘the thoroughgoing assocation that te elitors have made between cin and maleness. The te poge features a small photographic lon of stone sgn advertising clothing a Fins for Men” This ae ‘ation hs been pled jut blow thee, martin Maxi, and feces the rade 6 understand the cnc af reno the ttn of rakes wii cata The intedcons these temps to ery ths defnon of maven yng Jo Baters sd Ee Sedgwick conto to sggst a he ang eagis the challenges made by gy leans and qcers th ter of feds sematinty The eos ast tat masa mae nd ety frm ust bing abot men, he ies of manly ener aac tnd shapes eveyone The commitment othe errno racy 2 mulls certain borne ot nh ft ean the eam, by oe Sedgwick in which she proposes tht masciiniy may haved do sth men, de ome extend by Ble sy "Melacholy Cen der” But Sdgvice alo ctgue teed fr hing propane 9 ook anda conference on mascinty hat remain counted ang to Unity male. Aho the redaction sages that eds are ede Sedgwick’ lr gender dey he est ofthe vhume agg thew. Ther ae many ficiating eye in this eel, re ame no esas special onfrle masini, Although prderqnet images by Leven Cameron and Cathy Opie aden the popes ofthe Yok, the scone a des fhe age The book cles rnd somo of mle cons sucha Cit Eat and Seen Sepa res ih compl elatans ete ther and sons emis opt sucht how scence deine ten ad mascara Te lee coves with an cab Strey Arnot ted “ay Masia _uobiagphicly infected consideration of vou fre ale power, ‘None fy nus ere it yh ts ian uniter atology tha the esas ae tomo wrong or spied but tng Joint ou tht the edtorl statement ot the Degining af he velar ss prologue to what flows and more oan elu tt ens ‘ha ane on anny sd do as peed ow he ansogy dees da en when the ne fra sa of fmale masclny ee been achonedgd in ter wordy, sem rear el lew trough on: What shen th opamp re tgs cay, alert ical rt revue an tet lon betocen mane tty and mend 3 epning ws thi examistion fhe Coating Masini con ference od alg, do et wat ogre he preston tat pe ef female msc st ay be eed owe et soe Se eee ee eT general set of masculinities that has been, and connate to be, ‘Nor do want to suggest that gender theory the fae origin Inowledges. Rather this conference and book rerey ermpa- ag berween community knowledges and practices and academe Lele its both helpful and important to contesralize & of ferale and lesbian maculntes in diver eppostion to & generalized discussion of mascliniy within cultural studies that Tent on insisting that masculinity remain the property of ale ‘The continued zfisal in Wester society to admit ambiguously bodies into fictional socal relations (evidenced, for example continued use of eithrjor bathrooms, ether women or men) i 1 sustained bya conservative and protectionist ate by men toward masculinity, Such an atitude has been blstered by 2 general disele in ferale masculinity, | can only describe such in terms of lure ina clective imagination: in other words, people have been making convincing and powerful assaults coherence of male masculinity for well overs hundted yar; what these arsauts fom taking hold and accomplishing the dmini (ofthe bonds between masculinity and men? Somehow, despite mil mages of stung women (such as bodybuilder Bex Fanci or tenis Martina Nava), of cose identifying women (Radely Wal ot Smyth, of mascuine-coded public Rgures (janet Reno), of butch (4, Jang), of muscular and athletic women (Jackie Joyner of female-born transgendered people (Leslie Feinberg. there fo general acceptance or even ecogition of masculine wornen snd ils This Dok addresses ise 'o this colactive failure to imagine rally the masculinity produced by, fr, nd within wore, “Incase my concems about the curent discussions of msselinity in stoies sound too dismissive | want to look nan extended way at happens when academic discussions of male masculinity ake pace the exsion of discussions of more wide-ranging maccliniis, While ‘ay ser tat Iam giving an inordinate amount of stetion to what afer al just one intervention nto cutent discon, | am using one a5 reprsenatve of a whole slew of ether die of rset) replicate the intentions and the mistakes ofthis one, In an anthology Boys: Masur in Contemporary Cire edted by Pal Smith ot A Culhural Studies series, Smith nuggets thal mately mst always be ‘thought of "in the purl as masculine “defined and ut trough by i Sih encompases 8 dorsinant white matcliniysat fe crisconed by is others, ay, bere ck, Asan and Latino macclinties Altough the recognition of «host of masculnities makes sense Smith choot focus on dominant white masculinity tothe exclusion ofthe other mas: lis be as Listed. Smith, predictably, warns the reader not to fll nto the trap of simply cxitiqung dominant masculinity or simply celebea ‘ng minaity masculine, and then he makes the follwing foundtonal ‘And it may well be the ese, 2 