What is the difference between man and women?

What is the difference between man and women? It seems like simple question, so most of the people will say that the difference is particularly in physiology, appearance (phenotype), genotype and gene. This is only biological view that gender differences are natural, constant and based on sex difference. Another approach supposes that gender does not associate with sex. It connects with the way of person either masculine or feminine behavior. It is also believed that there is no connection in being a man and behaving in a masculine way. This essay will examine different kinds of masculinities based on some main characters from the Billy Elliot movie.

Traditionally, it is believed that men have more power than women. The social power, which is in men’s hands most of the time, creates inequality between men and women. Thereby, conventionally men and masculinity are seemed like undeniable. Males are associated with heterosexuality, marriage, authority, strength and physical toughness. According to the Connell’s approach, it calls hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity supposes that there are canons on which every man should focus in order to become true men. This is a traditional point of view on how to become a real man.

Billy’s father, Jackie Elliot, is trying to follow this principle. He is following old traditions of his family alike his father and grandfather. First, his sons should attend boxing classes to build true man character and then, as time will come, they have to work as coal miners. Jackie have to work all his life, because only that way he can feed his family. When there are episodes with his participation, on his face he embodies such a pain and hopelessness, courage and fortress of the spirit, that was inherent to the hero, was striking with it is imposingly. The scene, where Jackie gave up his comrades on the strike and decided to go work for a benefit of his son, shows a real man’s character.

The Billy’s brother, Tony Elliot, is another character, which represents complicit masculinity. This means that Tony still gain advantage from hegemonic masculinity’s dominant position in the particular order. Tony cannot gain hegemonic masculinity yet, because he is too young and has a lack of energy or desire, but he has everything to gain it in the future. Tony tries to pertain to his father. He sees his future as a usual man in his city. He cannot even think about the possibility to change his life. All his male ancestors lived in the same way: at first boxing and then mining. The example is a scene where Billy’s dancing teacher came to Elliot’s house and asked Jackie to let Billy dancing, but Tony cannot even imagine it. How would Billy dance, if it is a girl’s activity and  boys should not do so. Tony’s character is not well-formed yet, so he represents complicit masculinity, as lots of men in his age.

A lot of people suggest that if you are a boy, you should behave like a boy; however,  in modern sociology scientist distinguish two terms, namely “sex” and “gender”. “Sex” refers to biological difference between men and women, while “gender” refers to cultural and social difference between men and women. It means that society might have a diverse range of gender roles.

Billy is a very doubtful character in this film. He is a boy whose identity passes a crisis at eleven years old, not more than twenty. He sees ballet club and realizes that he was born to dance not box.

“Billy, why did you start dancing?”

“I don’t know…just like that”

Billy does not even recognize what is happening to him, he just does what he enjoys. He does not behave as ordinary man of his kind, he does not like boxing regarding this activity as the most boring ever, while according to his thoughts dancing is a very unusual way to express own feelings and desires. This film taught us that man indeed can be sloppy with boxing gloves or otherwise very courageous in the pointes. In other words, “gender” is a very different term from “sex”.

The last character is Billy’s friend Michael. His character refers to the homosexual masculinity. This term is opposite to ‘real man’, and it is in the bottom of gender hierarchy for man. Michael doesn’t like boxing as well as Billy. He prefers skirts and dresses to pants and shorts as well as doing make up like girls do. There are a few scenes throughout the movie, where Billy finds Michael trying to wear women clothes and even kissing him. Thereby, homosexual masculinity is the weakest type of masculinity.

Summing up, traditionally men’s roles are more appreciated and rewarded in general, because men are faster and stronger than women. Men are more hardy and resistant as well. That is why there were certain canons, which state that men’s should be independently masculine of other factors. Nowadays, sociology distinguishes such terms as ‘gender’  and ‘sex’. Scientists make an opinion that if baby was born as a male sex, he would not necessarily behave in a masculine way, because there are a lot of factors that can influence the future formation of baby's character. Thus, gender refers to the different roles as for men and women in the entire society.

