fucking finals
I am no longer amused by my finals. I want them to go away now. Okay finals, go! Damn, it didn't work.
I have a belly ache. I hope it's not because the enchiladas went bad. That would be really sad because I still have about four meals worth left. They're really really good. I think it's only been four or five days, and they've been refrigerated, so I don't know why they would go bad. Maybe it's because I haven't had enough water today.
I finally e-mailed my independent study supervisor. I'm so afraid of him, because I'm all worried that he's going to be mad at me for not getting in touch with him sooner and not having done more work already. I asked if I could hand in my work during or after winter break. I'm not sure what I'll do if I can't. I guess if I can't I'll just have to throw together some big crappy essay in two days. I hate that I procrastinate so much. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd be a really amazing student. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd also love school to the max, even during finals. If there were some anti-procrastination pill I could take, I'd probably go to grad school, just for fun. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd be getting straight A's, no question. I could totally go to UC Berkeley and they have kickass family housing and really good daycare. I'd be so into grad school if I weren't a procrastinator. I don't know why that matters, because clearly I am and there's no magic anti-procrastination pill. I had this conversation the other day-
Me: 90% of people procrastinate sometimes, right? And probably at least 20% of people procrastinate enough that it causes them distress. So why isn't everyone working on a solution to procrastination? If everyone got all the work done that they meant to get done, we could probably solve global warming and all speak five languages, right? Why don't some scientists and psychologists just get together and work it out?
A.: I bet some scientists already have the idea in their heads about a cure for procrastination, but they've been procrastinating too much to actually develop it.
With that, my third gender theory essay, which totally sucks ass and is way repetetive, but I don't care, because it's done, and I'm sick of finals, and the lowest grade I could possibly get in this class is a B.
Topic- "Why do discussions of masculinity most often take for granted its position in the socially privileged, white, male, middle class body? Discuss ways in which the readings from Ducat and Halberstam can challenge/complicate this notion."
Question #3
Many people think of masculinity as inextricable from maleness. Maleness is coded as middle class and white because anything else is defined as Other in order to support the normativity of male masculinity. Black, Latino, and working class masculinities are portrayed as excessive, Asian masculinities are viewed as inadequate, and female masculinities are unsuccessful imitations of male masculinity. Since white middle class men are privileged over other groups, they are defined as the zenith of masculinity (as well as most other traits that are considered positive) and all other possibilities of masculinity are too much, not enough, or not real. Even white middle class male masculinity will always be scrutinized if it is too close to an alternative masculinity.
Female masculinity is considered an imitation of male masculinity because it is a masculinity that does not coincide with social power. Because of its connection with maleness, masculinity has taken on a second meaning of possessing social power, when that is really just about the association it has, not an actual characteristic. Privilege has been added as a requirement for a valid masculinity in order to save masculinity for privileged white middle class males, so they can assert their privilege through their gender presentation. Privilege cannot be an inherent characteristic of masculinity because when masculinity appears on female, black, Latino, or working class bodies, it is not considered a positive attribute, and relative privilege may actually be diminished by increased masculinity.
In Ducat’s “The Wimp Factor” the section called “Vaginas with Teeth and Castrating First Ladies” shows how many media sources depicted Hillary Clinton as male. Ducat argues that men are anxious about their masculinity. I think they’re anxious about the possibility of female masculinity. Ducat illustrates this very clearly in these two jokes:
Q: What do Hillary Clinton and J. Edgar Hoover have in
common?
A: They’re both female impersonators.
Q: Why do the Clintons only have one child?
A: Because Hillary had a vasectomy.
(Slick Times)
Hillary Clinton’s assertiveness and independence are interpreted as masculine qualities. Due to anxiety about the possibility of female masculinity, men joke about her actually being male, because a masculine male who presents as a woman is less threatening than a woman who is assertive and independent. The threat is not to male masculinity, since there is no reason that male and female masculinity could not co-exist peacefully. The threat is to male privilege. Ridiculing Hillary Clinton by saying that she is male is an indirect way of saying that it is unacceptable for women to be assertive and independent. Assertiveness and independence are supposedly masculine traits that should be reserved for men only.
In “An Introduction to Female Masculinity” Halberstam examines the concept of masculinity apart from men. She argues that male masculinity is constructed as real by constructing female masculinity as fake.
I also venture to assert that although we seem to have a
difficult time defining masculinity, as a society we have
little trouble in recognizing it, and indeed we spend
massive amounts of time and money ratifying and
supporting the versions of masculinity that we enjoy and
trust; many of these “heroic masculinities” depend
absolutely on the subordination of alternative
masculinities . . . In other words, female masculinities are
framed as the rejected scraps of dominant masculinity in
order that male masculinity may appear to be the real thing.
(Halberstam, 1)
This is not quite the same as Ducat’s ideas about masculinity. For Ducat, men’s anxiety is not about whether or not their own masculinity is real, but about women usurping their masculinity and thus their male privilege.
Ducat would argue that masculinity is coded as white, male, and middle-class because it is imbued with the hidden meaning of being an indicator of privilege. Masculinity is positioned on a maximally privileged person in order to affirm that this is the only person with legitimate and undisputed access to masculinity. For Halberstam, masculinity is positioned on a white, male, and middle-class body in order to define this as the center, all other people as the periphery.
