Saikiran D

14HEHL02

Instructor: Professor Sindhu Menon

Course : HE707

7 November 2014

Assignment : Postapocalyptic crisis and Reconfiguration of Masculinities in The Road and I Am

Legend

In this essay, I intend to trace masculinities of the protagonists of the postapocalyptic novels The

Road by Cormac McCarthy and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. My aim is to show that the

masculinity of these characters showcases a internal crisis due to the external postapocalyptic

setting and also points towards need for a reconfiguration of masculinity to fit the new

environment.

A brief look into the definition of concepts like masculinities and postapocalyptic would be

necessary to illuminate the subject. I shall rely upon the book Masculinities by Raewyn Connell

in understanding the concept and related issues surrounding it.

Masculinities, written by an Australian sociologist named Raewyn Connell, occupies its place as

a seminal text that an in-depth look into the study and research of masculinities. Connell's work

has had a great impact upon gender studies, feminism and other various disciplines making it an

influential book which has a wide reach and value to numerous branches of study. The title of
book itself points to the concept of plurality masculine gender practices and it is a rejection of

the idea of a universal and essential 'masculinity' and an exploration of different masculinities

that are deployed and practiced in various social and historical settings. Since its publication in

1995 it has been translated into five different languages and the second edition in 2005 has

increased its popularity and appeal. The book delves into its subject from a feminist standpoint

by drawing on concepts such a gender being a social construct. Connell examines the attempts of

understanding masculinities and developing a science of masculinities in the modern west in the

fields of social sciences and psychoanalysis. It also contains life-history interviews of different

groups of men who have grappled with changes in gender relations in different circumstances.

In Chapter one which is titled 'Science of Masculinity', Connell brings together knowledge

produced about the masculinity in various fields such a psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology

and history. It is a detailed analysis of the history and impact of the kinds of knowledge that have

been produced like the gender role theory in the field of social psychology and the clinical

science of masculinity formed in psychoanalysis. These studies although insightful did not create

the kind of political knowledge about masculinity that was offered by the gay liberation moment

and the women's liberation moment in the sixties. The knowledge produced by these perspectives

illuminate problems that were overlooked by the other formal fields of study. The gay movement

and the feminist movement disrupt the neat binaries of gender, male/female and the polarization

of homosexual/heterosexual. They in pointing out to the issue of homophobia and violence,

brought into question the mainstream masculinity and its relation to the institutionalized power

structures and social relations. There is a rejection of positivistic science of masculinity and the

importance of it being a relational concept is emphasized. Masculinity can only be understood in

relation to femininity as it is embedded in a system of gender relations.

The second chapter, 'Men's Bodies', deals with the question of the body and takes to task the

notion that men's masculinity is rooted and determined by their bodies and hence they cannot

change. This fatalistic position is challenged and it leads to the old nature vs nurture debate. The

underlying ideology behind the sociobiological position is brought to light and the problems of

the idea that gender is determined by social forces is also noted. For Connell, a compromise

between these two positions is not viable. Using the example of sports she asserts that

masculinity is manifested through a working and developing body and sports symbolically sends

message of men's dominance over women. Another example given is Paul willis's "Learning to

Labor" which shows how manual labor not only works for class exploitation but also is a means

of asserting superiority over women. The body therefore is not seen as passive platform for

social processes to work upon and the fact that there are no one body buy many kinds of bodies

which are in a flux is foregrounded in her argument. The body is an active participant in gender

practices and she calls this bodily reflection.

Chapter three is titled 'The Social Organization of Masculinities' which starts by declaring the

failure of the fields of psychoanalysis, gender role theory and social sciences in developing a

coherent science of masculinity and defines her approach and theory of masculinity in this

chapter.

Masculinities as defined by R.W. Connell in her works is plural and not singular and is about the

perceived notions and patterns of behavior associated with men and they must act in particular

situations. She explains it as a relational concept which is in contrast with and opposed to

femininity.

The terms ' masculine' and ' feminine ' point beyond
categorical sex difference to the ways men differ among

themselves, and women differ among themselves, in matters of

gender. (Connell pg 69)

The general idea of masculinity as an essential quality of men is rejected here in favor of a view

that sees masculinity as a category of gender structure and gender as organization of a set of

social practices. These practices relate to the processes of reproduction and human bodily

structures. The practice of gender in not limited to isolated actions but to branched arrays

referred to by Connell as collections of gender practices.

