OWhat Makes A Male, Male?

Men in American go through a socialization process which by more definitions make them male. Henslin goes into detail with this socialization process by stating that at an early age the American male is taught to not cry (as opposed to his female counterpart who gets cuddled when breaking into tears) so that he may ‘toughen up’ and ‘be a man’. Thus, the association of feelings or emotions and the outlet of those feelings is considered or deemed an un-masculine thing to do.

Thus he states that “our sexuality is part of our social inheritance” (Henslin 161). Henslin goes on to state that the way we are brought up is what makes males male, from their clothes, toys, to even their colors when they are an infant (boys typically get blue while girls get pink thereby drawing a very vivid line of boys having to not like pink because it would make them less male). 2. Henslin gives a reaction of ‘true’ males toward ‘sissies’ he says that sissies are to be “pitied or hated” (Henslin 167).

Sissies are neither part of the male world nor part of the female world and thereby are ostracized for their inability to ‘be a man’ and not cry or to take a punch or to give a punch. The typical reaction of a real ‘male’ toward sissies to make fun of them in order to show one’s dominance and how ‘male’ one is in comparison to the sissy. 3. Henslin gives his readers the term “puberty shock” to describe the amazement of a boy to his body during puberty.

The penis changes and bulges at the most inopportune time (when called to the blackboard) and it is in this change of the body that the boy had grown so used to that Henslin is referring. Thorne & Luria 1. Boys and girls organize their play in very different ways. Thorne & Luria state that boys and girls will segregate themselves in their play during school hours; the authors give, for example, the fact that boys and girls will ‘talk matter-of-factly’ about boys and girls tables at the lunch room. Indeed gender segregation spreads to the playground as well.

Boys are often documented ruling the area of the basketball court and the football field while girls will take control over smaller areas such as the jungle gym and concrete places designated for hopscotch or jump rope. 2. Gender divisions that begin in grade school carry over into adulthood relationships. While boys gather in large groups and battle each other during sports, women gather in dyads or small groups and rely on each other for common support and ‘girl’ talk. Such divisions mark conversation in later years.

Men will often approach conversation as a battle in which their word must hold up or someone must poke holes in it in which case he needs to re-examine his stand while women would see this type of verbal attack on their ideas as hostile when in fact it is only how the boy grew up. Women will also give automatic responses of please and thank you and I’m sorry in order to show level footing with a colleague or boyfriend – when these words are not reciprocated she feels let down and insecure. Bibliography Henslin, James M. (2006). On Becoming Male: Reflections of a Sociologist On Childhood and Early Socialization.

Online. Retrieved 30 April 2009. http://books. google. com/books? id=LF2f9ndR__gC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=on+b coming+male+by+henslin&source=bl&ots=CNYtmeaSrj&sig=7N4PNL0ZzRfpRaQs7 L4dYEobM&hl=zhCN&ei=k2T2Sf3RDpSQMu2OicgP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=res lt&resnum=1 Thorne, Barrie & Zella Luria. (2006). Sexuality and Gender in Children’s Daily Worlds. Online. Retrieved 30 April 2009. http://books. google. com/books? id=LF2f9ndR__gC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=on+b coming+male+by+henslin&source=bl&ots=CNYtmeaSrj&sig=7N4PNL0ZzRfpRaQs7 L4dYEobM&hl=zhCN&ei=gGX2SZTjC4LEM_3UoKoP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=r sult&resnum=1#PPA180

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