Manhood: defined by how you view yourself

Manhood is subjective as there are differing opinions on what it means to be a man and what it means to not be a man. Not in a literal sense to say biologically so much in this context but more so on a continuum of how much of a man. This is typical for today's society as there is not strong support for the argument that there are any human beings that should not be viewed as such-Men and Women. With the story of Frederick Douglas, it is important to define him as a man in the sense that he is a human being and not an animal. He recounts his time on a plantation and says “added to the cruel lashings to which these slaves we subjected, they were kept nearly half-starved. They seldom knew what it was to eat a full meal”(Douglas 65). This type of treatment was regular for this type of period, and Frederick Douglas experienced this type of treatment firsthand and witnessed it. It is cruel and dehumanizing to treat any human being in this manner, and this type of treatment aims to strip the victims of their human identities. It fails to do so however in the case of Frederick Douglas. The reason that Frederick Douglas is a man is not defined by the way that he was treated, but rather by his perseverance through this horrible treatment and having the belief that each human being has the innate right to be designated as a human being, in this case,a man. In other words, Frederick Douglas should and any man for that matter should not be defined by how they are viewed by others but rather how they view themself. For Frederick Douglas, never losing sight of this belief served him as he was stricken with the conviction that he had the right to be treated as a man throughout his life and inspired not only his peers but his adversaries to do the same.