These poems depict masculinity differently through the primary roles they are given as men. Men are “supposed” to be caretakers or someone who can’t show anything but strength. However, the authors show this differently. One of the poems, titled, How to Fall in Love with Your Father, shows the relationship between a father and son in a more touching manner than one would think. For men, I don’t see the type of deep connection women can sometimes be shown to have for one another on the same level as men can connect. In another poem written by Ross Gay, he shines a light on masculinity in a softer way than most men are seen. He talks about how they embrace one another, almost shocking the bystander. Coming into the society we are in now, I think we’ve come to accept men showing emotions as beautiful and actually coming from a place of strength instead of just ignoring how they feel. However, the stereotype of men showing emotion through tears is still associated with being soft because “women do that.” The doll house is an example of a more traditional idea of a man, while Barbie shows the “opposite” of what a man should be, but neither one is right. In Barbie, when Ken hurt himself on the beach and started being emotional, it was odd to me because I wasn’t used to men being seen as being extra or dramatic, while oftentimes women are seen in that way. However, later in the movie, once Ken returns from the real world, he thinks that men should automatically get the right to be in charge purely because he is a man, which is more stereotypical of how men think. The Doll Hous, a more traditional depiction of a man, talked less about how Torvald felt and more about his reactions to Nora, often creating a power dynamic that he was above her. When talking to Nora, he stated, “ You talk like a child. You don’t know anything about the real world you live in” (Doll House, 147). This manly sense of being in charge shows how little he expects her to know about the real world and her place in it. However, these poems redefine the expectations of what a man should be, and they show the evolution of literature and society regarding what masculinity truly means.
These poems depict masculinity differently through the primary roles they are given as men. Men are “supposed” to be caretakers or someone who can’t show anything but strength. However, the authors show this differently. One of the poems, titled, How to Fall in Love with Your Father, shows the relationship between a father and son in a more touching manner than one would think. For men, I don’t see the type of deep connection women can sometimes be shown to have for one another on the same level as men can connect. In another poem written by Ross Gay, he shines a light on masculinity in a softer way than most men are seen. He talks about how they embrace one another, almost shocking the bystander. Coming into the society we are in now, I think we’ve come to accept men showing emotions as beautiful and actually coming from a place of strength instead of just ignoring how they feel. However, the stereotype of men showing emotion through tears is still associated with being soft because “women do that.” The doll house is an example of a more traditional idea of a man, while Barbie shows the “opposite” of what a man should be, but neither one is right. In Barbie, when Ken hurt himself on the beach and started being emotional, it was odd to me because I wasn’t used to men being seen as being extra or dramatic, while oftentimes women are seen in that way. However, later in the movie, once Ken returns from the real world, he thinks that men should automatically get the right to be in charge purely because he is a man, which is more stereotypical of how men think. The Doll Hous, a more traditional depiction of a man, talked less about how Torvald felt and more about his reactions to Nora, often creating a power dynamic that he was above her. When talking to Nora, he stated, “ You talk like a child. You don’t know anything about the real world you live in” (Doll House, 147). This manly sense of being in charge shows how little he expects her to know about the real world and her place in it. However, these poems redefine the expectations of what a man should be, and they show the evolution of literature and society regarding what masculinity truly means.