Modern Masculinity: Chivalry is not Dead

What does it mean to be a good man?

4. How do the values of manhood differ in modern times? What do you think it takes to be a good man? Explain how your views are like or unlike those in the play, using examples from the text.

In Shakespeare's time, men were held to different standards that constituted "manliness." Shakespeare demonstrates this through Lady Macbeth in his play, Macbeth. In one example, the Lady Macbeth is praying to the gods, begging them to "unsex" her: "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!" (Macbeth, 1.5.40-43). "Of direst cruelty" is strong, violent diction that conveys Lady Macbeth's view of men-- that they can be brutal, callous creatures. In this scenario, she needs to become more manly in order to do what she believes needs to be done and kill Duncan. 

In another situation, Macbeth is trying to refuse the Lady Macbeth's persistence. He does not want to kill Duncan, and she responds by accusing him of being weak and unmanly. "Macbeth: Prithee, peace! I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. Lady Macbeth: What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man," (Macbeth, 1.7.45-49). She essentially says that if he does not kill Duncan to rob him of his kingdom and power, then he is less than a man. The way Lady Macbeth sees it is that to be a man you must thirst for power, and to be a man you must take that power with violence.

Macbeth sees it differently. He is an honorable man, and he wants to be a gracious host for Duncan. After murdering Duncan, he feels tremendous guilt and his virtues are corrupted. After the deed is done, Macbeth says that he heard this: "One cried, 'God bless us!' and 'Amen,' the other, as they had seen me with these hangman's hands. List'ning their fear, I could not say 'Amen,' when they did say 'God bless us'... Methought, I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'," (Macbeth, 2.2.28-33). Through this quote we can see that Macbeth will no longer let himself identify with the Christian faith because he has sinned. He can no longer say "Amen" or "God bless us" because he is ashamed of his transgression. Therefore, Macbeth surely does not define manhood as power-hungry or violent as the Lady Macbeth does. 

The Macbeths have very different views of manhood--one is of cruelty and power, one is of honor and nobility. In modern times, there is a third view. In our culture, men are supposed to be many things: sometimes they should be leaders, sometimes "boys will be boys," sometimes they should be strong, and sometimes they should be everything all at once. However, there is one idea that I hear repeated more often than all the others: chivalry is dead. Men in our society have been given a pass: chivalry is long gone and disrespect is acceptable. Knight-like qualities that used to epitomize manliness are virtually nonexistent, and most ideas surrounding men qualify these boys as jerks. Manliness is nearly synonymous with pride, and such arrogance often comes before others. Robert Jordan once said, “There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet.” This quote makes one thing clear: if nothing else, at least hang on to your pride, and face your challenges with dignity. Nevertheless, society's views of manliness coincide more closely with the ideals of Lady Macbeth. Now, not all men are like this, of course.

There are some men, in the minority, that represent what I think embodies masculinity. Manliness to society is the exact opposite of manliness to me. I believe that a man can only be considered manly when he is respectful, humble, and trustworthy. A man's masculinity should be assessed by the way he treats others; he should be considerate and kind. And yet, kindness is compared to weakness, which is too often synonymous with femininity, which in turn is the greatest insult to a man. Treating people with care and consideration is not weakness, it's being a good person. My ideals of manliness more closely coincide with Macbeth's.

The Power of Art and Intentional Omission

Limited Visibility. 

Many people, elitists and art appreciators alike, scoff at the idea of contemporary art. "Anyone could do it. It means nothing," they might say. However, to me, contemporary art is beautiful and powerful. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed our excursion to the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) of Raleigh and its exhibit, Limited Visibility. What does that even mean, limited visibility? The curator explains in her statement: "Voluntary omission, erasure, withholding, and concealment: these are the methods the artists in Limited Visibility employ in order to draw attention to that which is missing." In other words, the artist will intentionally omit certain aspects of their art in order to make a point: that something is wrong, something is missing, and we should be aware of it. 

One particular piece was mesmerizing: Temple of One Thousand Bells.

