Masculinity in Beloved

Something about Beloved that really stood out to me was its take on masculinity. It seemed to take a surprisingly progressive stance for a book containing (purposeful) sexist perspectives, and especially for a book set in the time period that it's in.Paul D tells Sethe that Halle witnessed her assault, and says that "something broke in him...like a twig" (81). Sethe immediately responds with, "He saw them boys do that to me and let them keep on breathing air?" (81). I find Paul D's answer really striking: "A man ain't a goddamn ax...things get to him, things he can't chop down because they're inside" (81).

There are multiple sides to the issue of gender roles, and so often men are excluded from the conversation, if there's even a conversation at all. The expectation of men to be emotionless, strong, aggressive, athletic - the list goes on and on - is extremely prevalent everywhere, every day, in every culture. I hear "Man up" and "Be a man" almost on the daily. There is no right or wrong way to be a girl, and the same is true for boys. Boys are pressured to hold in fear and sadness, and to some extent, even joy and love. So they bottle all of these human emotions in, and they can come out in aggression or loneliness, and I find it so heartbreaking.

Men are supposed to be the breadwinners, the fighters, the protectors, and this is clear in Sethe's expectation of Halle. Of course, it must be acknowledged that Sethe endured something awful and traumatic, and would have been desperate for anyone to do anything that could help, but Paul D points out that Halle is a secondhand survivor. What he was forced to see was traumatizing and painful for him, too, and he shut down just like a woman might have. Because of the distinct male and female roles that have been created and perpetuated for hundreds and hundreds of years, Halle and so many others have had things inside them that they can't chop down - pain, "weakness," or just simple human emotion - that have been invalidated. 

It's important to understand that feminism benefits EVERYONE. Feminism is about increasing women's pay, critiquing how they are represented, and ending rape culture, but a huge part of it is also about dismantling the gender boxes. Equality of the sexes means more freedom for men to be vulnerable - to cry, to get help for mental illness. Feminism is a men's issue too, and while I would certainly not label Paul D as a feminist, I was glad to read his comments on masculinity.