History, biology and symbolism revolving around Masculinity

The image presented clearly presents masculinity based on two significant factors the advertisement portrays. The first, and the most obvious, factor is the image of an assault rifle. The second being the words presented to the viewers: “Consider your man card reissued”. Obviously, based on the text, the advertisement is specifically targeting men to buy weapons. But the important question at hand is, how does men interpret this type of advertisement (or any situation) as symbolic of masculinity?

The words presented to the viewers is, without a doubt, targeting men. “Consider your man card reissued” can have several meanings. Within this blog, I will describe how the physical entity of the gun can relate to the words presented in terms of how the gun represents masculinity through history and how the gun represents masculinity though “doing gender”.

It seems appropriate to view this advertisement in terms of Symbolic interactionism. According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Words or visuals serve as the predominant symbols to make this subjective interpretation especially evident. The words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and, during effective communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the “receiver.” Symbolic interactionism does not only rely on the words being presented, but also requires intention and interpretation. With that being said, we must understand how an individual or a community of individuals labels what aspects of society as being masculine.

According to Symbolic Interactionism, symbols of masculinity include traits of bravery, courage, and intellect, as well as physical traits of having a beard, deep voice, and muscles. However, based on Symbolic Interactionism, symbols are not limited to the personal traits of the individuals, but also includes the physical entities that enhance the masculinity of the individuals. The assault rifle presents a strong symbol to masculinity based on how society views weapons throughout history. Battles/wars are commonly known to be fought between men, and in war, the “symbolic entities” that enhances how a man should act are: knives, bombs, fists, and guns. In other words, the general term, “aggression”, plays a huge role in the symbolic labeling of masculinity. “Aggression” can branch out to several ideologies (including the physical entities I have just mentioned), but the fact that all of these “symbolic entities” all relate back to aggression, indicates that these entities are part of the concept called masculinity.

So, now that there is an understanding of how guns are portrayed as a source of masculinity due to history. I also want to note how biology plays a huge role in how masculinity is portrayed. The moment of birth, an individual’s “sex” is labeled as man or woman. This labeling is based on the genitalia the individual has. Then gender is “constructed” based on how society interprets how a man or woman should develop. Society influences how a man or woman should act based on a reward/punishment system; society approves of what are considered appropriate actions for a man/woman (i.e. boys play with action figures and as a result, have many “boy” friends), and those that are not appropriate, comes with some sort of punishment (i.e. boys play with dolls and as a result, do not have friends). But the construction of gender (or “doing gender”) all relates back to the “sex” of the individual; our first interpretation of the “gender blue-print” that a child should follow is based on their sex. So with that in mind, it would seem reasonable to state that the assault rifle not only symbolizes “aggression” (which is a symbolic form of masculinity), but also symbolizes the male genitalia. Why would the assault rifle represent the male’s genital? The gun has a similar “physical structure” as the male genital, and similar metaphorical actions (i.e. “bigger packs a harder punch”). These similarities allow for the man to relate to the gun as part of their lifestyle, and thus allow men to interpret that the gun is important representation of masculinity.

So, with all that has been said about how Symbolic Interactionism relates the advertisement to masculinity, I want to ask the question: with the growing number of females participating in these so-called, "man-wars", can the advertisement only be targeting men?