For an individual to believe that masculinity is in danger stems from the idea that all men need to look, think and feel like one type of masculine alpha male. In the Fox News interview about Nick Adam’s book “American Boomerang”, the concept of ‘male-wussifying’ comes as the main thesis of the book. Adams believes that this is the start of a new trend that sees masculinity in danger because of the popularization of feminism. For me the real question that arises from this video is, why do men have to be held of to this standard of always being extremely masculine?
In America the alpha male is definitely held to the highest standard of any other country in the world because it means being a big figure with tons of muscle that’s why when Adams compares wrestling with crocodiles to wrestling with lattes its easy to see why he thinks that the two are opposites. Adams sees lattes as a feminine drink, probably because of the name, and compares wrestling crocodiles to an extremely masculine activity that only the manliest of men could go about doing. This is the best example of the standard Adams is holding all men to but this also references the way that masculinity is socially constructed to make it seem like only the strongest man survives. As we saw in class the media constructs these values through many different advertisements whether it’s workout apparel or an ad for a protein bar. It is constantly being fed to males all over the world, which creates a society where men think that in order to be successful they have to be extremely masculine. Even many women will hold men up to these high standards as well just because they see these advertisements as well.
Unfortunately, the interview becomes more and more ridiculous as the interviewer Elizabeth Hasselback relates Adams thesis to feminism. To think that the two are related is the first of many mistakes that Adams makes regarding masculinity. There is no way that men can be made less masculine by the ideals of feminism not only because feminism doesn’t try to make men less masculine but also because feminists are not worried about the masculinity of men. Adams talks about feminism in such an oppressive light that was probably offensive to many of the viewers. He also completely disregards every gender other then men and women making it seem like we live in a world where there are only two genders.
Throughout the whole interview Adams tone and statements seem very old and conservative which can also be representative of Fox News as a company. They have been known to always have a certain type of person that has a right wing bias and Adams fits perfectly to what they are going for as a News network. His views are so old and dated that it seems like the interview could have been held over 60 years ago where the roles of men and women were so different. Many of his statements seem so dated because he talks of a time where men need to masculine and women need to be feminine.
Gender studies 