First, when Michael Kimmel says “Institutions accomplish the creation of gender difference and the reproduction of gender order through several gendered processes”, he means that our society enforce the difference between men and women. Indeed, we can conclude that certain institutions such as schools, our workplace as well as our home, privilege some groups of people over other. For example, it is more difficult for women to have promotions in their jobs since they will have babies at some point.

Second, Kimmel talks of masculinity in the plural since its interpretation is different in each society and depending on the period. This means that there are many types of masculinity and that it is perceived in different ways in each culture. Indeed, masculinities vary in several aspects. They vary according to different cultures and countries and its meaning also varies over time in the same country. For example, the definition of masculinity in England differs from that in the 1500s to that of today due to several social changes. Likewise, a person’s masculinity changes during their lifetime. An old 60-year-old man probably didn’t have the same definition of masculinity as he did when he was 18. Due to all these factors that change the definition of masculinity, Kimmel prefers to use the term “masculinities” instead of “masculinity”.

From what i understood from Micheal Kimmel’s quote in “Masculinity”, is that since we were little, we are constantly exposed to an identity of what it means to be masculin. Meaning society has been programmed, from several different interactions and experiences, to identify specific characteristics to each gender. If these characteristics are not respected then the individual will not be respected. Expressing opposite behaviours puts men in a position to feel belittled and ashamed, once again programming us to not to behave that way. An example of this that Micheal provides is at school. Kids are taught, by their peers, parents and media, that they have to behave a certain way and not behave a certain way because if they don’t live up to society’s expectations of their gender norms they get mocked and humiliated by other kids. The sense of being different from everybody else and receiving their disapproval naturally provokes kids to act like they are encouraged to because they know that’s what’ll get people to like them. By institutions he means several different social groups we are a part of or want to be a part of. They cover this in one of the episodes of man enough. In the video they covered the same example of kids in school going into a more specific detailed scenario. The scenario being two kids arguing over which one is a sissy and the consequences of these arguments. A possible outcome is that one of the boys goes home crying shamefully because his classmates all ganged up on him to make him feel feminine or not a “man”. One gentleman expresses that in high school he would be very involved in sports and “disrespecting” women because he wanted to fit in with the other boys at his school. It was his attempt at being accepted by that social group and possibly being popular at school. 

What Kimmel means by masculinity in his quote, is that society has its own definition of masculinity and what it means to be “manly”. For example, to suppress emotion, to be tough, to be strong, getting a lot of girls are all characteristics we define as masculinity. He chooses the term “masculinitie”, because it represents these definitions of being masculin while at the same time implying that those aren’t what defines a man. Saying something like “Understanding how to be a man” or “ understanding what it means to be masculin” would imply to the reader that these characteristics are in fact what it means to be a man. The clear societal understanding of masculinity is obvious and known to everyone but clearly not true and shouldn’t be taught to youths. The video emphasizes this misconception of masculinity among kids because that’s what shapes how the child will grow up to behave. This is exactly what the quote means. Men and society turn out a certain way because we believe that that is the right way to turn out. It is taught to us at such a young age that it alters the outcome of events in our life and how we behave publicly. As i mentioned before the video shows how kids are taught at a young age of masculinity and it covers the outcome of this with certain boys. Later in the video we see the consequences of this after they show a therapy session. The boys there all talked about how they keep things inside, how they pretend to be someone they’re not and how that makes them feel. If the fact that they’re in therapy isn’t clear enough, we learn that a lot of them were very sad and depressed, causing some of them to cry at the acknowledgment of their behaviour and feelings. This is just one of many problems relating to “unimaginable possibilities of social change.”

There are multiple institutions that encourage gender difference. For instance, in the workplace, gender difference has always been very common and present. There are so many cases of men and women having the same exact job, yet the women are still underpaid. Be that as it may, gender order is highly promoted by institutions, namely hospitals and schools. In hospitals men are expected and tend to be doctors with PhDs and women are expected not to be the healers, but in fact the nurses, the caregivers. Hospitals and many institutions are implementing characteristics and expectations towards men and women. In “Man Enough”, they spoke about this deep rooted issue to help understand. These men decided to speak of gender inequality in hopes of helping other people to understand this issue more and in efforts to make it stop.