What is the difference between man and women? It seems like simple question and most of the people would say that the difference is in particular physiology, appearance (phenotype), genotype and gene. This is only biological view that gender differences are natural, constant and based on sex difference. Another approach supposes is that gender does not associate with sex. It connects with the way of how person behave, either masculine or feminine. It is also believes that there is no connection of being a man and behaving in a masculine way. This essay will examine different kinds of masculinities based on some main characters from the Billy Elliot movie.

Traditionally, it is believed that men’s have more power than women. The social power, which is most of the time is in men’s hands, creates inequality between men and women. Thereby, conventionally men and masculinity are seems like undeniable. Men’s are associated with heterosexuality, marriage, authority, strength and physical toughness. According to the Connell’s approach, it calls hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity supposes that it is a canons on which every men should focus in order to become true men. This is a traditional view on how to be a real man.

Billy’s father, Jackie Elliot, is trying to follow this principle. He, as his father and grandfather, is following old traditions of his family. First, his sons should attend boxing classes to cultivate true man character and then, as time will come, they have to work as coal miners. All the life of Jackie is to work, because only that way he can feed his family. When there is episodes with his participation, on his face he embodies such a pain and hopelessness, courage and the fortress of the spirit, that was inherent to the hero, was striking with its imposingly. The scene, where Jackie gave up his comrades on the strike and decided to go work for a benefit of his son, shows a real men’s character.

The Billy’s brother, Tony Elliot, is another character, which is represents complicit masculinity. This means that Tony still gain advantage from hegemonic masculinity’s dominant position in the particular order. Tony cannot gain hegemonic masculinity yet, because he is too young and has a lack of energy or desire, but he has everything to gain it in the future. Tony tries to pertain to is father. He sees his future as a usual man in his city. He even cannot think about the possibility to change his life. All his ancestors in the male line lived in the same way: first boxing and then mining. The example is a scene where Billy’s dancing teacher came to Elliot’s house and asked Jackie to let Billy dancing, but Tony cannot even imagine it. How Billy will dance, it is a girl’s activity, boys should not do it. Tony’s character is not well-formed yet, so he represents complicit masculinity, as lots of men in his age.

A lot of people suggest that if you are a boy, you should behave like a boy, but in modern sociology scientist distinguish two terms “sex” and “gender”. “Sex” refers to biological deference between men and women, while “gender”  refers to cultural and social difference between men and women. It means that society can have very different gender roles.

Billy is a very doubtful character in this film. He is a boy and his identity crisis passes at eleven years old, not more than twenty. He sees ballet club and realizes that he was born to dance, not for boxing.

“Billy, why did you start dancing?”

“I don’t know…just like that”

Billy even do not recognize what is happening to him, he just do what he likes. He does not behave as usual men, he does not like boxing and he thinks that it is boring, while dancing is a very unusual way to express a feelings and desires. This film taught us that indeed, men can be sloppy with boxing gloves and a very courageous person in the pointes. In another words, “gender” is a very different from “sex”.

The last character is Billy’s friend Michael. His character refers to the homosexual masculinity. It is the term opposite to ‘real man’ and is in the bottom of gender hierarchy for men. Michael doesn’t like boxing as well. He prefers wear skirts and dresses, do make up, as a girls. During the movie there are a few scenes where Billy sees Michael trying to wear women clothes or even kiss Billy. Thereby, homosexual masculinity is the most weakened type of masculinity.

Summing up, traditionally men’s roles more highly valued and rewarded in general, because men are faster and stronger than women. Men’s are more hardy and resistant as well. That is why there were certain canons, in which men’s should be masculine independently of other factors. Nowadays, sociology distinguishes such terms as ‘gender’  and ‘sex’. Scientists make an opinion that if baby was born as a male sex, it would not necessarily behave in a masculine way, because there are a lot of factors that can influence on the future character of a baby. Thus, gender refers to the different roles a society has for men and women.

Reference List:

1. Blundell, J. Active Sociology.  Harlow Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2001.

2. Giddens, A. Sociology . Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.

3. Connell R.W. Masculinities. - Cambridge: Polity, 1995. P. 185-190.