Islamic "Masculinity"
People in different culture conceive the process of masculinity in different ways. Each society develop its own cultural norms that define of what constitute masculinity. This paper attempts to discuss what constitute masculine identity in Islamic society, particularly Arab Society and to what extend religion influence that identity. Over the years sociologist in Western society have extensively debated the notion of masculinity. Number of theoretical framework have been resulted from the masculinity debates. The paper will use the theories presented in the reading materials as bases of our discussion of masculine identity in Islamic societies. We will examine whether sociological theories of masculinity are valid in applying to Muslim cultures.
Nearly one out of every six people on earth today is a muslim. They are found in almost every nation (Palmer 1983:3) in hundreds of racial groups, speaking dozens of language. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population with 150 millions, Arab countries have the largest Muslim ethnic groups in the world estimated 120 millions (Jameelah 1976:11) Islam is a complete way of life emphasising beliefs and devotional practices with a larger context of regulated social relations, economic responsibilities and privileges, political ideals, and community loyalties.(Denny 1987:6) Muslim inhibit at least two cultural spheres, the one they were born into and nurtured by and the one acquired As islamic identity, usually the two are closely connected and sometimes identical (depend on the society). Many cultures has been superseded by Islamic culture, which later become the only known culture in those societies.(1)
The cultures and sub-cultures of the Muslim communities in Africa, Middle East, Southern Asia, and Southeast Asia have very
distinctive individual elements and characteristics that have been blended with Islamic beliefs, values, and behaviour patterns. Given the cultural diversity among Muslims societies, there cannot be a single culture that represent the whole islamic society, As a result, our discussion will be confined on the Arab muslims that form the largest muslim in the world.
MASCULINE IDENTITY
There has been a widespread disagreement among sociologists in defining what constitute masculinity. Some argue that masculinity is a socially constituted identity, while some other contends that masculinity is inborn ability in which society reinforced through its norms and values. In his book entitled..... ...... argues that masculinity is a learned process. " the process of masculinity is process of learning. The status of masculinity is an achieved status rather than attributes. The sex literature Mainly analysis the acquisition of masculinity by means of a simple social learning and the conformity to norms and the values of the society. The Brittan Arthor claimed that masculine identity is resulted from men's political and social domination over women. He argue that "masculinity is the ideology that justifies and naturalises male domination" It is the ideology of patriarchy (Brittan 1898:4)(2)
GROWING UP TO BE A BOY
In book entitled "Inward Gaze: Masculinity and subjectivity in modern culture, Petter Middleton discussed how young boys come to contact the world manhood or the identity of masculine men. One of the channels in which boys become to socialize manhood is through male dominated activities such as sports and comic action movies. These activities produce more direct relationship between men and boys. However, boys do not always participate male dominance activities, partly because boys are excluded from engaging men's activities.
Petter Middleton claimed that comic action games as major materials in which boys learn the essence of manhood. Since masculine identity is an image that tend to reflect authority and power. It tend to re-enforced the notion of masculine men. Most actions present in the comic action movies and books and image in which men can achieve the impossible. Supermen is one of the most developed comic action that exercise power and authority to achieve the impossible and the saver those people who are powerless when tragedy strikes.(Middleton 1989: 38) In the supermen's movies, " crime are always committed by others and its the duty of the superhero to bring them to justice.
This image displayed in the comic action movies serves as the bases of the development masculine identity among young boys. Young boys, in western world, tend to grow up the expectation of becoming the ideal men pretend in the comic action movies. The action comic movies provide for the boys " what men expected to be, superhero" The superman on the other hand, reflect the nature of the young boys, Superman is a man ho have as little as sex as the boys who read. The superheroes are " ideal figures of what male readers would like to be; strong, tall, handsome and powerful" (Middleton 1992:39) There are several reasons as to why boys read or watch the action comic programs, Middleton pointed out two reasons, one is the " desire to be a powerful to act out one's anger and satisfied it, the other is a wish to about men's world".
Although Petter Middleton discussed extensively how boys in the Western societies learn masculinity in their early years, he did not examine wether the observation that he made is valid in other cultures or weather ideal and fantasies offered to western young boys are shared by other societies. Muslim society, like Western societies, have a process which boys are socialize through media and comic action readings similar to that of Western world. There are action comic materials (mainly reading forms) that provide an ideal men, powerful, strong, an indestructible men. (Nadwi, Syed 19980) Unlike supermen's movies, there are no women involved in those books, its only men that play all social and heroic role in the comics.
Majority of the comic action books has been written long time age by Islamic teachers. One of the famous men read often boys is Aladdin story.(3) Aladdin can flies like supermen using hand-me-downs or rag. Most images presented in those stories tended to conformed muslim norms and culture. Aladdin tend to rely on Allah (GOD) for the success of his missions and whatever he achieved is being achieved through Allah's permission. The muslim action comics has been used a tool to teach boys islamic religious values.(Isik 1970:45) However, the effects of those action comics on children is similar to that Western children and their effects reflects how they develop their masculine identity.
In both culture, the male image presented in the action comics movies do not provide the kind of intellectual, emotional moral necessary for manhood. It only perpetuate the notion "to be a man" you have to be powerful, aggressive and exercise authority. However, although boys read action comic to know about men's world, the writers of the action comics who are mainly men do not want boys in the real world of men. Middleton referring to western Boys, argued that its not their attention to introduce the boys the world of manhood but they rather want them to keep boys out of the men's world. It is the ideology of manhood to create for young boys and ideal men that would prevent boys from entering men's world. Middleton wrote:
....Men don't want boys in their world, so they give
them a surrogate one, because their admission into world of manhood would force unacceptable change and this would mean sharing power with women and children, and transforming those laws which call comic manhood into being. For men, manhood must remain a separated condition, not of emergence and dependency. Boys can be given by comics and other forms of this culture such as (television and cinema) fantasies of what manhood most desire; unlimited strength, unrestricted movement and unbounded. [Middleton 1992:42)
GROWING UP TO BE A MAN IN ISLAMIC SOCIETIES
The child's biological and social development has attracted great deal of attention from sociologists and psychologist. In different cultures, children's gender development, is conceived different ways. Some cultures child's gender identity is believed as process that resulted from biological condition, while other consider as a process of learning. Brittan Arthor claims that gender identity is acquired through socialization in which children are though their gender identity by their parents. It has also been argued that gender identity is the subjective sense that a man or women has his or her masculinity.
Some scholar argued that boys masculine development depend on how successful a boy to internalized once's father in psychic battle. Freud argued that boys always internalize their father in psychic battle to over come their aedipac fixations on their mother. " Boys who fail to mange to identified with their father are reserve army of future neuritis and social misfits" (Brittan 1989:21) freud Believed that male gender identity is an identity achieved at the cost of giving up one's mother. It is important to note that this theory had enjoyed a little support among sociologists that studies Masculine identity. however, it contributed to the studies of masculine identity and how it developed.
FATHER's ABSENCE
Family has great influence on how boys develop.