Öz
An old Chinese proverb says, “Fish is the last to discover water.” That is, water is the whole body of the world in which the fish lives. As such, the fish does not reflect on the water, does not need to “discover” it, just because the fish is not cognizant of anything else. There is, moreover, no other reality for the fish until it comes out of the water, its common environment. If we adapt this proverb to human society with its institutions and culture and the people living in it, it is possible to assume that it can be difficult to be aware of something when one is so much submerged in it. Since the present paper revolves around men as power holders and the privileged side of the heterosexual gender dichotomy, it can be argued that men do not need to see that gender is constructed in society and that the dominant constructs of gender are are merely fabricated concepts of behaviour, which are controlled by the prevalent ideas in society. This study depicts masculinity as a fluid social construct in Junot Díaz’s This Is How You Lose Her (2012) through an investigation of the protagonist Yunior’s struggle to overcome his internalized cultural trainings of gender identity in a strange land where he is required to reveal, question, and reconstruct his gender identity. Hence, the notion of hypermasculinity, as an artificial construct, is analysed first in terms of his relationships with other Dominican men as potential role models in shaping his perception of masculinity and with women with regard to the multifaceted status of women within Dominican culture. The study, moreover, extends its purview to encompass the repercussions of the immigration experience, dissecting its impact on the intricate tapestry of gender politics that reverberates through the lives of both men and women.
Anahtar Kelimeler
gender hypermasculinity invisible-masculinity immigration machismo
Kaynakça
- Amis, Martin. (2001, December 23). 'The War Against Cliché'. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2001/12/23/books/chapters/the-war-against-clich.html.
- Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2015, December 11). machismo. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/machismo
- Broude, G. J. (1990). Protest Masculinity: A Further Look at the Causes and the Concept. Ethos, 18(1), pp. 103–122. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640398.
- Cixous, Hélène. (1975). The Newly Born Woman. In Julie and Michel Ryan (Eds., 2004), Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed. (pp. 348-354). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford University Press.
- Díaz, Junot. (2012). This Is How You Lose Her. Penguin Books Ltd.
- Donaldson, M. and Howson, R. (2009). Men, Migration and Hegemonic Masculinity. In Donaldson, M., Hibbins, R., Howson, R., & Pease, B. (Eds.), Migrant men: Critical Studies of Masculinities and the Migration Experience. (pp. 210-218). Routledge New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203875315
- Fairchild, Mary. (2020, August 26). Samson and Delilah Story Study Guide. Retrieved May, 5, 2021, from: https://www.learnreligions.com/samson-and-delilah-700215
- Frangello, G. (2012, September 30). The Sunday Rumpus Interview: JUNOT DÍAZ. The Rumpus Magazine. http://therumpus.net/2012/09/the-sunday-rumpus-interview-junot-diaz/
- Hirsch, J. S., Meneses, S., Thompson, B., Negroni, M., Pelcastre, B., & del Rio, C. (2007). The inevitability of infidelity: sexual reputation, social geographies, and marital HIV risk in rural Mexico. American Journal of Public Health, 97(6), 986–996. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.088492
- Hooper, Charlotte. (2001). Manly States: Masculinities, International Relations, and Gender Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Kimmel, S. M. (2005). The History of Men: Essays on the History of American and British Masculinities. State University of New York Press.
- —————————(1994). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452243627
- Leverenz, D. (1986). Manhood, Humiliation, and Public Life: Some Stories. Southwest Review, 71(4), 442–462. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43469880
- Mill, J. S. (1869). The subjection of women. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. https://doi.org/10.1037/12288-000
- Oxford University Press (n.d.). the Domesday Book. In Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/the-domesday-book
- Parker R. G. (1996). Behaviour in Latin American men: implications for HIV/AIDS interventions. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 7 Suppl 2, 62–65. https://doi.org/10.1258/0956462961917663
- Pease, B. (2009). Immigrant Men and Domestic Life. In Donaldson, M., Hibbins, R., Howson, R., & Pease, B. (Eds.), Migrant men: Critical Studies of Masculinities and the Migration Experience (pp. 79-95). Routledge New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203875315
- Pessar, Patricia R. (2003). Engendering Migration Studies: The Case of New Immigrants in the United States. Gender and U.S. Immigration Contemporary Trends. New York: University of California.
