Image of Man

A detailed Summary of Image of Man

Throughout the past few centuries, man has been notorious for his masculinity. However, masculinity was labeled by the changing societies and ideals, creating different aspects of manliness. By objectifying human nature, people began to stereotype. By stereotyping, it mad it easier for people to understand by perceiving and to a great extent passing judgment on another human being.

The stereotype of masculinity seemed to arise somewhere in between the second half of the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. With the beginning of the modern age, Europe started to enter a more visually oriented age, therefore making the formation of the male body become key. Europeans began to homogenize, or look at man as a type, rather than an individual. They believed that there was no reason for individual change and wanted the men to accept measure up to the ideal of masculinity. Masculinity was strengthened due to the positive stereotyping, however for those that did not conform to this label or fit in with the ideal, were negatively stereotyped. Nationalism and masculinity went hand in hand. As masculinity became adopted as part of the national stereotype, they initiated their growth toge

I believe that the world can be a more peaceful place when humans start to realize that life is too short to be fighting with one another. Respectability rules here too. In order for anyone to listen and understand each other, we need to respect each others opinions. I think that stereotyping is an unhealthy idea. When we stereotype we automatically segregate people for the sheer fact that there is an unspoken rule about that typical stereotype. If everyone could get past trying to put people in a place and work on recognizing who they are, I believe we would have a much more peaceful world.

The Great War gave way to many changing ideas. The old masculine stereotype and counterpart were being challenged and revised by the new society that was forming. Two new ideals were also being formed; the warrior and the socialist. The warrior seemed to add new features to the already existing manly ideal of the First World War, while the socialist seemed to created a whole new stereotype and rejecting the already in play normative stereotype. The warrior ideals were courage, sacrifice, and camaraderie. The warriors considered the war a test of their manhood. To serve a higher force above the individual was considered the paradigm of warriors, which is then self-explanatory as to why nationalism and masculinity are so closely intertwined. The Great War had added new qualities to the ideal of manliness such as will power, hardness, and perseverance. The qualities that the men used to fight in the war were then taken home with them and used on an everyday basis. War and the qualities it generated, did not redefine masculinity. It simply strengthened old ideas. While the war went on, another ideal opposite to the warrior ideal started to grow. The socialists rejected the war. This "new man" model consisted of a masculinity based on solidarity, renunciation of all force, and rejection of nationalism. Marx Adler, an Austrian socialist wrote a book called Neue Menschen, Gedanken uber Sozialistische Erziehung (A New Humanity: Thoughts About Socialists Education, 1923). In his book he writes about a "new man" by belief in humanity. French Communists and German Communists, a second "new man", possess and produce an image of aggressive virility. The socialists and communist's ideals, although attempted repeatedly, never become firmly rooted. Both warrior and socialist ideals failed due to the fact that they were too extreme and too oppo

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Max Alder, Essay Throughout, World War, France Italy, Third Gender, Kaspar Lavater's, Wandering Jew, Beat Generation, German Communists, Jewish Africans, nineteenth century, ideal masculinity, eighteenth century, world war, ideal manliness, justice equality, masculine stereotype, nationalism masculinity, warrior socialist, mass stereotyping,

Approximate Word count = 1657
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History