This is a photo of my roommate before we head out for Halloween this year. His costume was a revolutionary super hero “Safe Sex Man.” I believe he chose this costume because it was easy to construct and it might ease his “Girl Hunt” (Grazian, 2007) for the weekend. I also accompanied him in this journey, proving that the “girl hunt” (2007) is in fact a group activity. In fact, my girlfriend and her friend were also more than willing to assist in finding him a desirable partner. My roommate’s outfit could be described as dominant because he is the one providing the condoms, powerful, independent, and aggressive because his costume displays the evenings goals; he also displays his muscles in his upper body with a lack of sleeves to reinforce these attributes. These characteristic reinforce how, throughout a man’s life, he is supposed to achieve his gender (West and Zimmerman, 1987) . West and Zimmerman (1987) also speak of how one is suppose to achieve their gender each day, while Halloween is only one day, or here in Boulder the whole weekend, this is the way my roommate achieved his gender that weekend.
Mauro and Joffe (2009) write about religious views and how they differ from state and federal laws with regards to abortion and birth control. This photo goes against any religious views that ban the use of contraceptives. My roommate was a model for contraception and was distributing condoms throughout the weekend at various parties. I went to a catholic school that strongly urged student to “save themselves” for marriage, and I was also taught that sex was an act for the sole purpose of procreation. Any other use of sexual intercourse was heavily frowned upon by my teachers. This costume clearly goes against this.
This is a picture of a group of guys playing golf with tennis balls around campus, a decently common activity. Hartmann (2003) talks about how men use sports to display their masculinity. While golf is not the most masculine sport, I see far more men playing sports around campus than I ever do women. I have only witnessed men competing in this specific activity. While Hartmann (2003) talks about how sports are masculine, he also mentions how sports also teach masculinity by teaching young competitors to be aggressive, and to take no prisoners, so to speak. The man in the orange shorts looks quite focused, and the man in the black shirt and shorts can be described as walking with somewhat of a strut. These actions show dominance, especially the strut, a characteristic men often attempt to achieve.
Messner (1999) also speaks of how sports were a vital part of his sexual orientation upbringing. While he always dreamed of being the star player, he never fully reached his potential because he was never aggressive enough. Once again, the man dressed in mostly black is strutting up to his shot, as well as the guy in the green shirt standing aggressively might be doing better than the man in orange. Or perhaps they were all acting aggressively as they were on a fairly populated part of campus, where they could display their masculinity for others to see.
This is a picture of one of my Halloween costumes this year. I went, in support of my friend, as the pill. This costume can be linked to Beneke (2003) when he describes the affects on women of the threat of rape. One of his assumptions is that due to rape, women need more money. While Beneke (2003) talks about needing money for a car to make it home safely at night, this concept can also be applied to the pill. The pill costs money, and I find it a very valid reason for women to be on the pill because just in case they are raped, they will not also end up pregnant. Without the threat of rape, possibly less women would be on the pill, a medicine used to make women less dependent on men.
The second part of the picture, referring to the flamboyant man eating the candy necklace off me was part of my reflection of this class and me reaching out to someone of a different possible sexual orientation. I would like to admit that I felt more comfortable with this as my girlfriend was close by. I think this picture represents the transformation this class has put me though, as I am sure just a few months ago I would not be okay with this type of behavior. This second part really displays privilege, even more the fact I have, and he, the other man, most likely does not. McIntosh (1988) writes about things she is lucky she does not have to worry about because of her race. I think these can further be applied to things I do not have to worry about because I am white and straight. The privilege I think I have is that I can say I was just kidding around, and never took it seriously. This can be accepted because I am straight, and therefore able to get away with this type of behavior. To strengthen my point, because of my privilege, I have little to zero fear that my actions will negatively affect my reputation. However, the other man may not be so lucky, with a lack of an acceptable excuse, his action may receive far more negative consequences than mine. This shows that I might be privileged where he is not.
My outfit can also be linked it Mauro and Joffe (2009). My costume, much like my roommate’s, directly goes against certain religious views that condemn contraceptive. During Halloween, both of our costumes were promoting the use of contraception.
This is a picture one of my sister’s walls in her bedroom. It is a collage of various pictures and ads she cut out of magazines. While most of her friends have taken this wall as just a decoration, I think there is a deeper meaning behind it. I think it is my sister’s attempt to fulfill her notion of hegemonic femininity (Smith, 2010), specifically the part of femininity that teaches that women should look like “playmates.”
Another way this photo can be linked is through Wolf’s “The Beauty Myth.” (1991). Wolf (1991) says that women constantly are attempting to achieve whatever society defines as “beauty.” These standards change over time, however, I think my sister views this collage as inspiration about how she thinks she is suppose to look. This ties well into West and Zimmerman’s (1987) idea of achieving gender, in this case, through beauty.
This a photo of my roommate grabbing my other roommate and chugging in his face. This is a photo that is staged, however, we jokingly do this on somewhat of a regular basis, usually with alcohol instead of a jar of water. This activity is based around showing that one is the dominant male in a group. Kimmel (2009) writes about “Manhood Marketplace” where men can go to show off their dominance. This activity, the chugging in the face, might be an activity that could be displayed at a “Manhood Marketplace,” in college this marketplace could be described as a bar or large party, where these actions can be viewed by many. This action might also gain approval from other man, which according to Kimmel (2003) is the toughest standard of masculinity. This, yet again, ties into West and Zimmerman (1987) and their idea of achieving your gender.
This photo can also be tied into Jackson Katz video, “Tough Guise” (1999). This photo displays the “guise” that Katz (1999) speaks about in the beginning of his video. The man grabbing and chugging is often putting up a false front in public of what he thinks real men should be like. Real man are often described at strong, physical, and dominant. This action displays all of the those characteristics, the characteristic that are what real men are suppose to be like.
-Shayne Flaherty
safe sex man and the pill, awesome halloween costumes lol