What is masculinity about?
The most convenient way to set out some ideas on masculinity is to suggest some common themes of masculinity. These are based on a reading of the literature from Australia, Britain and the USA. • Masculinity needs to be proved. Man is forever at war, says Norman Mailer, because he can never assume he has become a man (cited in Segal, 1990, 104). In other words, masculinity is in a state of uncertainty; it continually has to be proved. This begs the question: proved to whom? The answer seems to be: to other men, to partners, particularly women; and to oneself. Traditional masculinity is based on three dicta or musts: perform, protect, provide (West, 1996a, 45-50). All of these incorporate the idea of proving or testing. The male must prove that he is not female, and not homosexual. The idea of proving occurs in most of the western literature on masculinity. In The Iliad, Hektor meets his wife Andromache. She begs him not to go out and fight. But he replies “War will be the men’s concern
