The Beefcaking of America
Jill Neimark has compiled the results of a variety of surveys which support the idea that traditional gender roles have undergone rapid changes in the last ten years. Women are no longer the target of sexual innuendos, but in many cases the initators. There are a number of highly educated, attractive, financially secure women who choose good-looking men for themselves. They care about the way their men look and demand no less. Traditionally, beautiful women have used their looks to attract a rich and powerful mate. But with greater financial independence, these women can choose men who are not powerful and rich, but who are beautiful..In addition, there seems to be a new icon for masculinity. It is a blend of male and female characteristics. The masculine ideal has switched from the hairy bulk of a man to the smooth bulk of a man. More than 1500 people responded to a questionnaire regarding how men and women feel about the male body. Even though there is a group of women who place a very high priority on male looks, the majority of women answering the questionnaire, were much more accepting of flaws in the male body than males perceived them to be.
Even though there seems to be a significant shift in the way society looks at the male body, both men and women rate personality as the number one quality in attracting a mate. There is the person who carries his lunch to school in a brown paper bag and everyone freaks out. Few of us remain untouched by day-to-day exposure to a changing culture. The new cultural emphasis has also has led to an increase in the number of men suffering from body image disorders. I agree that gender roles are undergoing drastic changes, many of them for the good, many of them are not so good. However, it seems that some women have taken over the role of oogling and their sex objects are the man with the new male image. If men in the previous generation had long hair and facial hair, the next generation had short hair and no beards. There has been a blending a male and female roles resulting in a more level playing field for everyone. Commercialism is a major player in our shaping our identity in the culture in which we live. As more and more women are rising to executive positions in the corporate world, they are exposed to what once was referred to "a man's world". In addition, with more and more emphasis on sexual harassment cases, men no longer verbalize sexual thoughts toward women. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. Where previously, the male was the breadwinner, usually provided by a muscle-building job, he was expected to look rugged, hairy and muscluar. Some inner-city youth have become entrepreneurs themselves in order to have the resources to purchase the brand-name that spells out their identity. They have adopted American brand-names as identity builders for themselves, without realizing that American brand-names are part of the mainstream, not a sub-culture.
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SUMMARY Megan,
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