Masculinity and Home Improvement | Northern Lights

Our society seems to have an obsession with the division between masculinity and femininity. Don?t know what I?m talking about? Go to Toys R Us sometime and look at the flat out line between the ?boy? toys and the ?girl? toys. Even though they?ve taken down the signs indicating the two sections, the bright pink on one and blue/black of the other is a dead giveaway. It?s interesting though that somehow masculinity is now equated to interests. Masculinity in its strictest meaning is the act of being a man.. A prime example of this is found in the 90?s sitcom Home Improvement, starring Tim Allen. Here we get a shining picture of the difference between cultural masculinity and true masculinity.

The show followed the comedic antics of Tim Taylor, played by Allen. Tim is a know-it-all fix it guy with his own cable TV show called Tool Time. Essentially he?s everything culture says a man is, he watches every conceivable sport ESPN broadcasts, he?s into cars, he knows how to fix stuff, and he even has a signature caveman grunt that became his catchphrase throughout the series. What?s interesting is that thirty or forty years ago this guy would?ve been seen as the perfect husband and father, mainly based on his high levels of testosterone. The show actually paints him as the fall guy for most of the jokes. On top of that, he has almost a phobic response to anything that isn?t mainstream male, including theater, arts, opera, or even expressing emotion. It?s interesting to see this stereotype set up in his perfect situation only to be hammered by his own Hubertus. It?s Shakespearian, and really freaking funny.

Tim and isn?t the only character on the show to illustrate the dynamics of masculinity. Sitting at the opposite end of the scale from Tim is his neighbor, Wilson.? The thing about Wilson is that he?s world traveled, well read, educated, and overall well rounded. He?s usually participating in some sort of cultural ritual from some obscure tribe in the Amazon. Whenever Tim is having some sort of problem he ends up in the back yard and catches Wilson in one of his ?wacky? antics and asks him for advice. He always finds him willing to listen patiently, and then imparts some jewel of wisdom or a helpful quote. Wilson?s masculinity is defined by what he knows. He doesn?t worry if what he?s doing is ?girly?, only that he gets something out of it. He?s studied other cultures and has incorporated the practices he likes into his own life, without it affecting his own sense of security.

Now the prime example of masculinity I believe one could get from this show is Al. Al is Tim?s assistant on his show and is usually the target of most of Tim?s jokes and pranks, all of which Al takes in good humor. Al is a mix between Tim and Wilson, where he enjoys football, building things cars and whatnot. He?s also into arts, music and other cultures. The cool part is that he integrates both sides beautifully, making him comfortable in expressing both his strong and soft sides. I love that in nearly every episode he?s able to outwit Tim in his knowledge of mechanics and home repair, easily accomplishing any task brought to him without even the sense that he?s out of his element. He never needs to prove his masculinity. One of my favorite pieces with him is his flannel shirts. Al is always wearing flannel, even changing into the exact same shirt after the show. He?s constantly mocked for it, but takes it in good humor like everything else. What I love though is the reveal. They could?ve kept it a running gag with no explanation, but instead the writers took it one step further. The reason Al wears flannel every day is because whenever he would help his late father in his garage, his father would give him a large flannel to wear it, a reason that while others would call feminine, Al makes it his own.

So if you?re still with me after my huge fanboy gush about Home Improvement, well done. Also I want to say this: When it comes to masculine interests, I think the key is really whatever you like. All three of these men were masculine in their own ways. None particularly had it right or wrong. Even Tim, as much as he?s shown to be the comic foil, still had his own definition of what masculinity is and it worked for him. I praise Al because he was the most moderate in it, taking both classic feminine ideas and masculine ideas and making one of the most stable people on the show, but it?s still up to you. Don?t let people say that opera and dance aren?t masculine, and be open to incorporate new types of masculinity into your world.

-JOE

Joe is 26 years old and a journalism major at the University of Utah. He's been working to understand his same-sex attraction for nearly seven years, and feels he has a pretty good idea on what his is all about. He is a huge geek, he loves comic books, movies, video games and TV, so don?t be surprised if he uses references to Superman or the X-Men in his posts. In his free time, he enjoys doing everything above as well as playing board games with friends and eating anything deep fried or covered in chocolate.

Source: http://northstarlds.org/blog/2012/08/masculinity-and-home-improvement/

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