Week 6 Reflection

Prior to coming to Tulane, I attended the same small all girls private school for 14 years. Outside of the classroom, apart from my male friends, my knowledge of masculinity barely scratched the surface It goes without saying that I entered my Freshman year of college with little to no knowledge of masculinity, and the extent to which it was ingrained institutionally, individually, and even in my own thinking.

As a Gender and Sexuality Studies major, I have devoted a fair amount of time engaging with a wide variety of material that dethrones toxic masculinity and analyzes it through and through.  This weeks readings have shown me how toxic hegemonic masculinity is so deeply ingrained in the Western world, that is can be found within disaster relief efforts in the South of The United States, up to the Oil Industry of Alberta, Canada.

In Shreve’s article, masculinity in all six of its dimensions was explained then tethered to  the relief and recovery efforts of Hurricane Andrew; as well as the environment as a whole. In the article, Shreve states that hegemonic masculinity perpetuates the idea that men must dominate other men, women, and the environment. Although this ideology remains at large, I thought it was interesting how Shreve pointed out that there is a positive correlation between gender equality and progressive policies on climate change and environmental stability.

The ideology that man must dominate over other men, women, and the environment could also directly be applied to the Luft article, which discussed the ways in which gender and race played into relief and recovery efforts post-Katrina. On a similar note, the Luft article described racialized disaster patriarchy, which “describes  the intersectional production of gendered experiences during and after disaster that are rooted in pre-disaster patriarchal structures and cultures.” (Luft, p. 21) Prior to this reading, I had never heard of the term before but believe that it perfectly ties into our learning in regards to disasters worldwide, especially Katrina.

Lastly, the Miller article conveyed concepts that I was more familiar with: the ways in which the workforce perpetuates sexism based on everyday interactions, division of work by gender, and powerful symbols. This article, although familiar to me in some ways, was very informative in regards to the ways in which females navigate male dominated professions outside of The United States.