This piece by Laura Belém displays one thousand delicate glass bells that were clapper-less. The artist used a melodic voice-over to narrate a wonderful tale of an explorer venturing to hear this wonderful lost symphony. The explorer would only hear the symphony once he stopped tuning his ears. He needed to be natural, relaxed, and comfortable in order to enjoy the music. 

Another one of my favorite pieces was called, quite incredibly, Blind self portrait listening to the beetles while scratching a notched stick so to invoke, the universal magic of the power of destruction.

Created by Abraham Cruzvillegas, this piece may, at first glance, seem unremarkable besides its name. On the contrary! While its name is exceptionally descriptive, the art itself is exceptionally secretive. Behind each and every sheet of paper that is covered with acrylic paint lies a mystery. Lying under one sheet was a packet of sugar. Hidden by another was a picture of a tree. However, we were not allowed to touch any of the paper obstacles (so then, of course, my curiosity burned), and without our tour guide's explanation of the piece, we never would have known that anything was behind these inexplicable papers. And yet, I guess that is the nature of secrets: we don't always get to know them. 

Side note: check out this (something that I think is one of the greatest works of literary expression ever written) excerpt from the prologue of Maggie Stiefvater's novel The Dream Thieves. Her insight on the nature of secrets is astounding. I love it!

Overall, I adored the exhibit. I was touched by many pieces, and it made me realize many societal and personal ignorances that I held. The entirety of the exhibit was eye-opening and fascinating. Each piece was well-presented and easy to look at. However, one thing I would have liked to see was a summary or description of the art accompanying the exhibit. The tour guide did a wonderful job of explaining to us of the meaning of the works, and yet I think I would have benefitted from a written description of the work. 

And now for my personal favorite:

This piece, called The Times Atlas of The World, was created by Agustina Woodgate. The sanded world atlas was complete in 2012. The book is approximately two feet wide and one foot in length. 

This creator of this piece is Argentinian, and the piece was created with regards to Latin America. In this region, geopolitical alliances are often shifting and unstable. The economies of many nations in Latin American are struggling, and some are tilting towards a trade alliance with China rather than the United States. The purpose of the author's creation of The Times Atlas of The World was to illustrate this altering geopolitical landscape. The piece is representational of the geopolitical culture of Latin America. 

Surprisingly, I interpreted this art in a completely different way. At first glance and before our tour guide explained the artist's intention, I interpreted this piece as idealizing a notion that I hold very dear to my heart: do not attempt to understand the world through maps or photographs, shape your own ideas of our breathtaking world through your own adventurous experiences; see the world, interact with the world, for yourself, and don't take someone else's word for it. Woodgate diminished every line, every country's framework until all that was left was its core, and this way the viewer could fill in every inch for themselves. They could make every little discovery that was there to be made without the hinderance of preconceived ideologies. The world was mine to make of it what I wanted! It was fascinating. I was a bit off from the artist's intention, but hey, that's what makes art art, right?

My sketch of The Times Atlas of The World is here:

While my sketch is nowhere near the artistic richness of the original piece, it did allow me to appreciate certain aspects of Woodgate's work. First of all, the texture of the piece was very unique. Woodgate used sandpaper to grind down each and every page of this atlas so that the details and the lines of each page would dissipate. You could feel the settled dust on every page. To me, this inclusion of the dust creates a sense of nostalgia; the lines may still be there, but they have scattered to a hundred new places, and a not much more than a fleeting memory. In addition, the use of the sandpaper created blurred lines in the atlas, nothing was clear, concise, or contour about these edges. This creates a sense of mystery and adds to the fuzzy illustration of the geopolitical state of Latin America. The sandpaper also created a light color scheme. Every color's vibrance was mitigated. This created a mild, calm mood in me as the viewer. This comforting tone was interesting to me, it was as if the artist felt that there was no reason to panic. The atlas was also very thick with 515 pages of maps. The grand book was perfect for depicting the vastness of the world and how incredibly it can change. 

All in all, it was a fabulous trip, a wonderful experience, and I will definitely be visiting CAM again!