Masculinity as Spectacle
Name
Institution
Masculinity as Spectacle
Introduction
The issues of gender have been one of the commonly analyzed and investigated subjects in Hollywood musicals as it affects the present society. It has been addressed in cinemas and creates the male or female divisions in the community. Hollywood musicals are a film genre that involves the use of music, dance, and songs, which keeps changing its form periodically. Most cinemas and films point out feminism through various acts and female activities. The display of the masculine body, especially in positions that are associated with feminism, such as ‘to be looked at ness’ is unusual. Since it is uncommon for the masculine gender to be exposed, the male performers who engage in the activities receive critics from society and individuals. In Masculinity and Spectacle musical cinema, Neal identifies it as the only art that displays the male body in mainstream cinema in any consistent way. Men engage more often in dancing and singing than when it was considered a feminine activity.
Masculinity as Spectacle
Steve Neal agrees to the fact that film and cinema were a feminine activity. Still, Hollywood culture gives a platform for the spectacle of male muscularity to expose and use talent. The change creates specific responses from society, either positive or negative, that impact the lives of the performers. According to George Sydney, in his film anchors aweigh, women are considered obsessed and have the charming capacity to win over other ladies. These reasons make the society to recognize women in film and cinema rather than men. However, new developments of dancing styles and roles create masculine identity hence more participation. Also, using ‘men prefer blondes by Howard Hawks’, masculinity is depicted as a man who takes feminine roles in the feminine lives and well represents them as done by the female.
Masculinity Influence on male performers
Being a new character in the considered female role, a male performer is overwhelmed and overdetermines characterization through the body spectacle hence making more sense to the audience than the course of its story (Cohan and Hark, 1993). The male well represents the new roles. In gentlemen prefer blonde by Hawks musical; feminism is the crucial influence in prompting an examination of masculinity within structural theories of power, structural relations in patriarchy, and capitalism. Masculinity works together with feminism hence entirely bringing out the character. The female emphasizes the male aspects in Hawk’s musical. For example, after Malone takes pictures of Lorelei and piggy, they intoxicate him to recover the images as they fear for their reputation going public. After they succeed, Lorelei asks for a gift from Piggy for the work well done. Feminism displays the female characters seem to have more power than masculine traits.
In masculinity and spectacle, Neale identifies heterosexual masculinity as a structuring norm in both women and gay people (Neale, 1983). The pressure on men to be masculine influenced the male characters in accepting to feature in cinemas and films. As masculinity addresses in Hollywood musical, it favors adaptation. The male can now take the roles that first considered feminine. ‘To be looked at ness’ was one of the activities deemed feminine but currently undertaken by the male, hence giving them more power in artistic cinema. Also, male characters are more recognized by the audience due to the new roles seen as feminine. The male characters earn more respect from people viewing the cinemas and films since they are considered different from other acting people. In gentlemen prefer blonde by Hawk, the male characters are easily lured by the female to performing certain activities that they wish not to play. However, in society, the female was once considered weak and easily influenced by the male; hence contemporary art goes against this belief.
Masculinity tends to influence the audience due to the open and detailed act roles by the male characters. The audience used to seeing the female performing the functions considered as theirs. Although the audience loved it, the male characters make it different and more exciting thought to the female characters. For example, dancing was considered feminine and could only be done in public by a female. However, in Anchors aweigh by George Sydney, Kelly performs a live dance with Jerry Mouse, the cartoon mouse, and the audience loves it. Male characters seem to dance more than the feminine, and the audience could see the difference compared to the feminine dances. The responses from the audience encourage more masculinity and male characters to take part in films and cinema. Representation of male gender informs on the diverse roles of men in society (Gurkan, 2017). Also, more movies on masculinity are emerging hence making more people aware of the gender roles in socialization.
