Reference no: EM133874455
Assignment:
Using the data provided on pg. 135 of your text and the information provided, respond to the following:
- What is the trend by sex in educational attainment? (Describe data for males vs. females.)
- What factors have contributed to this trend?
The chorus of slurs stigmatizing men who perform femininity sends a consistent message, a rule designed to guide all men's behavior: Guys, whatever you do, avoid acting like a girl. Today, only 24 percent of young American men describe themselves as "very masculine," but many more report feeling pressure to avoid femininity and do masculinity.33 More than two-thirds of young men say that they feel at least some pressure to be ready to throw a punch if provoked, 61 percent say they feel pressure to have a lot of sexual partners, and 57 percent say they feel pressure to talk about women in a hypersexual way.
In US culture, being a masculine man involves not just doing masculinity but also avoiding femininity. Because of androcentrism, anything a woman does can become off-limits for men concerned with protecting their masculinity. As a result, we see male flight, a phenomenon in which men abandon feminizing arenas of life. This is what happened with cheerleading as well as many boys' names. We see the same phenomenon in professional occupations.35 A study of veterinary school applications, for example, found that for every 1 percent increase in the proportion of women in the student body, 1.7 fewer men applied.36 One more woman was a greater deterrent than $1,000 in extra tuition.
Men will even flee quite valuable arenas to avoid femininity. Consider education. As girls and women have come to excel in school, many boys and men increasingly associate education with femininity.37 They may think studiousness is for girls, so they don't study. Or, if they do study, they may pretend they don't. Among young men, underachievement is sometimes seen as cool. Or, at least, liking one's teachers, being interested in lessons, and caring about grades may seem decidedly uncool.