Males Transform!

“Boys will be boys,” is the phrase that people always say when a group of males is behaving noisily or aggressively. Typically, their actions are regarded as the characteristic of men called masculinity. There are four components that males claim to be masculine. Masculinity Construction involves the amount of learning through and about human relationships. Secondly, the Peter Pan Syndrome affects males’ emotions and responsibilities. Understanding the masculinity in modern society in which males would deal with problems resulting in depression. Lastly, the attraction toward guns and their aggression would demonstrate their masculinity. These are the qualities that prove males to be men. 

This picture depicts “boys will be boys.”

Masculinity Construction 

There are two ways that males construct their masculinity. Growth and development are one way that make construct that masculinity. According to Connell (2008), a study finds that a group of boys is constructing their lives as boys in different ways—giving different meanings to what it is to be a boy and a future man. Someplace emphasis on toughness and sporting prowess, some on social relations with girls, some on the school curriculum, and access to a career. To demonstrate toughness as a masculine trait, males love to show off their masculinity to others. For example, Looking and being strong are two characteristics that are most often to be shown off. Some males love to work out to develop a muscular figure to impress the females.

 

Another way that males construct their masculinity is through human relationships. Boys’ development involves a tremendous amount of learning through and about human relationships. They construct their lives through a dense network of relationships, with parents, siblings, and other families, with neighbors, with peers, with teachers, with employers. The human relationships through which boys develop are starting points for the patterns of relationships that men will build in adult life (Connell, 2008). For instance, my brother had a great learning experience with his teachers. He asked many questions when he did not understand the topic and such at the time. As my brother grew up, he wanted to become a teacher himself. He went back to his old school and looked to his teachers for some advice. Through human relationships, my brother was able to use the teacher's advice to become a teacher. 

Peter Pan Syndrome 

Not everyone wants to grow up, but we all have no choice. The Peter Pan Syndrome affects males’ emotions and responsibilities. Peter Pan Syndrome is a concept that is used to describe the “never-growing” men who have reached an adult age but cannot face their adult emotions and responsibilities. People with this syndrome feel valuable to the extent that they are accepted by other people (Kalkan, Batık, Kaya, & Turan, 2019). They have difficulties in interpersonal relationships because of their ability to search for perfection. Another issue involving their relationship is that they tend to always attribute responsibility to something or someone else because they do not want to accept their own mistakes. For example, my friend is 30 years old, and Joseph loves to play games on his PlayStation 5 with his friends all day and not worry about his future. When he is reminded to think about what he wants to do for his future by his mother, he would just say “it's my future, not yours,” and ignore her. This demonstrates that he does not want to take responsibility and accept his own mistake.  

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Peter Pan Syndrome Scale 

There is a tool that ones can use to measure the levels of Peter Pan Syndrome. The Peter Pan Syndrome Scale is a 5-point Likert-type scale consisting of twenty-two items to determine the levels of Peter Pan Syndrome in male individuals. The lowest score to be obtained from the scale is 22 and the highest score is 110. A high total score taken from the scale indicates that the level of Peter Pan Syndrome is high.

Masculinity in Modern Society 

In Modern society, masculinity is a performance, a set of stage directions, a 'script' that men learn to perform (Itulua-Abumere, 2013). Socializing agents like the family, school, and the media inculcate and validate gender-appropriate behavior and the boy learns the male role through observation, initiation, and feedback. From my experience, I have two nephews which are Dylan (older nephew) and Darren (younger nephew). They tend to get along well, but sometimes the older brother gets annoyed by the younger one. Whatever the older brother does, my little nephew would copy and do the same. When Dylan plays games on his PlayStation 5, Darren would play games on his Nintendo Switch. Through observation, Darren got his gaming behavior from Dylan.

Understanding the masculinity in modern society in which males would deal with problems resulting in depression. According to Itulua-Abumere (2013), he mentioned that men are generally far more reluctant than women to face up to and respond to physical and psychological problems. They suffer deep depression at the loss of the breadwinner role and the status that went with it as this was regarded as one of the crises of masculinity. Furthermore, Itulua-Abumere explained that men face constant job role changes, the threat of unemployment, and job-related stress daily. 

Men’s Attraction to Gun and Aggression 

Men's attraction toward guns and their aggression would demonstrate their masculinity. Gender socialization teaches boys and men to be “strong,” “tough,” and “in control” from an early age (Scaptura & Boyle, 2021). To dominate others, men are trained to rely on “masculine resources” like aggression, bullying, fighting, or sexually overpowering women, especially in the face of disrespect or status challenges. For example, some men want to join the army to protect their country, and some want to join to express their masculinity. Some men would think it’s the most masculine thing to do is to join the army because they would go through harsh training and holding a gun. 

According to Scaptura and Boyle (2021), their research found that men turn to guns to reclaim masculinity they perceive to be threatened. Furthermore, they find that both high-income white men and lower-income men of color have elevated attraction to guns not generally, but rather specifically when they are experiencing threat. For example, high-income white men could afford to purchase a gun and uses them when threat tend to appear. In addition, lower-income men of color have a gun either from a friend or by stealing and uses them when threat tend to appear. 

Symbolic Interactionism Theory 

Symbolic interactionism theory is implemented on how men claim to be masculine. The symbolic interactionism theory assumes that people respond to elements of their environments according to the subjective meanings they attach to those elements, such as meanings being created and modified through social interaction involving symbolic communication with other people (Nickerson, 2021). Within the masculinity construct, growth and development help males express their masculinity. The symbol of being strong and tough expresses males to be more masculine. Within the Peter Pan Syndrome, the men who cannot face their emotions and responsibilities symbolize how they lack demonstrate to be masculine. In modern society, males tend to deal with a problem resulting in depression which symbolizes that all males have problems to deal with even being masculine. Gun and aggression symbolize power within males to be masculine. The symbolic interactionism theory is important for males to be masculine because males use symbolic interaction toward others to demonstrate how masculine they are. 

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Reference:

Connell, R. (2008). Masculinity construction and sports in boys’ education: A framework for thinking about the issue. Sport, Education, and Society, 13(2), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573320801957053

Itulua-Abumere, Flourish. (2013). Understanding Men and Masculinity in Modern Society. Open Journal of Social Science Research. 1. 42-45. 10.12966/ojssr.05.05.2013. 

Kalkan, M., Batık, M. V., Kaya, L., & Turan, M. (2019). Peter Pan syndrome “men who don’t grow”: Developing
a scale. Men and Masculinities, 24(2), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x19874854 

Nickerson, C. (2021, October 12). Symbolic Interactionism Theory & Examples. Simply Psychology.
Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/symbolic-interaction-theory.html 

Scaptura, M. N., & Boyle, K. M. (2021). Protecting manhood: Race, class, and masculinity in men’s attraction to guns
and aggression. Men and Masculinities. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x211023545