Aaron W. Voyles looks at how the constructions of a superhero lead to violence.
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If I could have any super power, it would be flight. Actually, I’m afraid of heights so that would probably lead to nausea, but there’s still the allure of being able to swoop in and rescue people. Though I have not yet become a superhero, I’ve accomplished a lot of what I wanted. I still aspire for more. I seek to do more for my family, at my job. The expectations to do so are built by me and what’s around me. Together, we construct that aspiration for superpowers from an early age.
Life is full of carpenters. Some are people, some are environments or events—but these carpenters help us to build who we are and who we are allowed to be. We are ultimately our own builders and create our own identities, but we do not do so in vacuum. The shape, size, and dimensions of the boxes of social construction may vary, but we always operate within them.
Tony Porter (2010) speaks of the concept of the Man Box. The Man Box is the collective social construction of men. It is what society says is manly and what is not. The Man Box is what dictates that men can’t cry, and it is also what allows them to be wrathful and violent.
While there are many fantastic parts of being a man, changing what is allowed in the Man Box is key to changing the negative trends in men. The Man Box is built by life’s carpenters. We build it together with our actions and inactions, with our words and our silence.
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In their research, Harper, Harris, and Mmeje (2005) detail variables that lead to male misbehavior. Their work, like mine, focuses on college men. Negative actions of men are detrimental everywhere to both men and women, but as a collegiate professional I am particularly scared by the statistics on college campuses.
In May 2014, The Huffington Post reported that 55 college campuses were under investigation for sexual assault (Kingkade, 2014). A shocking number of college women will survive rape or attempted rape. RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) reports that every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted (“Statistics,” 2009). Sexual assault is an epidemic whose cycle impacts all of us—not just those who are survivors.
College men make up the majority of judicial offenders on campus and commit almost all violent crimes at universities (Harper, Harris & Mmeje, 2005). Seeing these statistics reminds me of the importance of shifting how we as a society think about men and what parameters we use to build that Man Box.
Out of the variables of male misbehavior, the concept of male gender role conflict remains a paradox to me. Male gender role conflict comes from the thought that society says that men should be breadwinners, the heads of the household, the protectors, high sports performers, and leaders. Society says that men can be anything that they want to be. Men can, and should, be superheroes.
The paradox is how this is tied to privilege. I certainly cannot claim to be an expert on either male gender role conflict or privilege, but I see them as bundled. Society does not question a man in charge, and all of this country’s most popular and watched sports are male-driven. Men still out earn women handily. Despite the negative trends with men, privilege is a driving force of our society.
As a white, heterosexual male, I have gotten the benefit of the doubt throughout my life. My parents were able to pave the way to college for me. I was able to be confident in job interviews without being thought of as shrill or bitchy. My privileges, primarily unearned, have set me up for success.
To talk about men having a problem with these high expectations borders on parody. How could being expected to be in charge have negative ramifications for the privileged? As we unpack male gender role conflict, however, we begin to see where the issue arises. No matter how great, most men are not superheroes in the sensationalized sense. When men do not live up to these societal expectations, they no longer fit into the Man Box. They cease to be men and lose part of their identity.
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When we think about male gender role conflict as problematic, we also need to look at the roles that society doesn’t assign men. Men are not emotional, caring, or understanding. Men don’t need to “talk it out.” Because men then do not develop the skills to process their emotions when they do fail, they resort to what behaviors they’ve learned. Destruction and violence come into play, for anger is the acceptable male emotion.
Male gender role conflict is not the sole cause of men’s conduct overrepresentation. It is, however, one powerful carpenter working on this box with the others. My parents always expected me to do well in class and to get everything I auditioned for. I can’t say that conflict from these expectations caused negative behaviors, but I know I’ve addressed failure with drinking or other damaging behaviors before.
With each of these boards placed down by life’s carpenters, we need to invest in some saws. A box as small as a phone booth could only ever fit a superhero. Saws come in different shapes and sizes. Taking time with your son to let him cry is a saw. Standing up and saying something when a sexist joke is said is a saw. We have the tools around us to put enough holes in the Man Box to let more light in and push the walls outward. Where’s your saw? Grab it and cut.
Harper, S., Harris, F. & Mmeje, K. C. (2005). A theoretical model to explain the overrepresentation of college men among campus judicial offenders. NASPA Journal, 42(4), 565-588. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&context=gse_pubs.
Kingkade, T. (2014, May 1). 55 colleges face sexual assault investigations. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/01/college-sexual-assault_n_5247267.html.
Porter, T. (2010, Dec.). A call to men. TEDWomen. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.
Statistics. (2009). RAINN. Retrieved from https://www.rainn.org/statistics.
Ditching the Dunce Cap is a weekly Friday column from Aaron W. Voyles on the University of Texas-Austin. He welcomes your comments.
—Photo Sarah Joy/Flickr
Also in Ditching the Dunce Cap:
Do You Know the Mega-Dump?
If the Shoe Fits, Cheat