I have a belly ache. I hope it's not because the enchiladas went bad. That would be really sad because I still have about four meals worth left. They're really really good. I think it's only been four or five days, and they've been refrigerated, so I don't know why they would go bad. Maybe it's because I haven't had enough water today.
I finally e-mailed my independent study supervisor. I'm so afraid of him, because I'm all worried that he's going to be mad at me for not getting in touch with him sooner and not having done more work already. I asked if I could hand in my work during or after winter break. I'm not sure what I'll do if I can't. I guess if I can't I'll just have to throw together some big crappy essay in two days. I hate that I procrastinate so much. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd be a really amazing student. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd also love school to the max, even during finals. If there were some anti-procrastination pill I could take, I'd probably go to grad school, just for fun. If I didn't procrastinate, I'd be getting straight A's, no question. I could totally go to UC Berkeley and they have kickass family housing and really good daycare. I'd be so into grad school if I weren't a procrastinator. I don't know why that matters, because clearly I am and there's no magic anti-procrastination pill. I had this conversation the other day-
Me: 90% of people procrastinate sometimes, right? And probably at least 20% of people procrastinate enough that it causes them distress. So why isn't everyone working on a solution to procrastination? If everyone got all the work done that they meant to get done, we could probably solve global warming and all speak five languages, right? Why don't some scientists and psychologists just get together and work it out?
A.: I bet some scientists already have the idea in their heads about a cure for procrastination, but they've been procrastinating too much to actually develop it.
With that, my third gender theory essay, which totally sucks ass and is way repetetive, but I don't care, because it's done, and I'm sick of finals, and the lowest grade I could possibly get in this class is a B.
Topic- "Why do discussions of masculinity most often take for granted its position in the socially privileged, white, male, middle class body? Discuss ways in which the readings from Ducat and Halberstam can challenge/complicate this notion."
Question #3
Many people think of masculinity as inextricable from maleness. Maleness is coded as middle class and white because anything else is defined as Other in order to support the normativity of male masculinity. Black, Latino, and working class masculinities are portrayed as excessive, Asian masculinities are viewed as inadequate, and female masculinities are unsuccessful imitations of male masculinity. Since white middle class men are privileged over other groups, they are defined as the zenith of masculinity (as well as most other traits that are considered positive) and all other possibilities of masculinity are too much, not enough, or not real. Even white middle class male masculinity will always be scrutinized if it is too close to an alternative masculinity.
Female masculinity is considered an imitation of male masculinity because it is a masculinity that does not coincide with social power. Because of its connection with maleness, masculinity has taken on a second meaning of possessing social power, when that is really just about the association it has, not an actual characteristic. Privilege has been added as a requirement for a valid masculinity in order to save masculinity for privileged white middle class males, so they can assert their privilege through their gender presentation. Privilege cannot be an inherent characteristic of masculinity because when masculinity appears on female, black, Latino, or working class bodies, it is not considered a positive attribute, and relative privilege may actually be diminished by increased masculinity.
In Ducat’s “The Wimp Factor” the section called “Vaginas with Teeth and Castrating First Ladies” shows how many media sources depicted Hillary Clinton as male. Ducat argues that men are anxious about their masculinity. I think they’re anxious about the possibility of female masculinity. Ducat illustrates this very clearly in these two jokes:
Q: What do Hillary Clinton and J. Edgar Hoover have in
common?
A: They’re both female impersonators.
Q: Why do the Clintons only have one child?
A: Because Hillary had a vasectomy.
(Slick Times)
Hillary Clinton’s assertiveness and independence are interpreted as masculine qualities. Due to anxiety about the possibility of female masculinity, men joke about her actually being male, because a masculine male who presents as a woman is less threatening than a woman who is assertive and independent. The threat is not to male masculinity, since there is no reason that male and female masculinity could not co-exist peacefully. The threat is to male privilege. Ridiculing Hillary Clinton by saying that she is male is an indirect way of saying that it is unacceptable for women to be assertive and independent. Assertiveness and independence are supposedly masculine traits that should be reserved for men only.
In “An Introduction to Female Masculinity” Halberstam examines the concept of masculinity apart from men. She argues that male masculinity is constructed as real by constructing female masculinity as fake.
I also venture to assert that although we seem to have a
difficult time defining masculinity, as a society we have
little trouble in recognizing it, and indeed we spend
massive amounts of time and money ratifying and
supporting the versions of masculinity that we enjoy and
trust; many of these “heroic masculinities” depend
absolutely on the subordination of alternative
masculinities . . . In other words, female masculinities are
framed as the rejected scraps of dominant masculinity in
order that male masculinity may appear to be the real thing.
(Halberstam, 1)
This is not quite the same as Ducat’s ideas about masculinity. For Ducat, men’s anxiety is not about whether or not their own masculinity is real, but about women usurping their masculinity and thus their male privilege.
Ducat would argue that masculinity is coded as white, male, and middle-class because it is imbued with the hidden meaning of being an indicator of privilege. Masculinity is positioned on a maximally privileged person in order to affirm that this is the only person with legitimate and undisputed access to masculinity. For Halberstam, masculinity is positioned on a white, male, and middle-class body in order to define this as the center, all other people as the periphery.