Hypermasculinity in Pop Culture

Courtney Roblez

Sociology 4150

Professor Herndon

31 October 2018

Pop culture can shape society in many ways, and not always for the better. One example of this is the portrayal of hypermasculinity. In Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society, author Dustin Kidd defines this as, “A cultural process of ramping up the standards and representations of masculinity.” They use the example of the Marlboro Man and how he rips his shirt off to reveal a six pack and massive arm muscles. This is and example of “rocks” and is described as, “Rocks are active, muscular, and powerful men… Rocks reflect a kind of hypermasculinity that takes tropes for maleness to an extreme with large muscles and amped-up aggression.”

These hyper masculine character are everywhere you look in pop culture (movies, songs, advertisements, etc.) This causes men to feel they are not allowed to do things that are not considered ‘manly’, and shames doing anything that makes them less of a man. Hypermasculinity also plays into societal gender roles of men and women by reinforcing the idea that women are to do the housework and men should stick to their ‘manly’ duties like fixing a car or mowing the lawn. Another key aspect of hypermasculinity is the how women are viewed, and treated. The book points out that, “What is most striking about Lyman’s observation is that women are defined entirely in terms of men, not on their own terms.” With this being said hypermasculinity is found almost anywhere in pop culture, from Disney movies for kids, to old classics, and even in music.

Playlist:

1. Summer Nights -Grease
2. Gaston -Beauty and the Beast
3. I’m Still a Guy -Brad Paisley
4. I’ll Make a Man Out of You -Mulan
5. Now That We're Men -Spongebob Movie

1.Summer Nights- Grease

Hypermasculinity is not just the idea that a man must be overtly masculine, but it also has to do with how men act opposed to women. For instance, a man and woman could go through the same scenario, and describe them completely differently. A perfect example of this is in the movie Grease during the song ‘Summer Nights’. During this song the main characters Danny and Sandy are describing the way they meet, and spent their summer together. The difference that hypermasculinity has on Danny’s story opposed to Sandy’s recollection of events is evident from the very beginning. Sandy describes meeting Danny while he was walking into the ocean and splashing around. Where Danny felt the need to masculate the way he meet Sandy by telling his group of friends he saved her from drowning. As the song progresses the masculinity only gets worse when Sandy’s friends sing, “tell me more tell me more was it love at first sight.” Then Danny’s friend respond, “tell me more tell me more did she put up a fight.” This shows how the focus of Danny’s story fits into the hypermasculine idea of a dream world, “in which women exist for the sexual pleasure of men.” (Kidd, 111).

Later in the song we see this same thing when they sing, “He got friendly holding my hand (Sandy). She got friendly down in the sand (Danny). He was sweet just turned eighteen (Sandy). Well she was good you know what I mean. (Danny).” There is a clear difference between Sandy and Danny's stories of how they meet. Danny’s version of the story focuses in more masculine ideals, and is clearly encouraged by the friends. His story focused on Sandy as more of an object, and he was the manly man who was able to save her from drowning, and get sexual favors because of this manliness.

2.Gaston -Beauty and the Beast

Gaston is a song in Beauty and the Beast, and is an overly clear example of hypermasculinity. Gaston is a perfect example of a hypermasculine male. His character is strong, muscular, and acts within the realm of hypermasculinity. The song starts with Gaston being appalled that Belle turned him down. Le Fou focus on Gaston’s hyper masculine traits like his muscles, hunting abilities, fighting, chest hair, his strength and more. Le Fou sings, “Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston. Even when taking your lumps.” He also sings, “No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston, For there's no man in town half as manly.” This equates strength, aggression, and muscles with being a man.

The song goes on to talk about Gaston being a great intimidating fighter. Gaston's shows his strength when he sings, “As you see I've got biceps to spare.” While lifting a couch with three women on it who are admiring his strength. Gaston goes on to ripping open his shirt to reveal his muscular hairy chest, and sings, “and every last inch of me's covered with hair.” This revealing of his body is just another way this song plays into the hypermasculinity of Gaston on this film. The song ends with Gaston being glorified as a man among men who can do very manly things, and is thought to be the guy who has it all do to his hyper masculine traits.

3. I’m Still a Guy -Brad Paisley

The Brad Paisley song I’m Still a Guy depicts a typical hyper masculine man who is pointing out the differences between his view on the world, and a woman's view on the world. Paisley is going through the demasculinization a man faces when in a relationship while doing feminine things. We see this when he sings, “Scrub me down, dress me up all but no matter what, Remember I'm still a guy.” Every time anything feminine is mentioned he immediately follows up with something to prove his masculinity, “in a weak moment I might, Walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall, But remember, I'm still a guy.” This whole song embodies the idea that boys will be boys which excuses males hyper masculine behavior. This boys will be boys mentality perfectly plays into the hypermasculinity.

4. I’ll Make a Man Out of You - Mulan

I’ll Make a Man Out of You is from the movie Mulan where a female pretends to be a male in order to serve in the army instead of her sick father. This song displays hypermasculinity by focusing on the idea that in order to be a good soldier you must be made into a man. The song starts out by Li Shang saying, “did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” From here the song focuses on the idea that to be a strong warrior you must also be a man. They compare being a man with “with the force of a great typhoon,” and “with all the strength of a raging fire.” This idea that to be a man you must be forceful, aggressive, and strong can be considered the core of hypermasculinity.  

5. Now That We’re Men - Spongebob Movie

Throughout the Spongebob movie while Spongebob and Patrick are on a mission to save Mr. Krabs they are frequently surrounded by hyper masculine characters who try and convince them because they are kids that are not manly enough. They even get into a bikers club, and have to hide their childlike selves to not be beaten up by all the hypermasculine characters in the bar. Eventually one of the hypermasculine portrayed bikers sings the childlike song, and gets beaten up for not being manly enough. After multiple encounters where they are not considered masculine enough to succeed, they are given fake facial hair as motivation.

This leads Spongebob and Patrick to believe they now have the hypermasculine traits needed to be successful. The song starts. “Now that we’re men we can do anything, now that we’re men we are invincible.” Immediately the song glorifies manliness to the extent of saying that manliness equates to being invincible. Which unfortunately has a lasting impact on the children watching this movie, and can help perpetuate hypermasculinity. Once Spongebob and Patrick considers themselves ‘men’, they immediately believe that they are stronger, tougher, and more capable then when they were just ‘kids’.This clearly plays into hypermasculinity because without viewing themselves as hypermasculine, Spongebob and Patrick did not consider themselves strong enough to complete their mission. As soon as they thought they met societies standards of hypermasculinity they were able to gain the strength they needed.