Creating the Masculine Self

We create our masculine selves by self-reflection in which other people, predominantly our partners, peers, and friends, play a central part. Masculinity has two factors: strength and quality. Strength is determined by a person’s self-reflection: the effectiveness and effort to invest time in his search for cultural resources of masculinity, and his ability to employ conductive resources in his search. The qualitative part of masculinity is investigated revitalizing Weber’s methodological concept of the ideal type as a surgical descriptive of people, society, and culture. While all three ideal-typical styles of masculinity – traditional, anti-traditional, and egalitarian – exist in all Western societies, their relative prevalence is culture-specific. Creating the Masculine Self Who are we? How do we conceive ourselves as beings? Rene Descartes’ phrase “I think, therefore, I am” (cogito ergo sum) is a good starting point. The American philosopher and sociologist George Herbert Mead is a more empowering source to consult for the question of who we are. He created a model of moral development of personality or character where selfreflection is the core variable for personal development. Mead defines the “self” as the character or personality of a person. Identities that construe the self can be added, modified, or receive changes in their relative importance (Stryker 1980, 1992, 1994). Over time, when new information is added, the organization of character (the self) disintegrates and has to be reorganized in a newer self. Imagine incoming junk mail, new books, bills, newspapers,