Augie
1. First things first, what do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time I make music, listen to music, and watch a lot of movies and television.
2. Define masculinity in your own words.
Masculinity. Well, to me masculinity is sort of a dated idea. It sort of implies that a man has to be a certain way. Masculinity in the sort of traditional sense makes one think of a big muscley man who is fearless and strong. If the question is how I relate to my gender or my relationship with my gender then I don’t really hold myself to any expectations. I don’t feel that because I am a man I have to act a certain way especially in the time that we live in. I think it’s cool that we live in a time where there are fewer expectations. There are fewer assumptions towards men now than there were in say the 50’s or 60’s.
3. Name someone of the male gender that you aspire to be like and why?
I don’t have a ton of role models. That sounds bad, I didn’t mean it as a negative thing haha. I guess anyone who makes people reconsider the way they think about certain things. People who shake things up, so anything that’s pushing the boundaries of things like music or gender or race. It’s hard to pin point a certain role model for me.
4. Can you think of an incident where you were told to act more “manly” or felt like your masculinity was in jeopardy?
For me and I think for a lot of other people that happens more in elementary school and middle school when children haven’t really formed their own ideas. They see things in black and white, but they are also very vocal about their feelings. They don’t have a filter like a lot of adults do. I remember crying and being ashamed because I was crying. It’s embarrassing when you’re a boy and your crying, because we’re told that boys aren’t supposed to cry. As of lately, I’m very comfortable with myself and who I am so it doesn’t really bother me anymore. I don’t think I’ve experienced anything like that recently.
5. Do you think the role of masculinity is changing in society? If so, how?
As I said before, I just think that masculinity is hopefully (it’s good to live in LA because people are so open minded) becoming a dated term. It implies expectations for how men should act.
6. How do you think the media (TV, internet, etc.) effects masculinity?
TV and Media, maybe its changing a bit now, but I think traditionally they set very specific ideas of how a man should be. That’s just a part of how society effects how we look at men and women.
7. How do you think male and female views on masculinity vary?
I’m sure there are a lot of men, and I know there are a lot of men, specifically teenage boys, who have a very rigid idea of masculinity so they act in a certain way. See, I’m actually not sure if there is a difference between the way women and men view masculinity because our society sort of tells us what masculinity is at a young age so we come up with our own similar ideas of it. Something like, a masculine man is strong and sort of emotionless. The only emotion that is related to masculinity is anger, which is really just what men do when they get sad or frustrated. It’s more socially acceptable, as a man, to be angry and yelling as opposed to crying and sad.
I don’t really feel like there is too much of a difference, I could be wrong though. Maybe just because it’s hard to put yourself into the position of a different gender. Maybe women have more stereotypical views on masculinity, just like how some men have very stereotypical views on how a woman should be. You know, very sensitive and emotional or whatever, but were all just people and we all feel the same emotions. I think the only difference between the stereotypes of men is women are how or why the emotions are expressed.
8. Do you think masculinity is a learned behavior or something genetic?
I learned I suppose.
9. Do you think your sense of masculinity has changed over time? If so, how?
As I said, when I was younger I think I was a little more afraid just because young kids and even teenagers are very judgmental. They have very close-minded ideas of how people should be. When I was younger I think I was more concerned about what people thought of me or maybe I’d act in a certain way or specifically a more stereotypical masculine way to be accepted by my peers. I think the only difference is, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that it doesn’t matter.
10. Do you have anything else to add?
http://alligatorpeaches.bandcamp.com/