Practice that relates to this structure, generated as people and

groups grapple with their historical situations, does not consist of

isolated acts. Actions are configured in larger units, and when we

speak of masculinity and femininity we are naming configurations

of gender practice. Connell pg 72

Connell describes masculinity as configuration or process of configuring practice, not in a static

sense but as a process. It is a process which is formed by history and also influences and makes

history.

Chapters four, five, six and seven deal with life history case studies of men from different walks

of life. This approach has been taken due to the author's interest in clinical psychology and

therapeutic psychoanalysis in particular. They help the readers to connect the personal

experiences of men to social structures like gender and class. The personal and individual

situated in institutional and social dynamics is examined in this approach. The groups
interviewed are young working class men (chapter 4 'Live Fast Die Young'), men involved in

environmental activism with feminist leanings (chapter 5 'A Whole New World'), gay men who

enact stereotypically straight behavior (chapter 6 'A Very Straight Gay') and men from the middle

class whose occupations are related to technological work (Chapter7 'Men of Reason')

The Chapter eight, ' The History of Masculinity', identifies the roots of contemporary

masculinity to be connected to the time of increasing European and American power and the rise

of global imperialism and global capitalist economy. This suggests that modern masculinity has

had to do with violence on a global scale. Connell draws a link between the sociopolitical

changes during the Early modern period with its institutionalization of heterosexuality and rise of

individualism as the beginnings of modern masculinities. Later on during the period of

colonialism we see the male maritime trade and military expansion as an important phase in the

formation of western masculinities. Capitalist culture centered in cities according to Connell

founded a form of masculinity which created a new type of gendered labor. the rise of the nation

states is also described as an establishment of the patriarchal order with the coloring of

nationalism and state violence.

In Chapter 9, 'Masculinity Politics', Connell focuses on the politics of men's domination over

women and other marginalized groups such as gay men. She discusses concepts such a a therapy

of masculinity as a response to feminist criticism and exist politics which is enacted by straight

men and gay men in different ways in opposition to the hegemonic model of masculinity.

Chapter 10, 'Practice and Utopia', tackles the questions of the disparities between actual realities

and utopian solutions. The existing conditions of gender practice and the utopian ideal of social

justice to be reached should be brought to scrutiny according to Connell. There need not be a
discarding of masculinity itself but a dismantlement of hegemonic masculinity and the

decomposition of gender relations is proposed as a strategy of repositioning of the existing

gender hierarchies.

Postapocalyptic could be understood as the material and social reality after an apocalypse.

Apocalypse is defined as the end of the world scenario which could be caused by any number of

reasons. It might usually involve the end of civilization as we know it or the end of a way of life

or thinking. David Buchbinder in his book Studying Men and Masculinity used James Berger's

definitions of the apocalypse and postapocalypse. There is a component of revelation or a

revealing of something important in apocalyptic literature. Etymologically the word means a

revelation, unveiling and uncovering which means that it has an interpretive and explanatory

function. An apocalyptic event in its destructive moment must clarify and illuminate the true

nature of what has been brought to an end. Buchbinder lists a few models of masculinities which

he terms as postapocalyptic masculinities. They are the masculinities that have risen in popular

cultural representations following the aftermath of the gay and feminist liberation movements

which are understood as historical events having apocalyptic significance. The schlemiel figure

in movies like Meet the Parents and other Ben Stiller movies and Television comedy sitcoms like

Everybody loves Raymond is explored as an example for postapocalyptic masculinity which is

characterized by the inadequacy and incompetence of men to live up to the traditional masculine

ideal. There also the figures like that of the single father and the gay father where the new

fatherhood is shown in a positive manner when men learn how to care for children. These models

can be seen as new configurations suiting the new social conditions of modern life where old

hegemonic template of masculinity becomes just one of the options and not the ideal to be
pursued and emulated. Though these are marginal types they work in destabilizing the

centralization of hegemonic masculinity in cultural production. Buchbinder notes how the

Schlemiel occurs mostly in the genre of comedy and not in serious genres like drama.

The novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a father and son who travel across a

landscape in ruins searching for food and reduced to bare necessities for their survival. The story

is not just about the physical survival but about how they keep themselves alive in these post

apocalyptic conditions. everywhere they look there are ashes and no animals or living plants but

only the remnants of a destroyed civilization with humans resorting to cannibalism, though the

reason for this cataclysmic situation is not clear in the text it is clear that nature has a hostile

presence in the novel. The man and the boy travel on an empty road towards the south to the sea

and the man protects his son from starvation, threats from nature and other people though he

himself has some sort of sickness. The man uses his gun on a man in defense as he poses a great

threat to them finds an hidden underground bunker filled with food, new clothes, and other

supplies. However, it is too dangerous, so they only stay a few days. Here we see the enactment

of traditional masculinity by the lead character in protecting and providing for his son but due to

the absence of a mother he does the job of nurturing and caring for his son.

The new single father figure as a model of postapocalyptic masculinity model figures in this

novel as there is depiction of caring and nurturing father which in a way breaks with the

stereotype of women being assigned the job of childcare. In a postapocalyptic setting values of

parenting become clearer and we do not see a father who does not know how to take care for his

child but does his job adequately.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is also a postapocalyptic novel which is set in reality after the

spread of a dangerous strain of bacteria which turns people into vampires. Robert Neville is

shown as a sole survivor of this pandemic and he has not been infected because he is immune to

the bacteria. The narrative describes the daily struggles of Neville to protect himself and his

house from the vampires who come out at night to attack him and the female vampires use their

bodies in hopes of luring him out of his house which is protected by garlic, mirrors and

crucifixes which are the traditional protection from vampires. Once again it is not the mere

physical survival that is depicted in this narrative but also the psychological struggles Neville

goes through in guarding his mind from the lure of the female vampires and frustration of being

lonely in his house. We see a person affected by depression and an addiction to alcohol to deal

with his situation. A constant struggle to maintain one's humanity and the rational masculine self

is evidenced in this character which has parallels to the father character in The Road. This

instinct to preserve the civilized self in a savage world brings out the relational aspect of

masculinity that Connell talks of. Though there is minimal female presence in both novels the

feminine is sustained in the memories that Neville has of his wife and daughter who in a way

serve to preserve his humanity. Similarly if we take the child in McCarthy's novel who serves as

feminized presence needing protection and provision from the father character. The child serves

as a life line to the father as much as the father is to the son. The masculine performance of both

the lead characters depends upon how they relate themselves to the feminine. Neville is

constantly suppressing his carnal desire for the female vampires which shows us how even if he

is attracted to them he does not see them as human and is committed to the feminine ideal of the

world that has collapsed.

Similarly, the father and child in The Road encounter a hysterical woman at the beginning of the

novel which contrasts with the memories of the mother character and the nurturing woman

encountered by the orphaned child at the end of the novel. Masculinity is not only defined by its

relation to femininity but also to other types of masculinity. There is, I believe, a distinction

drawn between the personal masculinity and the formation of masculinity in groups. In The

Road we see a father protecting and sacrificing for his son as a good and nurturing father and the

other male characters are seen to be enacting violence in groups for power. This contrast between

them is important as the individual personal and local practice of the father character is

contrasted with organized groups who brutalize other humans and have descended into savagery

and cannibalism. Neville on the other hand preserves himself from the infected with a

commitment to the world he had known before but at the end of novel he is captured by the

infected people and in an incredible reversal find himself as the abject and abnormal. He then

accepts his fate and is killed. Similarly, the father of the boy in The Road dies at the closing of

the novel. these deaths could symbolically mean the death of one way of living life to usher in

the hope for another. In other words, they point to the need for a reconfiguration in the

masculinity they practice as their attempts to retrieve the older form from the past does not take

them far enough. The changes they make in their behavior in performing the masculine role is

due to the circumstances they are faced with but they do so with an ambivalent attitude towards

the past. These two postapocalyptic novel showcase the need for change in social practices of

gender which involve a certain amount of retreat to the past but also allowing new practices or

models to be incorporated into it to form a sort of creolized masculinity mentioned by David

Buchbinder in Studying Men and Masculinity.

 Bibliography

Buchbinder, David. Studying men and masculinities. Routledge, 2012.

Connell, Raewyn. Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. Macmillan, 2007.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006