Hall evaluated how body appearances of men have shaped discourse regarding masculine identity. In the past masculine identity was derived from sports, work, and family contexts. However, in the recent past, the discussion of men's identity has revolved around bodily appearances. The size of the penis has been the primary point of discussion in the manly discourse. Penis size is discussed as a symbol of masculinity, attractiveness, and psychological wellbeing of men. As a result, men have resulted in adopting various methods to enhance the size of their penis, such as shaving their groin region. Shaving the groin has a direct correlation with concerns about penis size. Hall's study examined how the discourse of masculinity influences pubic hair grooming by answering the following question. To what extent does society’s perception of penis size influence the phenomenon of grooming the groin?
To answer the question, Hall collected data from YouTube comments of the Gillette’s “How to Shave Down There.” Hall downloaded 5129 responses that were coded according to how users responded to the video. Hall evaluated the respondents to identify men since YouTube comments are open to everyone. Hall used gender markers, such as names, to identify men because there was no other way to determine the gender of the participants. Hall then analyzed the comments in terms of self-respect, size, individuality, heterosexual pay off, equality, plus health and hygiene. The study found that there is a direct correlation between penis grooming and masculinity. Many men are willing to engage in penis grooming to make their penis look bigger. Grooming the groin region has been marked as one of the methods that have been adopted by men to synchronize their identities with dominant notions. Shaving is an activity that was associated with femininity, and many men are will to embrace because of contemporary views of masculinity. Primarily, even men who do not have size problems acknowledged that shaving their growing made their genitalia look big. The result shows that grooming the groin is a socially constructed activity to enhance the view of masculinity. The findings of the study offer a new perspective to deal with the vulnerability of men, especially in contexts that could bring potential identity conflicts.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Braun wanted to evaluate vaginal steaming as a means of enhancing female genitalia. The vaginal steaming or v-stream is a practice that involves exposing the vulva to steam from herbs, such as mugwort. The practice has been adopted as a female genitalia enhancement procedure despite medical professions stating that it is hazardous. Also, vaginal steaming continues to be used despite many skeptical comments that have raised concerns about the safety of the practice. The discourse regarding vaginal steaming created the need to examine vaginal steaming as an imperative to enhance the female body and how it cements how these types of procedures are dangerous. Therefore, Braun explored vaginal steaming as a product of social constructs regarding female identity. The following research question can be derived from Braun’s discussion. How does vaginal steaming provide an understanding of how female bodies are socially constructed? Braun hypothesized that female bodies are not inherent or socially constructed. Second, pursuant of beauty enhancements are a result of gender freedom for women. Vaginal steaming was a procedure for already healthy and natural women.
The study involved 90 online responses on predetermined websites regarding vaginal steaming. The items were collected through web searches using terms such as “vaginal steaming” and “v steam.” Posts from marketing and advertisements sites such as YouTube were excluded from the study. The sample contained top hits from the searches because they were intended to offer the best information about vaginal steaming. The items were obtained from public sites and information that could identify scrapped off. Braun evaluated the data in terms of how society views the female body as dirty and how vaginal steaming is viewed as a solution to a health problem. Other categories include vaginal steaming as an enhancement of health and life. The finding of the study indicated that the female was naturally competent and able to take itself. Beauty enhancements threaten the natural abilities of female genitalia instead of enhancing. Practices such as vaginal steaming erupt from tradition myths that view the female body as defective and dirty. The social construction of women makes them go for these procedures without the validity of controlled studies. Thus, vaginal steaming adds evidence to the growing evidence of how social constructs affect the wellbeing of women.
Neoliberalism and postfeminism played a significant role in the analysis of the study. Neoliberals and postfeminist are groups that fight sexual harassment against women and advocated for women to be responsible for their lives and care. Braun's study was based on how social constructs inhibit women's freedom by encouraging them to adopt a mechanism to enhance their natural bodies. The study was based on the idea that vaginal steaming is a product of socially constructed notions that view female bodies as dirty and defective.
Discourses about masculinity and female continue to flock many social discussions. The discussions mainly revolve around female and male genitalia. The talks have been amplified by social media, whereby everyone has the freedom to express their view regarding female and male genitalia. The discussions are mainly intended to enhance or express certain notions of male and bodies over others. The discussions are not based on facts or come from a prejudicial point of view and have ended up hurting how people look at their bodies. For example, the size of the female genitalia has been associated with immorality. The association is prevalent despite evidence showing that the notion is false. The discussions have also had an effect on a personal level. For instance, aesthetics concerning enhancement and improving the performance of the vagina made me believe that a light vagina was better than a dark. These aesthetics encouraged women to bleach or wax their vaginas. These campaigns made light vaginas look more clean and enhanced. As a result, I associated negative things with a dark vagina. The association is evidence of how society informs our expectations regarding male and female genitalia.
