JAMES CHARLES

In many eyes, a successful man is one who plays sports, someone who’s accomplished in his work, and one who has a successful sexual “conquest”. Although, does society truly believe that this definition solely describes every successful man?

James Charles, make up artist and first ever Coverboy, became an internet sensation at the age of 17, which wasn’t very easy or “fun”, as most people may have thought. This famous youtuber struggled mostly in this traditionally female-dominated industry at the beginning of his career, as there still aren’t that many men in cosmetic corporations. James came out as gay when he was 12 years old, and luckily for him, he has a supportive family who’s accepting and wants to help guide him through his career. He has done makeup for several celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.

This successful man didn’t enjoy playing sports in high school or have many “girlfriends”. He received a lot of negative reinforcement online regarding his homosexuality and doesn’t have many manly characteristics based on what society defines a man. Despite not being categorized as a man with a good status achievement based on the definition provided, he has still accomplished so much through his YouTube channel and business.

As stated on page five of Defining Men’s Studies, achievement and status is defined as; successful men who have achieved success through the fields of work, sports, and sexual conquest. The one man who is the most obvious in accomplishing this definition is Hugh Hefner.

Hugh Hefner in the filed of sports has successfully published many articles where women posed for athletes. You may of seen Hugh on television for being admired for his success and for his sexy conquests. He was the founder and co-editor of the playboy magazine. He was also known for his playboy mansion where he has invited several celebrities and wealthy people to party and enjoy women. At his death it was publicly understood that he was worth around $50 million. Later, the market research firm Wealth-X released that Hugh Hefner was worth at least $110 million, with roughly $45 million in liquid assets. many men looked up to Hugh. Hugh was seen as The Man. Based on the definition of someone who has status and achievement,

Hugh Hefner’s accomplishments would suggest that he has achieved this. Some examples of his success that categorizes him as a man with status and achievement are is work, making him millions and being praised with sexy women. He was very much involved in the celebrity and athletic community and will never be forgotten.

By: Daniel Bohbot & Alexandra Morgan Arseneau

Our definition for this assignment is adventurousness and aggressiveness. I have chose Howie Mandel as a counter example for this definition.

In the definition it describes masculinity to have characteristics of taking physical risks and acting out violently. I thought Howie Mandel was a good counter example because he does not have a violent history and is very open and accepting. When people think of a masculine man, they often think of a “tough” man who often does not show many emotions that might make him appear “soft” or “weak” in the eyes of other people. Luckily, it is starting to change but only because people like Howie Mandel (and many other men) who have started speaking up about mental health. He has recently started talking about his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD. This is something that is very important because it starts to break down the stereotype and expectations that a “masculine” man cannot show “weakness”. I find that Howie Mandel did take a risk but it was very different then the type of risk implied. Talking about his mental health was a risk he took because the stigma around masculinity and showing emotions is very strongly intertwined and for someone as popular as him to come out and say that showing emotions and dealing with mental illness does not make you weak or any lesser of a man it starts to break down that stigma. In the definition of Adventurousness and Aggressiveness to take physical risks. This is something Howie Mandel talks about and said : “We take care of our dental health, we don’t take care of our mental health.” and goes on to speak about how counselling should be in the picture just as much as going to the dentist and the doctors.

The person I chose is Tyler Gregory Okonma also known as Tyler, The Creator because he is the complete opposite of what Brannon’s definition of a man is in the textbook The Masculine Self.

Just like any other artist, he express his emotions and life situations throughout his music, but what makes him particularly special is the fact that he released an album called “Igor“, an album where he openly admits his love and heart breaks with a man. Every track on the album is a story about their love life, commencing from the start of their relationship to their break up. He is not someone who portrays emotional stoicism because in one of his songs he says “Don’t leave, it’s my fault” referring to the problems he had in the relationship with the man. Besides his music, he also doesn’t avoid any behaviours the might be construed as homosexual. For example, he dresses however he wants ranging from wearing wigs to wearing cheetah print clothings to wearing colourful bright shirts.

To conclude, Tyler, the Creator oppose to what Brannon’s definition of a man is because he doesn’t hide his emotions and doesn’t let the gender norms stop him from wearing what he likes.