Some influential voices often tll ws, ‘that mascity oe mascliities ae In some real sense not the ex sive “property” of biologically male subjects —its trv that many female subjets ay lam to masculinity ae thei property. Yet in terms of cul tue an political poer, stil makes a difeence when masculinity ‘coincides wih bilogcl malenes. (4) ‘What is immedistely noticeable to me here isthe od atsibution of im smense power to thot “infuentil voices” who keep teling us that mas: ny i nt the property of men. Thee sno naming ofthese invents ‘oie, and we af left supposing tht “influence” has rendered the “female masculinity theorists” o powerful hat names are ieeevant: hese oie, ‘one might suppose, are hegemons. Se goes onto plead wth the rade, taking us to adit that the intersection of maleess and masciliity oes “sil” make difference. His appeal hereto common sense allows im to sound as if he is tying to reassert sore kind of rationality toa debate that is pinning of ins otal inconsequential cussions. Smith realy gulng that we mvt tur 6 domnnant masculinity o begin deconstruct ‘ng mascaity because tis the equation of maleness plus masculinity hat, ds up to soci Tegiizcy. Ae | argued aver this caper, however, preciely because white male masculinity has ebscured all other ms iis, we have to tum away fom its constuction to bring other more ‘moi forms of masculinity to ight. Smiths purpose in his easserton of the difference that male masculinity makes so uncover he “cultural and political power” of his won inorder to dzet our anton tothe power ‘of pth. The second prt ofthe paragraph makes this aloo cea: ological men—male-sexed beings —are aftr ail in varying depres, the bearers of prlege and power within the systems against which nen sl strug. The pilege and power ae ofcourse, diferent ferent men, endlessly diversied through the markers of cas. ton race sexs preference and son, But deny that there are ay en wo ar entcely outside ofthe amb, let 9 of power and pri ratio women, that sense it hast be usefltoour thinking jo recal that masculine are not ony function of dominant notions naecelty and not constituted solely in resistant notions of “ther hn fac, masculine eit inevitably in reltion to what have construed asthe system of patriarchy and patriarchal ‘ont nocesblefestre of this paragraph Othe cemarkabe ff the terms “women and “men” Ss arances hte 3 light ned eins tht understands worn a enesly victimized systems of male yower Woman win su a mode tbe ame ‘bless win purarcly wo have no acest mle power re regited and cote! by patcal rte. Dut hat Soh 10 Monique Wits cam that sins ae not women they ate not saved inthe heterosexual mt tht produces over ration? What can Sith dt Judith Bu ll hry of “gender trouble” which suggests that “ender thn original” sn hat donna sees nd genders re sense imbued wih 2 pathic dependence on thei oters hat Perey tisk? Wht woul Sahay Jacob Hale's cln gender we eat reference point in gender theory lf be: community prodcons of ateretve endeings?™ Are Dutch kes nt Are mle tranesites men? How does gender variance dist of porers presume by patachy in reins betwen men and Shit, in ter words, cao tke fale ascii a bce srs ta inconnquel nd secondary o mich more eto abut mle prvieg. Agus sounds moe ea azeron that men sil cess me power within patriachy they), and convene gore the wa In which ender el sre where and when gender afiance comes into ply. Sate io shore up male masclity by dismissing thei of oler mascalintes finds further expresion in his aterpt acalned masts int consideration His nod ey Wri a mediation on the completion ofthe 0}. Simpuon ce, sd South wonder 3 the way popula dlsaurse on the OJ ease estes issuer of masculinity and male domination nfvo ace When he Beas 1 Black mae caller wa radio tak sow link O's ase oan ongoing con- ‘piracy aginst bce men n this country, Smith ponder: "His plutering thou theatempted genocide of back men reminded me, somehow, that ‘stother feature ofthe 0, case was the way it had stared with the prose ‘ton tying to establish the slevace of 01's record a a wife beater” (Smith, Bos 3). Noting thatthe callers tothe talk show didnt have much fo sty about tis lads Smith to wonder whether race can const- tute a colectiveWenity but masculinity cannot, and Golly he suggests ‘hat although ie might be difficult otk about ace in his countrys itis ‘even more dificult f tlk about masclinty” (Ifyou area white man, its probably extremely dificult tak about eter race or masculinity et alone both tthe same time But of couse, race and masculinity. espe “alli the eae of are not separable int ty categories. Indeed, ne ‘might say that the caller's sphamerng” about conspiracies against black ‘men constituted afr more credible rae analysis inthis case than Smith's srtculaton ofthe relations between race and