Mahina&LaurenH

This essay is excerpted from Robert Jensen’s new book, //[|Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity]//, published by [|South End Press]. []

__**Summary:** __ This article is about a man named Robert Jensen, who talks about his experiences regarding gender over the course of three days. During this time period, he is confronted by angry drunken men, competitive colleagues, and egotistic nerds who look down on him and his approach towards difficult situations.

**__Mahina:__** After reading this essay I thought that it was pretty interesting to see that this man wanted to act and think in more of a famine way rather than this biological masculine way. His experiences are handled differently and we get to see what he is think when he does the things he does. I like the very last line, "Feminism is a gift to men, if we are smart enough to accept it." It sounds like he is saying that it’s okay for men to act famine. I think it means that he thinks that the way masculine men handle thing are not level headed or at all the right way to see things. This easy is definitely shows a change in thinking that most en don’t have.

​While reading this article, I was often impressed by Robert's mature and calm demeanor when faced with difficult sitations, which occured pretty frequently. and found myself questioning the other men's masculinty rather than his own. Just because you act tough and throw in a few sharp words now and again doesn't mean that your a man...rather, it just makes you an annoying, egotistic, biased jerk. At the beginning of the first quarter, we talked about the defintions of a man and a male, and I believe that the discussion we had then comes into play now. Men are made. Males are born. In addition, I was also intrigued by his idea of feminism. According to Robert, he defined femininity as a "way to understand the nature of this toxic conception of who we are." While his analysis is interesting and insightful, I personally thought that it was stereotypical. Just because you operate in a more mature manner doesn't make you feminine just as acting more immature doesn't make you masculine.
 * __Lauren:__**

1. Do you agree with his examples of masculinity and how he protrays it? 2. Do you think that Feminism is a gift to men, or should it be left to women? 3. Why do you believe this man's masculinity is questioned and how does this relate to our society's current sterotypical definition of a man?
 * __Questions:__**