Men's Movements

Thesaurus.com describes the men’s movements as “men’s attempt to redefine,” however, this seemingly simplistic sentence offers a variety of definitions.

There are two types of men undergoing a movement; those that want to return to the stereotypical alpha-male and those that want to be free to express themselves and be equal to women. In her article “Tracking the Men’s Movement” Marianna Torgovnick describes the movement of the men that wish to be seen as stereotypical males. Torgovnick illustrates the type of men that are viewed by the world as the alpha male; the man that is supposed to stand proud and provide for his family. Essentially the man that “wears the trousers.” This particular male’s movement is an attempt to redefine the conventional ways of the world and alter the success of the women’s movement. As a result of the women’s movement males lost some of their fundamental privileges, which they now hope to gain back. When women were granted the right to vote, work, and control their own lives conservative men lost their role. They were no longer viewed as the head of the house; their role in society had been completely altered. Their movement is an attempt to regain their dominance in the world and return to the “norm” that defines their clichéd identity.

However, Kenneth Clatterbaugh’s essay “Literature of the U.S. Men’s Movements,” illustrates the movement of the more liberal men. Following the success of the women’s movement there were men that wished to stray away from the image of the typical male. These men wanted to express their feelings and challenge the traditional roles that society had implanted upon them. These men wanted the freedom to be the men that they wished to be. They wanted to do things that society would typically frown upon. They wanted to express their sexuality, reveal their emotions, and even wear pink!