Besides the female identity, masculinity is also a constructible element and fictional male characters addressed in cinema and on television, to pass a message to the audience about masculinity (Anderson, 2017). The male characters in the cinemas have a specific role that they play. The roles represent a behavior in the society, and the way they act the function sends a message to the people watching the film. The male characters have become instruments through which people are made aware of the changing roles and developments in society. With the events in masculinity, the participants use cinemas and films, to inform the audience of the development by expressing it in the act. This act expands the responsibilities of the masculine characters from not only acting but also being a medium to send a message to the audience. The roles given depend on the type of message that needs to be sent to the public. They also have the power to minimize specific behavior by influencing the thoughts of the audience, which leads to a positive change by individuals.
Neale in muscularity and spectacle identifies that the male has a more active role in film and cinemas as the spectacle of male bodies is not marked as objects of erotic display and does not function as the gaze of spectators. Therefore, the attention of the audience may divert from the erotic show of male bodies to relating to fear, hatred, and aggression (Popalisky and Burt, 1998). Influencing the audience’s thinking maybe difficult hence end up interpreting what they see from the rational perspective other than developments. Such thinking implicates the male participants to shy away from feminine roles. Also, some may want to stick to the masculine roles as done before and fail to change to the new characters emerging from the changing society. Heterosexual masculinity and male gaze are unaccepted in some communities hence creating a negative image in the audience. This role creates a barrier between the masculinity characters and the society, which separates them from the organization. For example, in Hawks’ gentlemen prefer blonde, male characters are attracted to outward appearances of Lorelei and Russell and are disappointed later but keep repeating the same mistakes. The characters’ friendship and intimate displays may be disapproved by some of the people in the audience, minimizing the respect given to them in cinemas.
Masculinity also increases the roles of feminism in films. Hollywood cinemas complement feminine roles with the masculine to make the theme of a movie. The complemented functions enable the function of feminism to be revealed quickly, creating a feature that is appreciated by the audience (Macaluso, 2018). In George Sydney Anchors aweigh, Joe and clarence perform their navy duties appropriately until they find a runaway boy a return him to his aunt Susan. Their friendship and work get affected when they both fall for Susan, hence creating a lot of secrets and misadventures between them. Feminism affects masculinity and distorts its activities by influencing their feelings. The masculinity role in the film is made more exciting with the feminine part hence creating a storyline and theme that affects the audience to appreciate the masculine role. Therefore, the two characters need to be put together to create an exciting feature of films that impact an audience to watch more films. As feminine roles are performed with no male counterparts, feminism is not well revealed. One gender gets the power over the other hence both genders have to be represented in the musical films and cinemas.
Masculinity in Hollywood cinemas has also brought up more representation of roles for each group in the society (Mikkola, 2017). Media for children through cartoons not only show the feminine roles but also male characters reveal their responsibilities in the community. Feminism has led the female characters to seek love from a man hence showing the interdependence of the two characters. The ideal body and beauty standards were first considered feminine, but this has been changed through films as masculine characters also need to look functional and attractive. On the other hand, masculine roles have also been taken by the feminine traits through performing of male acts in cinemas. Females are considered weaker hence given household roles while the man had the responsibility to get income in the family. Cinemas change this aspect as more women become responsible for finding jobs and playing the role of a man in families. The character in films influences the female audience to practice such functions and fend for families rather than perform house chores. In gentlemen prefer blonde film, Monroe and Russell find various ways to get an income and also benefit from the masculine characters around them through performing acts to gain from them either in money or material things.
The development of masculinity roles in cinema and films , has developed the theme of underrepresentation and marginalization. This theme is in the sense that feminism has been widely used compared to masculinity hence more roles given to the female actors. Such analysis encourages more male roles to be developed in films and supported by the feminine roles to create interesting themes. Underrepresentation also influences the people in society to perform more responsibilities to increase their roles in films. The representations are used to pass a message to the audience; hence underrepresentation lowers the information getting to a broader group of the audience. The marginalization of feminism forces the masculine group to increase their responsibility to society. Balancing roles of both genders increases the audience as each gender wishes to see their role represented in the cinema. Also, sexual objectification has emerged due to the development of masculinity in Hollywood musicals. As male characters expose their body as the feminine, it identifies male characters as sexual objects, while this had been one of the roles of female characters.
