How the Pressure to Prove Masculinity Harms Everyone
The reading that we did this semester that changed my mind and broadened my view of gender discrimination was For the Love of Men by Liz Plank. This reading really made me realize just how many men feel pressure to reinforce their gender identity because of small things in our society that I tend to overlook. These pressures alone are not what make men become violent against women, but they do push the boundaries of existing beliefs those men might have. It made me realize that these societal pressures on men affect all genders in some shape or form. The reading also made me think about how societal expectations of women are often reversed and enforced almost as harshly onto men. For example, in For the Love of Men , Plank talks about how men feel the pressure to overeat to prove something to the people around them about their masculinity. It’s interesting that in society, women are taught to eat less to be more feminine and men are taught to eat more to be more masculine. N...