Western society defines specific qualities to meet the patriarchal ideal male construct. It might be argued that the indoctrination of masculine values begins at a young age, with hardness, stoicism, heteronormativity, and self-sufficiency. Ideal masculinity is related with a lack of emotional sensitivity and connection. Boys learn to be men through their parents and via their own experiences navigating societal norms and a broader social and cultural context. Boys are put under greater obligation to comply to the ideal male standard by acting in a gender-appropriate manner.
Today’s culture utters that aggressive behaviors can arise at a young age and continue over time without early preventative intervention when people look at the development of aggressiveness throughout childhood. Since the socialization of the above-mentioned masculine qualities begins at a young age, it is an ideal moment to intervene. When negative male values are reinforced, the likelihood of negative impacts of destructive masculinity exists. By pushing males to acquire unjust and violent actions, primary gender role indoctrination tries to maintain patriarchal rules. Gender roles are not viewed as biological but rather as a collection of psychologically and socially formed concepts that may be changed.
Despite many contemporary cultural myths and phenomena, an essential fact about male behavior must be considered. A man in culture and history is usually presented as a competitor, as an eternal aggressor. Phenomena such as aggression, Machiavellian prudence, and Nietzsche’s will to power are purely masculine. These traits can be seen in literature like the Commentarii De Bello Gallico by Gaius Julius Caesar.
Commentarii de Bello Gallico or Commentaries on the Gallic War is an autobiographical work. The author of this book was the first Roman emperor, the great commander and manager Gaius Julius Caesar (Caesar 3). Caesar embodied all traditional male traits and became a colossal part of the general literary, cinematic, and popular culture. Caesar embodies masculinity, a strong, domineering, aggressive, and competent warrior and leader. A cold and cynical mind was intertwined in his head with a wild will to power and glory. This man aspired to triumph in everything he did. Caesar’s notes on the Gallic War, in which he commanded the legions of Rome, confirm his character.
Caesar and his writing are a monument to masculinity for the whole world. His thirst for fame, power, and wealth brought him far from his native Italy. The Roman commander captured Gaul on the territory of which Germany is located in our time. Then he crossed the Rhine, the frontier of the known world for the people of his era, and conquered the people who lived there. And then, he was the first Roman to set foot on British soil (Julius). Caesar burned cities during these events and killed and enslaved the native population. Caesar captured the leader of the Gauls, who fought against Caesar to the very end for the freedom of his people. Caesar led his opponent in chains through the whole of Rome and then executed him.
At the end of his journey, Gaius Julius Caesar declared himself a god on earth, and the greatest ruler of Rome, the emperor. This story has entered the world’s culture in hundreds of books, films, songs, and other works of art. Caesar was insane in his will to power, absolutely captivated by ideas of dominance and power. And all this reflects men who lived in the not too distant past.
The Romans deserve special attention in the discussion of masculinity in culture. They conquered and destroyed, built and assimilated, and this is amazing. There is nothing more important to Western civilization than Rome. Red banners of legionnaires, hundreds of thousands of men built red flags of legionnaires into a colossal army. Unlike the past empires, Rome did not just control the territories it ruled. Unlike Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, Rome completely suppressed the local culture, destroyed it, and replaced it with its own. Law, life, war, family, and society came from the Romans called Pax Romana or the Roman Peace. This reflects and represents the male nature of the past cultures, namely the suppression, humiliation, and complete subjugation of others.
Pictures dedicated to the fall of Rome have become world classics, and it’s not just about the skill of the artist. It was the apocalypse of the culture and civilization of the past. Rome subjugated the entire known civilized world and established its law there. And in just a century, this great empire was gone. However, modernity keeps the memory of Rome and keeps it exceptionally well and carefully. Even in modern times, one can see the mention of Rome in modern popular culture. An example of this is the excellent HBO series “Rome”, which demonstrates just the same Roman life during the time of Caesar (Bruno Heller et al.). And there, you can see many characteristics of the masculine culture: slavery, a woman’s perception as a subordinate, competitiveness, and war.
However, ironically, in the end, it was the suppression of women that led to a kind of end to masculine rule. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women began a struggle for emancipation that led to the destruction of many traditional institutions. Male culture’s aggressive and warlike intentions were smoothed out, and in other places, they were replaced by female calmness.
A Room of One’s Own is Virginia Woolf’s best-known nonfiction work. Even though Woolf went on to write numerous other essays, including a little-known sequel to A Room of One’s Own, the 1929 essay. That essay becomes her most prominent statement on the relationship between gender and writing (Woolf). It is delivered as a series of lectures at the University of Cambridge Woolf’s report is divided into six chapters. She begins by stating a minor point, and it is reflected in the title of the article (Woolf). If a woman wants to create fiction, she needs money and her own space. In 1928, the same year Woolf gave her lectures, women were granted total equality of suffrage to men.
Woolf creates a fake character dubbed ‘Mary Beton’ and uses it to address her audience and readers. Woolf examines how women have been marginalized in social and political institutions. She illustrates her thesis by suggesting that she would be unable to access a manuscript kept at an all-male college as a woman (Woolf). A rhetorical combination of Oxford and Cambridge may be found at ‘Oxbridge’ (Woolf). A Room of One’s Own was initially presented to the students of one of Cambridge’s newly formed women’s colleges.
The last confrontation between the feminine and the masculine in global cultural terms was the Second World War. The authoritarian, imperialist states embodied in Fascist Italy and the Nazi Reich fought against liberal democracies and socialism. In the end, the other side won, which gave the world a peaceful existence and cooperation. Still, the core of contemporary culture is the masculine past of Western society, built by Caesar and calmed by Wolf.
Works Cited
Bruno Heller, Bruno, et al. “Rome.” IMDB, uploaded by HBO, Web.
Caesar, Julius. Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Van Duuren Media, 2015.
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. Colossal Publications, 2021.