Masculinity and feminism point out the unfair treatment of men and women in society. The roles played by both genders show how the counterpart gender treats them. For example, in men prefer blondes, the power of feminism is more expressed than the masculinity. Women use men to perform their work and indulge them in roles not considered to be theirs. Feminism and masculinity cinemas are about the things that occur in society hence easy to relate to the activities of males and females. An event such as singing was mostly don by female choices, but as masculinity emerges, the role is now shared between them. This change leads to various interpretations by the audience as some may feel it’s a female role, and others prefer the males hence undermining one of the genders. The theme of cinemas, either show the power of females over men, or the impact on a particular gender, in pursue of the things they want in life. Neale’s thinking of displaying the male body may be interpreted as undermining the male roles or taken as a development in the film industry.
The feminism and masculinity changing roles have led to changes in personality, especially with the characters in cinemas. They are performing a part that is considered for the other gender. Masculinity is considered sexual dominance while feminity sexual submissiveness. The difference between a man and a woman is shown sexually hence influencing the characters featured in the films. Performing a female role diminishes one’s personality since one neglects their dominance or submissiveness to play other roles that are not associated with them. This influences psychological orientations and behavioral patterns to act as the counterpart gender. The influence may be long-term, affecting the individuals for a more extended period hence influencing their perceiving in the society. Societal beliefs and cultures mat also change due to the influences of the characters as depicted in films and cinema of Hollywood musicals.
Masculinity films drive subsequent discussion of gender and movies. According to Neale, it has become a concern rather than a companion to the feminine roles. Feminism has existed for an extended period and has incited a lot of discussions until it became accepted by society. However, the emergence of masculinity brought a companion to the feminism role but is considered wrong and against societal norms. The focus has now been made on male representations to reflect dominant social activities irrespective of people’s thinking. Acknowledging both sexes and considering masculinity as having a more significant influence on the culture and standards set in institutions gives the Hollywood cinemas and different impact on an audience. Individuals have divergent thinking; therefore, an audience interprets various scenes differently, without consideration of the actual meaning as done by the male characters. Discussions made also influence people listening to or read the articles since authors analyses and conclude scenes according to their understanding. The developments made also provide more information to the Hollywood musicals on more activities to feature in their films and perform the roles given. The interpretation of the audience improves the characters acted in movies and cinemas. It is a way to get more and new ideas to improve Hollywood films and cinemas hence providing storylines demanded by the audience.
Conclusion
Neale identifies musicals as the only genre that exposes male bodies just as the feminine in a consistent way. Hollywood musicals are genres expressed through music and dances. These roles were considered feminine, but in the developing masculinity role, the style is used to express male responsibilities in the society through Hollywood cinemas. In Neale’s masculinity as spectacle, it addresses male muscularity, and Hollywood gives a platform for the male roles to be exposed t the public. In George Sydney’s Anchors aweigh, dance is performed by males hence showing the changing roles. Besides, Hawks’ men prefer blondes; heterosexuality is addressed, giving a new masculine role in society. These changing roles influence community as the characters exposed in the films are imitated by individuals. However, exposing the body is known to be feminine; hence the community tends to misinterpret it. This leads to reduced respect for the male participants. Also, the roles in the film influence the masculine activities done by the characters and are imitated since people learn from the cinemas they see. Masculinity has improved Hollywood musical cinemas by addressing issues affecting society.
References
Neale, S. (1983). Masculinity as Spectacle. Screen, 24(6), pp.2-17.
Gürkan, A. (2017). The Representation of Masculinity in Cinema and on Television: An Analysis of Fictional Male Characters. European Journal Of Multidisciplinary Studies, 5(1), pp.402.
Anderson, E. (2017). Generational masculinities. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(3), pp.243-247.
Popalisky, D. and Burt, R. (1998). The Male Dancer: Bodies, Spectacle, Sexualities. Dance Research Journal, 30(1), p.76.
Macaluso, M. (2018). Postfeminist Masculinity: The New Disney Norm?. Social Sciences, 7(11), p.221.
Mikkola, M. (2017). Feminist Perspectives on Sex and Gender (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). [online] Plato.stanford.edu. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-gender/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].
