Comments on male masculinity

Masculinity: commercial stunt or performance art

In April 2004, a restaurant in Kunming launched "Women's Fitness". More than two months later, New Woman magazine launched a feminist "male fitness". Different from the "women's movement", the well-planned "men's movement" can only be enjoyed by "insiders" such as magazine female editors, so that such an ingenious plan was not noticed by the media until one year later, and it was "filled" in vain and failed to achieve the expected purpose.

Looking back on the whole operation process of "masculinity", this plan packaged as a commercial stunt is more like a performance art: you invite a group of men to play "femininity" and I call on several women to "enjoy masculinity". The two sexes may not be equal, but at least we can remind men in a slightly humiliating way that the so-called "culture" that regards the female body as a "container" actually hides how much injustice between the two sexes. Regrettably, an act that should be made public in order to achieve its goal is quietly carried out among several "insiders", so that it is very likely to be interpreted as a shady move.

It is not difficult to understand the dilemma faced by the media dealing with this matter. Just after the popularity of "female physique", "male physique" can not help but be regarded as a poor imitation of "female physique". Once the public opinion is so qualitative, no matter what excuses the organizers find, it is difficult to convince the public. What is even more paradoxical is that, despite the appeal of resisting "female physique", "male physique" may arouse the public's resentment more than "female physique". We must face the fact that in a patriarchal society that has not fundamentally changed, disrespect for men is often more serious than disrespect for women. Just as the public has become accustomed to the "young and old" between men and women, it is inevitable to talk about "brother and sister love"; The history of women's culture, with women as the object of appreciation, is an endless book. As soon as F4 became popular, it was dubbed "the age of men". It is in this context that the disgust and anger aroused by a man's "dead body" will be far stronger than that aroused by a woman's "dead body", and the people with conscience may appreciate and sympathize with a woman's fate. However, under the same cultural background, the "nausea" aroused by "masculinity" is likely to turn to "masculinity" itself, rather than reflection and condemnation of "femininity". Perhaps it is because of this embarrassment that a "rebellion" that dare not make public has turned into a furtive and embarrassing farce.

If one day "masculinity" is no longer a kind of "performance art" aimed at resisting gender discrimination, but really becomes a kind of commercial stunt to attract business with male color, it will really make people don't know what to say.