masculinity For Sith, mas: ‘int in the case of 0}. consitats a fow of dination that comes up ‘guns his blackness asa flow of subordination. Ther i no discussion ‘neve of the injustices ofthe legal system, the roe of clas and money in the iil or the compat history of elatons between blick men 2nd mite women Sith uses Qa shortand fr & model thats supposed to suggest power and divempewermeat in the same location. {am taking 30 mich ime and effort to discount Smiths intrduction to Boye because there sa catalnes to his esay tat bot indicates his Tack of any rel este inthe projet of aterative masulntes and suggests an unvwilingness to think rough the esny Wdentieations that ‘make up contemporary power ations around gender, race, and clas “The book that Smith introdaces also presto have nothing much oer to new dacssons of masculinity, nd we quickly find oursehes, from the ‘opening essy on, nthe fri tersitoy of men, boys andthe fates. ‘Te fst ey, fr example, by Fred Pel, “A Bull, New York Story” tel pif tale about fatheracn ration i the 19508, Ince memno- rable moment frm the senor, he (Fred) and Dal have cored up on ‘he couch to watch Bonanza wile Mom and Sis ae dong the dishes in ‘he ithe. Boy asks Dad “why bud guys were alway o stupid” and Dad laughs and esplains “because they were bad” to) The stay goes on te de tail dae anscent young by’ fst bushes with his male elative’ acs, fad his ow painfal sroggle with car sickness. Besides taking apart the “ynamics of fathers and sons conying up together o watch Bono, there ost certainly ae lttude of important hing to say about men and ancl in patvarchy, but Sith and some of hs cocteibuters choose fot to s2y them. We could be producing einographies on the aggres- ‘ve and indeed profit masclinsies produced by male sors fans “Mach work stil remains to be done onthe socialization (rlck thereof) young men in high schools (particulary rich white male) domestic on the new seis embodied by sense men." on the men who “paricipate in te trafic in maikorder brides and sex tourism (including ody of piveged white gay masini). But sie in male sc “Tiny ce predictably not xo interested in aking apart the ptrarhal bonds en white mleness and privilege; they are uch more concerned to the rites of male ucazation, the pains of manhood, and the of female empowerment * Because 1 have ctcized Smith for hs apparent lack of investment roet of producing akerstive masculine, let me take : moment “tomake my own investments cleat Atbough I make my own masculinity plc of my last caper, seems important to state tha this Book an to make my own female marcy plausible credible and rel large pat of my life, 1 have been mgmatized bya masculinity that rked meas ambiguous and Sey. Like many other tomboys. was for & boy throughout my daldhood, and like many other tom Adolescents I was forced into some seaance of femininity for my ears Wien gender-ambiguous chikren are constany challenged heir gender ideny, the chain of miarecogations can actualy Po anew recognition: in other words, to be constantly mistaken for 3 for many tomboys, can contribute tothe production ofa masculine iy Ise not ntl my mdrwenties that 1 inal found a word form) ender configuration: butch. kn my Sal chapter, “Raging Bll adress the ways in which butches manage to afm thee mas: despite the rmultple ses in which that marcy s challenged I tzeatened and viltd, a ee “Te Bathroom Probe ‘fhe decades of feminist theorizing about gender has thoroughly dis- lodged the notion that anatomy is destiny, tht gender x matural and that 6 imale and female are the only options, why do we sl operate it 2 workd {hat assumes that people who ate not male are female, and people who ae not female are male fd even tht people who are not male are not people) If gender hs been so thoroughly defuilarze, in other words, hy do we not have muitiple geader options, multiple gender categories, and realife nonmale and nonfemale options fo embodiment and ent ‘cation? ina way, gender’ very lilly and seeming uid is precisely ‘what allows dimorphic gender to held sway. Because few people actully ‘match any given commanity anduds fr mal or female, nother words, sender can be imprecise and therefore muliply relive through solidly binary stem. At the same te, because the definitional boundaries of ‘male ad female ate so eat there ae very few people nary gien pub- Ti pace who are completly unreadable in ers of thei gender. Ambiguous gender when and where i does appari inevitably rans- formed into deviance, thirdness, ora Bured version of either male or female. Asan evample in pubic bathrooms for women, aris bathroom ‘users tend fal to measure upto expectations of fern, and those ‘of es who present in some ambiguous way re routinely questioned and

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