GROUP a Roshni B Watching Naomi Wolf Interview Harvey Mansfield, on C-SPAN's Show After Words, Was Painful. Their Back And

1 GROUP A Roshni B Watching Naomi Wolf interview Harvey Mansfield, on C-SPAN’s show After Words, was painful. Their back and forth battle was reminiscent of witnessing a bloody jousting match. The sound of the lance’s wood splitting matches that of Mansfield’s words when he describes what he believes the role of women in society should be. Mansfield describes the difference between masculinity and manliness as physical appearance versus a general attitude. He explains that men are right to expect their wives to be lying in wait with a martini for them after a long day, and for women to expect nothing in return. Wolf is quick to question why reciprocity should not be expected. Our current generation is full of powerful women that, not only work full-time, but also take care of the household and community. Mansfield argues that men do not feel needed anymore; the importance of their role in society has been reduced. It is not wrong to question, why men have not taken more initiative to have a greater significance in the household. Wolf is able to reveal that Mansfield is a contradiction of himself throughout the interview. His interpretation of a “manly” man is one that does not submit to women; however, he repeatedly submits to Wolf’s criticisms of the book. The strides women have made in the realm of equality are stacking-up. Mansfield may not approve, but society needs women to function properly. Men have allowed themselves to crumble from a Superman- like figure, to a couch-potato that chooses to live off unemployment. The world will label people as they choose to portray themselves. Women were once seen as weak, but they decided to change the status-quo. Men can return to their state of glory, but that can only come when they accept their responsibility in and out of the household. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dylan M In this interview, Harvey Mansfield and Naomi Wolf engage in a heated discussion about a book Harvey had recently written. Manliness, written by the Harvard professor, is a book that’s topic lies no further than the title. It is about Manliness, more specifically what is it exactly that evokes this word in certain men, more so than others. It is an interesting topic, one that delves into the realms of science, philosophy, and human nature. It doesn't take long to realize that the two have inherently different views on this controversial topic. Mansfield's simplest definition of manliness is having confidence in situations of risk. Wolf acknowledges that this is true in a sense that men tend to seek out risk more often, however women are constantly faced with situations of risk when protecting their children, and they confidently face the situation. In this sense, she explains, the term would be 'womanliness.' These issues bring up the notion of nature vs. nurture. Why is it that men dominate the high-risk labor force? It can be because there is something in our DNA, our human nature, which draws men towards these dangerous situations. Or possibly it is hundreds of years of society, imprinting certain axioms into our behavior. Mansfield without a doubt would argue the former. The roots of their differences rest in the term Mansfield uses so often, Manliness. They both agree that this term is valorized, which leads to the main discrepancies in this discussion. While Mansfield brings up an interesting topic that is not often discussed, his attitude and mannerisms come off as a bit stark, and at times misogynistic. The interview proves how difficult it is to define some of the traits that inherently construct who we are as human beings. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2 Justin D A man, to be considered manly, must act in a particular way and have certain virtues. The role of a woman, being less intelligent than a man, is to serve the man and act as a mother and caretaker of children. Fortunately, these ideas are now considered archaic and invalid, although some still cling to them. Harvey Mansfield, a Harvard professor and author of the book Manliness, is among them. Mansfield is concerned with a society that is becoming increasingly gender neutral. There are definite differences between men and women, and at no point in history have men and women been considered equal. Mansfield argues that society should recognize these differences. Mansfield is interviewed by Naomi Wolf, a feminist and promoter of women's rights. Wolf is concerned with, and even offended by many of the arguments in Mansfield's book. In a society that recognizes clear differences between men and women there is no room for transgender individuals whose gender identity does not conform to conventional notions of being male or female. The greatest concern that I have is that Mansfield, being a professor who believes that men are more intelligent, will clearly be biased when grading the work of male and female students. Wolf compares the sexist views of Mansfield to racist views. How is believing that men are smarter than women different than believing that one race is smarter than another? Mansfield states that while racial stereotypes are untrue, stereotypes regarding women are often correct. Being a man, I was offended by almost every idea that Mansfield discussed. It is surprising that Mansfield is able to publish a book based on sexism and even more surprising that he continues to be a professor at one of the most prominent universities in the US. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Devina K The discussion with Harvey Mansfield, regarding his book Manliness, was a battle of extremes. Naomi Wolf argues for the side of feminists who disagree with the words of Mansfield. He describes the concept of manliness as, men asserting confidence, taking charge, and seeking out risk. This is a generalization of all men, and the concept of manliness can be completely subjective. Naomi Wolf represents the opinions of many feminists, and argues that Mansfield book disregards almost forty years of feminism through his claims. By arguing that women and children need the protection of men, he ignites the flame of feminists. When Wolf points out that women can also show qualities of manliness, Mansfield justifies this by saying the women are only manly when absolutely necessary. Men are more likely to seek out risk in any situation, another generalization. His argument that men take different actions than women contradicts the gender-neutral society that we live in. He also points out that women are reluctant to admit their dependence on men. Though women have traditionally been dependent on men for economic reasons, many women today are independent from men. Though many of his arguments seem primitive, he is correct in that men have social pressures to act manly. Many of the actions of men come from expectations of society rather than the nature of the person. Though neither Wolf, nor Mansfield are correct in their assumptions of men and women, they agree in pushing the characterizations of each gender to an extreme. I do not believe either gender can be characterized into a black or white stereotype. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 3 Jon B It is hard to imagine a more ironic display than Naomi Wolf interviewing Harvey Mansfield about his book, Manliness. In the book, Mr. Mansfield attempts to define the colloquial term, “manliness,” by drawing from historical examples and constructing a theoretical framework. However, much of the interview consists of him putting forth opaque and often contradictory examples, which are effortlessly dissected and refuted by Ms. Wolf. In fact, the interview itself serves as an example of the flaws of Mr. Mansfield’s analysis, as Ms. Wolf’s demeanor is much more in line with his definition of manliness than is his own. The difficulty in defining a term such as “manliness” rests predominantly with its relative nature. By attempting to define the term concretely, noting all those characteristics associated with manly men of the past, Mr. Mansfield fails to consider the shifting paradigm at the heart of its definition. Simply put, a man is considered to be manly if: 1) he embodies those virtues that are characteristic of men, and 2) he is relatively lacking, but not totally deficient, in those virtues that are characteristic of women. A man is considered more manly if he serves as a clearer example of the virtues of men while remaining distinctly masculine. In the end, Mr. Mansfield’s attempt to define “manliness” seems more like a veiled criticism of changing gender roles than an honest attempt at defining what it is to be manly in our society. This fact is made more evident by his preoccupation with the feminist movement, for which he constructs a straw man to burn in effigy. Ms. Wolf spends a large portion of the interview educating Mr. Mansfield on the true tenets of feminism, and it is clear by the end that Manliness is a book worth its weight in toilet paper. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Erica A Harvey Mansfield, author of the book Manliness, defines manliness as ‘confidence during a time of risk.’ Additionally, Mansfield states that we are currently living in a gender-neutral society that is challenging the ‘classic’ gender roles that have been prevalent in society from the beginning, and that are being pushed, more and more, into the background. This switching, or neutralizing, of roles was perpetuated by the women’s rights and feminist movements. Mansfield believes that these movements have pushed society into uncharted territory – there is no longer a clear and distinct place for men within society. Women have infiltrated every aspect of society. Some of those aspects were seen as strictly ‘manly’ beforehand.

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