In his conclusion, Kimmel used the term “masculinities” instead of the singular term “masculinity”. He decided on this term to imply that there is not a singular, specific definition of what makes a man. Gender is what you do, and say, not what you are. Kimmel used the term “masculinities” in hope of broadening what the idea of a man is, to help see that stoicism is not a must-have, but rather just as a simple trait. In the fourth episode of “Man Enough”, this quote summarizes the hope that the men at the table shared when their talk was coming to an end. It is amazing to think that such a deep mutual understanding of this present issue started with such a simple talk between friends. It is something that brings hope to any man.

In our estern society, men are supposed to work to bring food home and women to raise children and take care of the house. Nowadays, due to many factors including the feminism, women have decided to change their marginal situation and take charge of their lives. Today, women go to work to pursue their independence and dreams as well as men do. However, women still play the role of caretakers of children and houses. This fact increases the inequality between men and women because we assume that women should perform all these tasks in addition to work; while men’s only responsibility is to focus on work to provide a family with money and food. Therefore, women have more challenges and less chances of getting a satisfactory job perfomance than men.

When it comes to the work area, companies do not evaluate that women have to do more tasks and chores than men in our society yet, they make their policies and way of functioning according to a male workforce, that only breaths and lives for work. Not taking these socially constructed gender differences between both sexes into account perpetrates the existing inequality and male dominance. As a result, women are seen as inferior and less than men in a work place where men have all the chances to succeed and women do not. The above explains why “Institutions [such as companies] accomplish the creation [and perpetration] of gender differences and the reproduction of gender order [where men have control and power over women] through several gender processes.”(Kimmel, 2000)

When we understand that masculinity is a social constructed concept, which varies depending of the country, time, lived experiences, we have the control create our own concept of masculinity. This acknowledgement is eye-opening and releasing because it frees us to behave and do what is best for us even if it contradicts what is understood in the society as masculinity, and it makes us understand that we are not obliged to follow or behave according to a specific gender if we do not want to do it. Additionally, it disclosures the fact that, as men, we must change the way we think about and behave towards women. The challenge is to reach equal and fair society in which women are not less than men.

I believe that Kimmel is making a point about the weight countless institutions place unequally relative to ones gender and therefore forces roles onto us. He mentioned “Gendered” processes but basically this term is speaking about the biological needs of the genders. Kimmel states that the institutions that happen to pay the highest, his example being medicine, make it hard for those who want to get pregnant (women) to follow through their studies and reach high positions. Basically the stressful and time consuming process of reaching the top of the job hierarchy filters out women by making it easier for men to follow through with their studies. This process is repeated constantly anywhere you look and therefore reinforces the “Gender order” as Kimmel puts it. This inequality relates to the 4th episode of “Man Enough” when the subject of rape allegations come up. Why does the justice system always side with the man? Why is the first question always something like what is she wearing or did she lead him on? The same arguments come up when people ask why there isn’t enough women in high positions. The answer should never be, “oh she got pregnant” or “she had to take care of kids” or even worse, “her husband was always gone for work, who else would take care of the home”. Pressure should not be placed unequally on the woman as this just continues the gender divide in the workforce.

Lastly, Kimmel seems to define masculinity as a socialization process individuals have undergone in early childhood. Indeed our notions of a masculine identity simply stem from associations we have made as a society and interactions between individuals. As a result, these constructed ideas have become “fixed” and “static”.Therefore difficult to decompose into its individual parts. One’s identity is most commonly observed through behaviours: as Kimmel emphases on the significance society attributes to what one does. In other words, ” Doing gender is a lifelong process of performances” (Kimmel, p.4). With that being said, the concept of masculinity is slowly changing as men adopt non-stereotypical behavioural traits. Consequently, this is challenging the original concept of masculinity and bringing a wave of social change. This goes beyond defining one’s gender but rather transforming social systems. Redefining such concepts requires great change within current institutions. Such that women should be taken into account when designing an educational program in the medical field as give equal opportunities. This is only possible through the changes associations made in regards to masculinity. This relates to the video showcased in class, ” Man enough” as they explain their role models growing up. One of the hosts mentioned that he had grown with a violent masculine influence which led him to associate manliness with being tough, in charge, etc. Although this might reflect behaviours of others, these actions do not solely determine masculinity. In fact, it is only when he became an adult and through various interactions that he came to realize how his perception of gender was incorrect. Interacting with other as well as media representation of what a “man” is supposed to be, are all factors leading to the misattribution of gender. Of course, new associations are being made and who knows what masculinity might signify in 10 years from now! Moreover, new gender norms are being created as to better represent our current society.