Page 191 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

manhood” took hold for the first time — now, and gained popularity “by breathlessly depicting 4
manhood was called “masculinity.” the heroic adventures of ‘civilized’ white male
The idea, Bederman says, was that being explorers among ‘primitive tribes in darkest chapter 4
“manly” had a “moral dimension,” and was Africa.” Similarly, she writes, “Anglo-Saxonist
defined by a dictionary at the time as imperialists insisted that civilized white men
“ possessing the proper characteristic of a man; had a racial genius for self-government which
independent in spirit or bearing; strong, brave, necessitated the conquest of more ‘primitive’ Conversation / Collier Meyerson
large-minded, etc.” But then, when the econ- darker races.”
omy tanked between 1879 and 1896, and with America’s new definition of masculinity CLOSE READING
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
it the whole middle-class white-male “civilized” was cemented during the 20th century. Though
identity, the concept of “manliness” shifted black men gained the right to vote, under Jim Meyerson summarizes twentieth-century
Meyerson summarizes twentieth-century
again. After that, Bederman says, when men Crow laws, which last well into the mid-20th views of masculinity in paragraph 14. It
views of masculinity in paragraph 14. It
wished to invoke a male power they used century, they continued to be subjugated by might be valuable for students to exam-
might be valuable for students to exam-
“masculine” and “masculinity” to describe it. white men, who restrained black men’s eco- ine her argument in that paragraph and
gument in that paragraph and
ine her ar
“The adjective ‘masculine’ was used to refer to nomic possibilities and frequently portrayed compar e it to the pr evious ones about the
compare it to the previous ones about the
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
any characteristics, good or bad, that all men them as uncontrollable rapists. From early changing definitions. Did the definition
changing definitions. Did the definition
had,” she wrote. The element of morality had westerns to the action films we watch today, change in the twentieth century? Is that
change in the twentieth century? Is that
been left behind. white cis men overwhelmingly were cast as definition true in the twenty-first? Has she
definition true in the twenty-first? Has she
The shift in white middle-class American leads in the mass entertainment our culture used evidence of changes to suggest that
used evidence of changes to suggest that
male identification at the turn of the 19th cen- consumes; guns became a rite and plaything of we can actually get rid of masculinity?
we can actually get rid of masculinity?
tury was also a way to justify white supremacy. young white men in our country. And mascu-
“Linking whiteness to male power,” Bederman linity became a made-up excuse to dominate.
wrote, “was nothing new. . . . [D]uring the In his essay, Michael Ian Black writes: 15 DIFFERENTIA TION
DIFFERENTIATION
first two-thirds of the nineteenth century, “I believe in boys. I believe in my son. Some-
American citizenship rights had been construed times, though, I see him, 16 years old, swallow- Scaffolding
Scaffolding
as ‘manhood’ rights which inhered to white ing his frustration, burying his worry, stomping
To conclude her essay, Meyerson returns to
males, only. . . . Negro males, whether free or up the stairs without telling us what’s wrong, T o conclude her essay , Meyerson r etur ns to
s article and to her claim that we can
Black’s article and to her claim that we can
Black’
slave, were forbidden to exercise ‘manhood’ and I want to show him what it looks like to be get rid of, rather than expand, the definition
get rid of, rather than expand, the definition
rights — forbidden to vote, hold electoral office, vulnerable and open but I can’t. Because I was of masculinity . Y ou might ask students to
of masculinity. You might ask students to
serve on juries, or join the military. The conclu- a boy once, too.” examine her line of r easoning by asking
examine her line of reasoning by asking
sion was implicit but widely understood: Negro Black can’t show his son what vulnerability them to evaluate the connections among
them to evaluate the connections among
males, unlike white males, were less than men.” looks like not because he is biologically incapa- the essay’ s two main sections, paragraphs
the essay’s two main sections, paragraphs
But once “masculinity” came around at the end ble of doing so. The block is one formed by 1–8 and 9–16. You also might have them
ou also might have them
1–8 and 9–16. Y
of the 19th century, and black men were fighting habit, culture, and an American history predi- examine the function of the conclusion:
examine the function of the conclusion:
for “manhood rights,” a new idea had emerged. cated on white male domination — which pro- they could describe her rhetorical choices
they could describe her rhetorical choices
White middle-class men were starting to see duced a masculinity predicated on white male in the last two paragraphs. It might be
in the last two paragraphs. It might be
themselves as maintaining a universal male domination. Who says we have to hold onto worthwhile to ask them to draft a sentence
worthwhile to ask them to draft a sentence
quality: savagery. But the way they separated that? It is only with the understanding that gen- or two at the end that r etur ns to her father;
or two at the end that returns to her father;
themselves from their black counterparts, der identification is moveable, malleable, and challenge them to find a way to use him as
challenge them to find a way to use him as
was to articulate that they had evolved more. worth undoing that we can begin to make the part of the line of reasoning at the essay’s
s
part of the line of r
easoning at the essay’
Bederman uses the example of National boys all right. end.
end.
Geographic, which was first published in 1889 2018
Collier Meyerson, “Do We Need to Redefine Masculinity—or Get Rid of It?” The Nation, March 2, 2018. Copyright © 2018 by The Nation Company. All rights
reserved. Used under license. Https://thenation.com/
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