Cultural and social demands lay a heavy
burden on the youth in today’s society. Strict social behaviors define who and
what a person is or is not. Deviations from these social norms are treated with
harsh and unforgiving disapproval by the general population. In particular,
males are taught from early childhood how they are supposed to act in order to
“be a man.” Michael Kimmel explains this concept excellently in his article,
“‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code.” In the piece Mr. Kimmel states that the
saying, “be a man,” brings to mind many masculine mottos such as “boys don’t
cry,” “size matters” and “nice guys finish last.” Unfortunately these slogans
have negative connotations. They typically emphasize that men are supposed to
be unemotional, powerful and successful beings. Furthermore, these codes, or
more accurately, “set of rules” allow other males to constantly scrutinize
their peers, determining if they measure up to what is expected of them. This
perpetual policing of actions and behaviors causes severe issues in various
aspects of a male’s life, for example, risk-taking, anger management,
depression, health risks, and drug abuse
to name a few. Evident in the style the article is written in, the audience
this piece is aimed toward is the male sector. Moreover, the article is
directed to those men that follow the “guy code” since they are the one who relate
the most to the situations described. This is also confirmed by the fact that
females are written off as insignificant and not plagued by any sort of similar
issue. If it were noted that the female population has a similar difficulty
with societal pressures to be hyper-feminine and perfect, then the author could
have narrowed his scope from that point. However he chose to disregard the
female spectrum, and I disagree with his decision. I took it with a grain of
salt that perhaps Mr. Kimmel was just emulating one of his points: “masculinity
is the relentless repudiation of the feminine” (Kimmel 609). As a female I was also irate after reading
“Women have, in men’s minds, such a low place on the social ladder of this
country that it’s useless to define yourself in terms of a woman. What men need
is men’s approval” (Kimmel 611). Nonetheless, Kimmel appeals to the emotions of
the audience as well, recounting students’ responses to how they feel about
stepping outside of the guy code. One student admits, “It’s not very safe out
there on your own. I suppose as I get older, I’ll get more secure, and feel
like I couldn’t care less what other guys say. But now, in my fraternity, on
this campus, man, I’d lose everything” (Kimmel 614). Even
after the comment on females in the beginning of the article, I began to feel
sorry for the interviewee, as was intended by the author. Overall, I am of the
opinion that I am not part of the target audience, thus producing the negative
effect the article had upon my disposition. The style of writing was written
for a “man’s man,” further strengthening the argument the article discussed.
Works
Cited
Kimmel, Michael. "Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code." Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing 8
(2010): 608-17. Print.
