Constructing Masculinity Summary

The Constructing Masculinity article was very interesting and I feel the information it provided flies under the radar. The article provides insight on how men and their masculinity are often influenced through the media; most of the time in negative ways. The article covers thoroughly how American sitcoms today mock the male gender and the perception of masculinity. Examples shows such as Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Home Improvement are referenced in the article as shows that "escalate the masculine parody". I used to watch Two and a Half Men when Charlie Sheen still played the role of Charlie Harper and can attest to the mocking of masculinity and the large portrayal of a stupid, incompetent male gender. The men in the show are often the butt-end of the joke, and portrayed largely as stupid or inferior to women. The quote, "The contemporary American sitcom tends toward a perceived analysis of male-incompetency and failures both in the home and more classical male domains", describes accurately how television continues to destroy hegemonic masculinity, but not necessarily in the best way. The article mentions how women are the main audience of American sitcoms. That being so, women tend to be the ones who define masculinity in that context, and "men can only lay claims to the old parts of their masculinity through irony, by falling right in with the joke".
Later in the article, Robertson discusses another example of how masculinity is influenced by the media. He touches on the propaganda used by the New Zealand military during the Great War. The New Zealand military challenged the masculinity of New Zealand men in hopes to encourage more soldiers to enlist. New Zealand adolescent males were largely exposed to histories of war heroes, which established physical and behavioral guidelines for them. Exposing young men to these stories encouraged them to 'prove their manhood' by serving their country in war.
Overall, I thought the article referenced many quality perspectives. I find it interesting that female misrepresentation on TV is widely talked about, but male misrepresentation is barely known.