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society will expect boys and men to have masculine
characteristics. Masculine characteristics are usually
defined as the opposite of feminine characteristics,
which are associated with femaleness. Essentialists
argue that the characteristics are innate and natural.
On the contrary, anthropologist and sociologist argue
that gender characteristics, including masculinities,
are socially constructed (Connell, 1996). Masculinity
and femininity are configurations of stereotypes
about men and women. Common stereotypes of
men’s characteristics are aggressive, tough, strong,
rational, active, and rough (Darwin, 1999). Connell
(1996) argues that the stereotypes widely known as
masculine traits are not monolithic. Masculinity has
various patterns across different societies. Indonesian
version of masculine characteristics may be different
from American characteristics of the masculine.
Traditional Indonesian masculine might be inspired
by the story of pewayangan (traditional puppet
show), while in the West might be inspired by stories
about cowboys.
2.1 Constructing Boys’ Masculine
Identity
Gender socialisation starts since a child is in its
mother’s womb. Modern technology enables parents
to know their babies’ sex before birth. Consequently,
parents tend to prepare name, colour, clothes, and
toys according to the baby’s sex. Once the baby is
born, gender socialisation gets intensified. Before a
child reach preschool, the child will have learned a lot
about gender through social interactions (Meece,
2002; Connell, 1996). There are three factors
contribute to boy’s masculine identity formation:
socio-biological, parenting, and socio-cultural
factors.
Sociobiological experts argue that masculine
characteristics are derived from genetic and hormonal
composition (Zaduqisti, 2009). Testosterone, the
male hormone, is believed to be responsible in the
manifestation of masculine characteristic in men. A
high level of testosterone hypothetically will increase
aggressiveness and strength of a man. However,
Connell (1996) argues that this is a flaw theory since
there is no standard pattern of masculinity resulted
from biological factors, such as hormone.
Parenting is also believed to be an important
factor of gender learning. The presence of a father is
hypothetically important in shaping masculine
identity of a boy (Mussen and Distler, 2016). A boy
learns how to be a man from his father. A boy will
develop a strong masculine identity when he has
intense interactions with his father. However, it is
important to take into account what pattern of
masculinity modelled by the father. Intense
interactions with a father who is abusive may result
in toxic masculine identity rather than a strong one.
We also have to clearly define what it means by
strong masculine identity. To create a more equal
society, fathers need to model an egalitarian, caring,
and respectful masculinity instead of aggressive,
violent, and dominant masculinity.
Every human interacts with other human being
and the society he/she lives in. In term of masculine
identity development, a boy will catch what the
society expects of him. It is common that a child
would react and behave as expected since every
human being needs to feel accepted. Culture
constructs social expectations of gender (Adriany,
2013; Bhana, 2009). There are expectations for a man
to behave in certain way and possess certain
characteristics. For example, a man is expected to be
emotionally strong, that is why people teach boys to
hide their true emotion and not to cry.
3 RESEARCHING BOYS’
MASCULINITY
We identify two political focus of research on boys’
masculinities. First, research that preserves gender
stereotype and strengthen hegemonic construction of
masculinity. This kind of research does not challenge
gender stereotype, it strengthened stereotype by
proving differences between boys and girls without
explaining reasons behind the differences. For
example, a research by Pahlevanian and
Ahmadizadeh (2014) investigate the relationship
between gender and motoric skills. Using statistical
analysis, the study concludes that boys have better
gross motoric ability, such as jumping, climbing,
throwing, and catching than girls. Pahlevanian and
Ahmadizadeh (2014) do not unpack the structure that
may perpetuate the differences. This kind of research
will not contribute to gender equality.
Second, research that deconstructs hegemonic
masculinity (Connell, 1996). Connell (1996) argues
that masculinity is not fixed. It changes overtime and
context. According to her, masculinity has multiple
patterns and there is hierarchy of power operates
between types of masculinity. Connell (1996)
unpacks underlying factors of inequality between
masculinities and investigates means through which
hegemonic masculinity operates at schools. She
provides a framework to challenge hegemonic
masculinity at schools, since schools plays an
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