Ruth & Rachel: This is the entry I would like graded for week 6.In America you can do anything you set your mind to, right? As long as you work hard enough, right? Maybe not. The tangibility of the American Dream in our society may well do with the strong presence of the Horatio Alger myth portrayed in the media. According to America On Film the Horatio Alger myth is "the idea that anyone in America can rise to economic success through hard work and the aid of friendly benefactors."(Benshoff and Griffin, p419) How does the Horatio Alger myth play out in terms of the working class man and how do the stereotypes of lower class men effect how these men work within the Horatio Alger myth?
Working class men are often involved in physical labor. In the media they are often portrayed as unintelligent, uncomplicated but physically strong and active. They are often displayed with bulky muscular bodies and often fit into a brute stereotype. Working class male stereotypes do not allow them the power of wealth and intelligence that upper class men have, but they are given power in their physical strength. Many times they are the center of an American Dream story, showing that if you just keep working hard enough you can have class mobility. This is often seen very well in narratives about boxers.
Rocky (and its sequels) tells the tale of an Italian-American man who is not very bright but twice as brute. He gets a chance to compete in a boxing Championship when another contender drops out. Rocky Balboa manages to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World (in Rocky II) and reaches a higher class status with his boxing income. Showing that he is able to move up the class ladder, but only by the work of his physical strength that is the power a lower class man holds.
In Cinderella Man there is the story of a once prominent Irish-American boxer James Braddock who was forced to give up boxing because of injury but continues to work hard labor to try and support his family in the backdrop of the Great Depression. Like in Rocky, Braddock is given a chance opportunity in the ring as a fill in at the last second, which leads him on to achieving the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World. Once again rising to a status of power with the hard work as described by the Horatio Alger myth, but in the mode of physical strength as prescribed to the stereotype of working class men.
Both of these men embody a great vision of the working-class hero. They both start as lower class but work their way up the class ladder with a lot of blood, sweat and tears and manage to achieve the American Dream but their method of achieving it stays consistent with the stereotypes of lower class men's greatest power being their physical strength. The narrative of the working class athlete following the Horatio Alger myth can also be seen in several other sports movies including The Blind Side which adds race into the mix with gender and class.
The mode for achieving the American Dream for lower class men seems to continue to instill the stereotype. In the challenge of being a provider for their families men may be defending their masculinity in the pursuit and display of physical strength and power. This is a contrast to upper class men are often portrayed as intelligent, attractive, well-dressed and active, but not necessarily physically. Their clothing is often more gaudy and more effeminate than that of a working class man, but because of their economic power their masculinity need not be proved by their muscles, but their wallet. It seems that class creates two standards of masculinity and that in achieving the American dream men must always be proving their masculinity.
The Horatio Alger myth when packaged with athleticism can send a message that may not be the best for the working class. It is saying that physical achievement is the only way to make class mobility and oversimplifies the chance of being selected as a well paid athlete. Though these stories are enjoyable they need to be taken with a grain of salt. Not to stop dreaming, but not to expect equity and not to pretend it is there when it is not.
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Quote from:
Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality at the Movies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 419. Print.
Great job Kala. I would have to agree that our modern class structure provides two "tracks" for masculinity. We can see the upper-class track again and again in media - advertisements that tell men in order to obtain a woman's love they must buy her diamonds; the old saw that men must make more $ than their female partners to feel like a "real man." You cite some great examples of the working class track - muscles and physical power = masculinity.
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