Blog 4

Some benefits of boys and men putting on the "tough guise" is that they feel more like a man and fit into society's ideals of a man. Men are exactly like women, all they really want to do is fit in. Putting on the "tough guise" can be effective when it doesn't go to an extreme. Wanting to fit in is not bad, but when wanting to fit in takes over your life and makes you do things to yourself that are harmful or do things to others that are harmful it can be a very bad thing. You should never hurt yourself just to fit in. Some men will go to great extremes in order to fit in like taking steroids, or working out until their bodies are completely beaten up, or developing eating disorders.

Many people think the very concept of "gender issues" is synonymous with "women's issues". I think this is so because people don't really think that males have many issues. Most of what you hear about gender issues is in the female community. Females being very athletic and not wanting to wear dresses or be the "typical" female. You do not see much of this in the male community. I think that because the two terms are synonymous to most people that it makes it hard for people to see that the same happens in males lives. Males also have gender roles that they are trying to fulfill. One such gender role of men is their trying to live up to society's ideal of physical size and strength Trying to live up to this has a lot of detrimental effects on males. Emotionally males trying to do this can become very beaten down. Many males just do not have the body type and makeup to live up to the norms. When a person tries extremely hard to do something without getting the results they crave it is very damaging to the ego. Many people begin to give up and feel that they will never be good enough and they can never be loved or accepted like they want to be. There are also physical effects that can occur. Because of trying to be something they aren't men's bodies are often broken down or even injured severely for the rest of their lives. Some men even go as far as to using steroids to get the body they want.

I think the media inspires change in society. I think that people are susceptible to media influence because it is always around them. Society's idea of perfect is embedded in their brains from the time they are born until the time they die. Because it is always around them and always telling them how they should look, eat, smell, dress and simply live we as a society begin to believe the media and begin to try to form into what they say we should be.

Blog 3

The repeated general ideas I found in the readings were the importance of a female's appearance. Whether that be at the workplace, at home or just even out in public. Beauty/body image is probably the most important function of social construction. Every person when out in a social situation will be more likely to strike a conversation with the people they are attracted to. Now, once people become friends I think that beauty and body image do not have as much to do with it. I feel that the stories about the workplace are most familar to me. I have been shadowing a psychologist at a male prison for a few months now. I get a lot of comments as well as sexual passes. The hard part about my situation is that it comes from prisoners and not actual workers so there really is nothing I can do but ask them to stop.

Ideals of female beauty does function as a form of social control. Every girl from the time they can remember have had images of the perfect woman placed in their heads by the media, friends, family and even strangers. Because women have had these ideals pounded into their brain they will do anything they have to to try and fit into this mold. This makes it very easy to control social situations that have to do with appearance. One specific example is one of my friends. This particular friend is overweight and because of this she will not go to the bars on campus corner because she feels so self conscious. She knows that most of the guys are attracted to the petite cute girls and because she does not fit the norm of beauty she refuses to put herself out there which makes it nearly impossible for her dating life. This is just one way that beauty and body image makes it difficult for women.