Masculine Pursuits
Throughout the history of humanity, words such as virile, athletic, aggressive, and brave have been virtually synonymous with masculinity. The alpha male has been the stoic bastion of leadership, strength, and individualism that any boy would one day hope, nay, dream to attain. Even literary genius Camille Paglia once stated, "A woman simply is, but a man must become" (Camille 1). How times have changed. In his work, Jungle Fever, Pete Wells analyzes the King Kong re-makes and satirically relates the evolution of Kong from the original 1933 version as "an untamed alpha male within modern civilization," (Wells 68) to Peter Jackson's recent depiction as so "housebroken that he becomes a knuckle-dragging eunuch" (Wells 69). Unfortunately, the comparison does not end there. Wells masterfully parallels Kong's "maturation" with the contemporary media's depiction of today's man. In the new millennium, T.V. shows and movies alike render males as incompetent bumbling idiots, presenting "men in general, and husbands and fathers in particular, as objects of ridicule, pity, or even scorn," thus helping the media to successfully perpetuate stereotypes of their own design (Kane 1).
A subtle, yet powerful form of the media which establishes and molds gender roles consists of the many advertisements on T.V. and in magazines. Because these advertisements pervade Western culture, "gender representations [have become] one of advertisers' favorite means used to sell products" (Barthel 1988). These advertising agencies have become accustomed to designing campaigns that exploit gender identity, vying for the consumer's attention, tantalizing them with an image, and finally, selling these consumers the product. This prevalence of advertisements in America's society began a war between traditional masculinity and new-age ads. Instigated by chagrined feminists, women who for years were fed up with ads showing addle-brained housewives completely dependant on men, ad...
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