Men's Thinking In The Modern Society example essay topic
Women nowadays are able to have the same achievement as men, maybe even more. In this essay, I will use Peter Cattaneo's THE FULL MONTY to discuss the change of the status of men and women in society as time passes, and how patriarchy affects men's feeling about this change of role in the society. THE FULL MONTY is about a group of ex-steelworkers who had lost their jobs because of the economic downfall. This story can be interpreted in many different levels, and I think the concept of! yemen trying to cope with a feeling that society doesn! |t have a role for them anymore! | interests me most. Gaz, a 30-year-old man, tries to find new ideas to improve his life so that he will not get desperate.
He is separated from his wife and he is afraid of loosing and of disappointing his son Nathan. He and his friends are all helpless because of their wives, who were in the past housewives, have learnt how to deal with the economic crisis and have found jobs. These women have gained authority, proved their identity and developed men's attitude and behaviors. Such a situation makes the men feel worse. Because they are unemployed, these men need quick money, they are also desperate to find a means of proving themselves. This shows that despite of the men's situation, their patriarchic think have not changed.
They still think that women belong to their home, and they should be the one working and finding money. Due to their thinking and need of money, these men group together and planned for a strip-teasing show for quick money. In society nowadays, men do not feel secure without a job, for example, in the movie, Dave is a fat man without a job. He lost his confidence because he lost his job, therefore he loses interest in making love to his wife. He feels that he does not deserve his wife. Dave regained his confidence when his wife Jean encourages him and shows that she trusts him and admire his fat body.
The root of the problem is that he thinks that he has lost his wife, and thus he lacks confidence. Traditionally, men think that it is natural for women to be loyal and love their husbands no matter what happens. Therefore Dave, when thinking his wife does not love him anymore, loses his dignity. Another example is the character Gerald, who is an ex-supervisor, a white collar who used to have high salary. He lives in the better off neighborhood with his wife.
Gerald has lost his job for six months, but he didn! |t tell his wife about this. Gerald feels that as a man, it is his responsibility to protect his wife, hence he did not reveal the truth to his wife. Again, this is due to the traditional thinking that men should be responsible for taking care of his wife, that men should protect the women. Because of their patriarchic thinking, these men have to live up to their pride.
A character in the movie, for example, was nicknamed Horse, and because he had to take his pants of and dance in front up everyone, he is worried that he can! |t live up to his nickname and got laughed at. He is worried about his penis size and so he ordered a device that will make his penis into something he can be proud of. This is a typical example of patriarchic thinking because traditionally, men want to live up to other people's expectation, or else, they will! yen lose face! |.
Although in society nowadays, the status of men and women are getting closer, and we know that women can be better than men, but men still wants to be viewed as the better kind and has a lot of pride. Because of this pride, men always comment about women, and not expecting women will comment on them too. For example, there is a scene when the men are looking at magazines with nude women photos on them, and they are commenting on the women's breast. One of the men was worried that when they do the strip tease show in front of the women, these women will comment on the size of their penis as well. Another character, however, said that it's different, because they are men. This shows that despite the changes in society, men still views themselves as the group with higher status.
Gaz can best show how a man is still under the influence of the patriarchal society. Being unemployed, divorced and under the risk of losing his son, Gaz still boasts about how he can achieve this and that. He talks about the world, but achieves nothing. He is the one who suggesting the men to do the show, instead he's the one who freaked out and did not want to do the show. This is a typical example of a man who is afraid of losing face in front of other people. In spite of his limited abilities, he still talks as if there is nothing he can! |t achieve.
Women are given more and more chance to achieve what they want, but men still feels that women belong to their homes and should be responsible for taking care of the children and performing household chores. They do not feel comfortable to be without a job when their wives are employed. Although the gap between men and women has changed and the status of women has become higher, men's thinking has not change. They are still very much affected by the traditional thinking that men are better than women and should be able to protect their wives. Men think that they should be working instead of their wives. As a result, we can say that although on the outside, the problems of a patriarchal society are decreasing, but when we examine the core, the society is still patriarchic..