Men are primarily and secondarily socialized into believing certain characteristics are definitive in determining their manliness and masculinity (Witt, 76). These characteristics range from not crying when they get hurt to playing violently. The idea of masculinity in our society begins as early as the first stages of infancy. A child's sense of self or self-concept is a result of the multitude of ideas, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs to which he is exposed (Witt, 76).

From the start of a boys life he is socialized into the belief that he should be "tough". Often when boys get hurt or come whimpering to their mother or father, the fated words, " Little boys don't cry" , are said. Children

Gwartney, Debra. "Double bind of boys concerns psychologists." Oregon Times, October 17, 1998.

An interesting aspect of masculinity is that we are not taught so much to be manly but rather to not be feminine. Most of what a young boy learns about what it means to be masculine is presented to him at such an early stage that he accepts it as an inevitable truth (Buss, 45). Often young boys can be found taunting and even motivating each other with phrases like "don't e a sissy girl" or " only girls do that." It seems that there is a pervasive fear among all males that the worst possible insult is to be labeled a female. David Buss says that some societies take this concept to an extreme. He talks of the initiation rites of the Sambia of New Guinea saying, "Initiation rites begin when boys are seven to ten years old and include oral ingestion of older boys semen and painful bleeding by sticking grass reeds up their nose. The bleeding is a counterpart of menstruation and semen is ingested instead of mothers mild" (Buss, 213). Although these actions seek to mark the boy as "not a woman", ironically they incorporate basic feminine biologic functions that men lack. Secondary socialization then acts in the later stages of a boys life to reaffirm society's beliefs about masculinity (Buss, 213).

The violence boy's witness on television further legitimates this. Katz explains that advertising imagery equates masculinity with violence. For boys this means aggression is instrumental in that it enables them to establish their masculinity (Katz, 91). Lee Bowker researched the influence advertisements have on youth. He asserts that toy advertisements featuring only boys depict aggressive behavior. Strangely, the aggressive behavior generally results in positive consequences more often than negative. Bowker also looked at commercials with boys that contain references to domination. The results of all the commercials indicate that 68.6% of the commercials positioned toward boys contain incidents of verbal and physical aggression (Bowker, 119). There was no cross gender display of aggressive behavior. Interestingly, not one single-sex commercial featuring girls showing any act of aggression. This research helps explain that it is not just the reinforcement of parents to the child that legitimate masculinity but society as a whole. Another example of how this can be reinforce even by women who may or may not be trying to promote such belief is with an experience I had growing

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lee Bowker, , Sambia Guinea, Men's Health, Susan Parental, David Buss, Debra Double, Jackson Advertising, Times October, Newsweek February, witt 76, health fitness, aggressive behavior, york ny, athletic prowess, buss 213, masculinity society, initiation rites, physical strength, boys life,
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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)