masculinity

So I'm reading about a theory by a feminist named Nancy Chodorow which tries to explain women's oppression and gender differences, and specifically how boys/men develop a notion of masculinity. IT'S SO INTERESTING.

Here's a quote about her theory, because I'm not even going to begin to try to paraphrase it. I know it's long and complicated, but it's very interesting, and it's gonna take me FOREVER to type, so....

"Chodorow's purpose was to seek to explain why women and not men perform mothering functions. According to her theory, girls' identification with their mothers brings with it a sense of continuity with others. In contrast, boys, in order to attain gender identity, must reject identification with their mothers. Boys not only grow up to see girls and women as 'other,' but have a strong need to do so in order to maintain their own gender identity. Because fathers do not 'mother' infants, boys' identification with their fathers is in a sense an identification with an idealized masculinity, and thus rigid and stereotypical.

"In this way boys construct their masculinity 'largely in negative terms.' This construction is more precarious than gender construction in girls and is harder to maintain. Indeed, it must be maintained through a lifelong rather rigid differentiation from women as 'other' and a basic contempt for women. 'A boy's contempt for his mother serves to free him not only from his mother but also from the femininity within himself.'

So basically, I guess she's saying that it's because of this lifelong need to continually reestablish his gender identity that man oppresses/abuses/sexualizes woman. Obviously it's very high-in-the-sky theoretical, but interesting to ponder....