ABSTRACT
Patriarchy tied to male dominance is thematic in Western and U.S. history. War and soldiering are quintessential markers for American masculinity, unfolding in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and in heightened suicide risk. Hegemonic masculinity varies but favors a white, middle class, heterosexual model. Masculinity norms include: antifeminine, success, toughness, aggression, sexual prowess, and an emerging tenderness norm. The antifeminine norm extends to homophobia for children bullied for behavior that is not gender conforming, and for all gender-variant people. Homophobia heightens risk of violence for minority gay men. Aided by the LGBTQ movement, homophobia is decreasing as positive media portrayals of gay men and lesbians increase. Images of fatherhood are contradictory. Masculinity norms distance men from their children even though fathers desire more involvement with them. Men feel restricted in their parenting after divorce. Retirement shifts a man’s identity from work to family, but few experience a midlife crisis. Toxic masculinity is tied to increased violence against women. Half of college men use some form of sexual aggression on a date, especially on college campuses. The influence of pornography on rape is contested but evidence shows it portrays women’s degradation. Profiles of rapists and violence against women suggest several masculinity norms. Rape in marriage is illegal but states vary considerably in interpretation. The greater the power gap between men and women, the greater the violence. Men’s movements in the U.S. reject feminism (mythopoetic, Million Man’s March, Promise Keepers, men’s rights movement and alt-right) or support feminism (National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) and LGBTQ movement. NOMAS is the longest-enduring men’s movement.
