The Myth of Masculinity

The decline of Male breadwinner has prompted confusion, leaving manhood and masculinity at a critical point of change. If men no longer hold their position as the dominant financial provider for his wife and child, what is his purpose in the home? What is a man? This unique shift has shaken the foundation of the patriarchal society we live and has left us with the opportunity to redefine masculinity.

Though men never had to worry about having both a family and a job, they did have to decide between being "free and having to share, between independence or interdependence, between privileged and equality (260)." Men had to make these choices but they did have some restraints. Work place opportunities, women relationships all played important roles in creating a more diverse male experience.

Men live very diverse lifestyles counter to the stereotypical breadwinner mold they are lumped into, even within an individual's own life time. Since men now move in and out of different family environments, they have the opportunity to change their roles from relationship to relationship. In today's society, men can divorce and remarry several times, having multiple families. Also, depending on a persons job, he could have more time to tend to his children or not. These circumstances and many other circumstance could make the man go against the breadwinner theory and explore other ways of living.

Many people try to say men are born with a masculine personality that is bestowed upon them by their father and in childhood. Gerson explains that this notion of the man personality is set as a child is completely false. Men evaluate, respond to and resolve problems they established in their childhood on the experiences they have in their adulthood. There are no shared complex psychological traits that predict the life choices of men.

Gerson also pointed out Masculine Culture and male dominance could account for the diversity of experiences