- Reis, B., & Grossmark, R. (Eds.). (2009). Heterosexual masculinities: Contemporary perspectives from psychoanalytic gender theory. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
- Riofrio, John. (2008). Situating Latin American Masculinity: Immigration, Empathy and Emasculation in Junot Díaz’s Drown. Atenea., 28(1), 23–36. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A190942217/LitRC? u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=b2ac284f
Öz
An old Chinese proverb says, “Fish is the last to discover water.” That is, water is the whole body of the world in which the fish lives. As such, the fish does not reflect on the water, does not need to “discover” it, just because the fish is not cognizant of anything else. There is, moreover, no other reality for the fish until it comes out of the water, its common environment. If we adapt this proverb to human society with its institutions and culture and the people living in it, it is possible to assume that it can be difficult to be aware of something when one is so much submerged in it. Since the present paper revolves around men as power holders and the privileged side of the heterosexual gender dichotomy, it can be argued that men do not need to see that gender is constructed in society and that the dominant constructs of gender are fabricated concepts of behaviour, which are controlled by the prevalent ideas in society. This study depicts masculinity as a fluid social construct in Junot Díaz’s This Is How You Lose Her (2012) through an investigation of the protagonist Yunior’s struggle to overcome his internalized cultural trainings of gender identity in a strange land where he is required to reveal, question, and reconstruct his gender identity. Hence, the notion of hypermasculinity, as an artificial construct, is analysed first in terms of his relationships with other Dominican men as potential role models in shaping his perception of masculinity and with women with regard to the multifaceted status of women within Dominican culture. The study, moreover, extends its purview to encompass the repercussions of the immigration experience, dissecting its impact on the intricate tapestry of gender politics that reverberates through the lives of both men and women.
Anahtar Kelimeler
gender hypermasculinity invisible-masculinity immigration machismo
Kaynakça
- Amis, Martin. (2001, December 23). 'The War Against Cliché'. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2001/12/23/books/chapters/the-war-against-clich.html.
- Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2015, December 11). machismo. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/machismo
- Broude, G. J. (1990). Protest Masculinity: A Further Look at the Causes and the Concept. Ethos, 18(1), pp. 103–122. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640398.
- Cixous, Hélène. (1975). The Newly Born Woman. In Julie and Michel Ryan (Eds., 2004), Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed. (pp. 348-354). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford University Press.
- Díaz, Junot. (2012). This Is How You Lose Her. Penguin Books Ltd.
- Donaldson, M. and Howson, R. (2009). Men, Migration and Hegemonic Masculinity. In Donaldson, M., Hibbins, R., Howson, R., & Pease, B. (Eds.), Migrant men: Critical Studies of Masculinities and the Migration Experience. (pp. 210-218). Routledge New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203875315
- Fairchild, Mary. (2020, August 26). Samson and Delilah Story Study Guide. Retrieved May, 5, 2021, from: https://www.learnreligions.com/samson-and-delilah-700215
- Frangello, G. (2012, September 30). The Sunday Rumpus Interview: JUNOT DÍAZ. The Rumpus Magazine. http://therumpus.net/2012/09/the-sunday-rumpus-interview-junot-diaz/
- Hirsch, J. S., Meneses, S., Thompson, B., Negroni, M., Pelcastre, B., & del Rio, C. (2007). The inevitability of infidelity: sexual reputation, social geographies, and marital HIV risk in rural Mexico. American Journal of Public Health, 97(6), 986–996. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.088492
- Hooper, Charlotte. (2001). Manly States: Masculinities, International Relations, and Gender Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Kimmel, S. M. (2005). The History of Men: Essays on the History of American and British Masculinities. State University of New York Press.
- —————————(1994). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452243627
- Leverenz, D. (1986). Manhood, Humiliation, and Public Life: Some Stories. Southwest Review, 71(4), 442–462. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43469880
- Mill, J. S. (1869). The subjection of women. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. https://doi.org/10.1037/12288-000
- Oxford University Press (n.d.). the Domesday Book. In Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/the-domesday-book
- Parker R. G. (1996). Behaviour in Latin American men: implications for HIV/AIDS interventions. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 7 Suppl 2, 62–65. https://doi.org/10.1258/0956462961917663
- Pease, B. (2009). Immigrant Men and Domestic Life. In Donaldson, M., Hibbins, R., Howson, R., & Pease, B. (Eds.), Migrant men: Critical Studies of Masculinities and the Migration Experience (pp. 79-95). Routledge New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203875315
- Pessar, Patricia R. (2003). Engendering Migration Studies: The Case of New Immigrants in the United States. Gender and U.S. Immigration Contemporary Trends. New York: University of California.
- Reis, B., & Grossmark, R. (Eds.). (2009). Heterosexual masculinities: Contemporary perspectives from psychoanalytic gender theory. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
- Riofrio, John. (2008). Situating Latin American Masculinity: Immigration, Empathy and Emasculation in Junot Díaz’s Drown. Atenea., 28(1), 23–36. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A190942217/LitRC? u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=b2ac284f
Ayrıntılar
| Birincil Dil | İngilizce |
|---|---|
| Konular | İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili, Edebiyatı ve Kültürü |
| Bölüm | Dünya dilleri ve edebiyatları |
| Yazarlar | |
| Yayımlanma Tarihi | 21 Ekim 2023 |
| Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2023 Sayı: 36 |
- Makale Dosyaları