WHAT IS MASCULINITY?
In her book Undoing Gender, Judith Butler talks about the link between gender and desire. She states that we desire to be recognised by society as humans as opposed to “less than human”. Therefore with the binary genders being part of what is socially accepted as being human, we desire recognition of the sex we were born with, not because we desire to be male or female, but because we desire to fit in. Masculinity, which is the gender expression associated with maleness, will therefore be pursued by males who want to fit in, consciously or not.
What is commonly accepted as masculine and feminine vary throughout generations, cultures and religions. For example, present-day Singaporeans see men in feminine clothing as taboo, associating the garment with femininity and therefore only for women. A simple look into the sartorial history of some of the Singaporean races would reveal clothing that resembles the silhouettes of dresses and skirts. The lungi, hanfu and sarong are garments traditionally worn by men. This does not mean that any of these cultures lack important traits of masculinity and are consequently weaker, less capable and “less than human”.
Masculinity is perhaps more than just about looking like a male and putting up a strong front. 24-year-old E Reng questions the teachings of masculinity. He states, “As someone who went through about 10 years of boys' school education, you are sort of prescribed with a pretty insular view of what being a man or being a male should be.” He then comments that he is not sure if he knows whether masculinity is what was taught to him or is what he thinks it should be. He concludes by stating, "it's only through growing up and being exposed to these alternative views and perspectives that these 'original' masculinities can be reconfigured." This project takes this approach by featuring 12 different perspectives of what masculinity is through the current youngest generation of adults.
“As someone who went through about 10 years of boys school education, you are sort of prescribed with a pretty insular view of what being a man or being a male should be.”
-E Reng
