2. Masculinity

3. Task
On the handout provided
write down 5
characteristics / traits that
belong to the „typical‟ male

4. This all changed
•The Second Wave of feminism
•Women became increasingly
empowered as legal reforms such
as:
The Equal Pay Act (1970) and The
Sexual Discrimination Act (1975)
can into force

5. The death of the industrial male
In the 1970s and 1980s a lot of Britain‟s heavy industries were dismantled as the country
moved towards a more computer driven, service based economy where traditional male
roles were taken away and replaced by jobs that could be undertaken by women. Men
left the home to work in factories and offices

6. Aids: the queering of the mainstream
AIDSraised the gay profile; suddenly
you couldn‟t ignore the existence of the
homosexual male.
The financial muscle of the pink pound.
The queering of the mainstream
brought eroticised images of the male
body into fashion and advertising

7. The feminised male
Wears nice clothes
Keeps himself
(or skirts in
groomed
Beckhams case)

8. Confused Masculinity
The emasculation of traditional male identity has led to a „crisis of masculinity‟.
Men were no longer certain of what their role in society was.

9. An American poet,
author, activist and
Robert Bly leader of the
mythopoetic men's
movement, most famous
for his Iron John: A Book
About Men (1990)

10. Today's men as half
adults, trapped
somewhere
between childhood
and maturity The decline of the father's
role in the modern family
Men raised by women
A deeply troubled situation in which
most men find themselves in
western societies today
Men are an "experimental Older men would
species" and have to be taught teach young boys on
what it is to be a man these gender-specific
issues.
Rites of passage

11. Confused masculinity in FC
Both the author, Palahniuk and the director have said that the story of Fight Club reflects and
explores real men‟s lives today.
Palahniuk said he wrote his book „in public‟ by talking to real men in diners, bars, coffee shops and
their work places.
Fincher said that the unnamed narrator is “an everyman. Every young man”

12. FC and collective identity
FC and collective identity
3 principle examples of the
modern man‟s confusion over
masculine roles and what being a
„man‟ actually means:

13. First example: the life of the narrator pre- Fight
Club
Based on an illusion of materialist accumulation and career hierarchy,
The pursuits of these false goals = no male friends, no sexual partner in the „nest‟
apartment, no physically demanding work or action-based solution to problems. No libido:
“we used to read pornography; now we read the IKEA catalogue”.
Sees himself through his meaningless possessions
“a refrigerator full of designer condiments and no food”.
He is emasculated by pursuit of consumerism

14. Second example: The „Remaining Men Together: testicular
cancer group
This group is compromised of men who have
attempted to conform to traditional roles, but who
have failed. They have been emasculated by
castration
First speaker- talks of ambition to be a father, a
goal he will never achieve; the ultimate insult is
that wife has abandoned him and procreated with
another man.
Bob- pathetic and grotesquely breasted. His
attempt to attain a traditional male image, the
Muscle Man has resulted in the exact opposite
and becoming feminised

15. Third example: the group of men in Fight Club
Supposed to be the „solution‟ to the problems of confused masculinity. But it eventually
turns into another form of the same confusion: the neo-fascist-anarchist „Project
Mayhem‟. This form of „male fundamentalism‟ is, ultimately as empty as the other male
roles it reacts against. By moving the desire of money and sex men can establish
themselves.

16. Recap on Last Lesson
Recap on last lesson
What are the characteristics of a „new man‟?
What are the characteristics of a „Real Man‟ according to Bly?
What was Robert Bly‟s theory called?
What were the 3 examples we looked at in class to demonstrate confused
masculinity in Fight Club?

17. I‟m still a guy
Brad Paisley is a Country and
Western song writer and singer
who personifies what it is to be
a man in his songs.
His song ‘I’m still a guy’ works
well with Robert Bly’s theory
What aspects of this song relate
to:
A. The new man
B. Bly’s man
The song lyrics are on the
sheet in front of you

18. Fight Club and the Mytho-
poetic Essentialism
Rejection of
consumerist pleasure
Separation from the
tender feminine
world
Self Flagellation to prove Initiation through enduring
manhood to enemy pain

19. Father son relationship
Fight club could be used to examine two archetypal (model)
male relationships:
Acolyte (student) and mentor
Son and Father
The Narrator creates Tyler from his own subconscious needs (Bly would say essential needs)

20. Acolyte/Mentor:
Tyler is the cool kid in school, cares nothing for
status or urban wit or etiquette.
He is the ultimate adolescent fantasy – the „wild
man‟ showing the straight guy how to cut loose
Son/Father: The oedipal role
‘We are a generation of men raised by women’
‘You are not Gods delicate snowflake’
Tyler takes the narrator away from his
„comfortable‟ feminised world, he destroys his
„nest‟, takes him away from the love and support
of the groups and exposes him to the harsh
realities of the „real‟ world.

21. TASK 1:
After watching the first scene where the Narrator encounters Tyler – What examples
of traditional adolescent rebellion can you see?

22. Sigmund Freud‟s Oedipus complex:
the unresolved desire of a child for
sexual gratification through the parent
of the opposite sex, especially the
desire of a son for his mother. This
involves, first, identification with and,
later, hatred for the parent of the same
sex, who is considered by the child as
a rival.

23. Task two:
Now think about the relationship between the characters as the film progresses
To what extent is this traditional Oedipal narrative

24. Other examples:
23” Vibrating bag on plan – The Dildo NOT your Dildo
25” Possessions being burned – first signs of destroying the female
31” Cinema pornography – destroying it
43” Gucci MAN
58” Using women's fat and „boy scouts‟

25. Essay Question
What different attributes and characteristics are associated
with masculinity and femininity in Fight Club?