Masculnity, Consuerism & Death - Essay Example

With the continual threat to the position of Men in the society men are increasingly being forced to reassert their masculinity through violence and this only results in more tension in the society. According to the film fight club, the modern man is feeling that his masculinity is at risk and his dominant role as the stronger sex is also waning. There are several instances in the movie where men are employed to serve other men and women in higher positions of power. Most of the men holding such jobs as waiters are increasingly developing a feeling that their sense of masculinity is under attack and have consequently come together under the fight club to fight and regain their lost position in the society (Connell, 15).

All these clearly indicate how far some men may be ready to go in their bid to regain their masculinity and lost glory in the contemporary society. For example Jack is evidently dissatisfied by both his job and the vents taking place in his life. In his attempts to fight the resulting depression Jack fills his life with a number consumer goods most of which he considers to be meaningless. It is only after meeting Tyler Durden who also shared the same view that Jack was able to reflect on his masculinity.

After listening to Tyler, Jack realizes that he is a slave of the “white collar” and they both attempt to free themselves from the ills of the current consumer culture by forming the fight club. This paper critically analyses the movie Fight club to highlight some of the relationships between masculinity, consumerism and death. Relationship between consumerism, Masculinity and Death One important character that has been effectively used in the movie to highlight the conflict between the current consumer culture and masculinity is the character “Jack”.

In the movie, Fight club, Jack is depicted as a cynical young man who has significantly been affected by the adverse effects capitalism and consumerism in our contemporary society. Being a white heterosexual male who often associate themselves with power, Jack is frustrated and subdued by his waning sense of masculinity and has grown violent and aggressive. On the other hand, the connection between these frustrations and death has been depicted in the movie in many forms. For example, frustrations of the male members of the society have often been associated with literal deaths resulting from suicides, homicides and murders.

Additionally death can also be in figurative forms such as the death of masculinity, economic death as well as the loss of happiness among the affected members of the society Our ideas of masculinity are usually shaped by the media, movies, literature as well as the society. As a result of such influences, men often grow with the full knowledge of what is expected of them in the society. For instance men are expected to be tough, confident successful, self reliant and aggressive. On the other hand, the society has also conditioned men to believe that certain behaviors, jobs or responsibilities are not masculine in nature.

Generally men are not expected to serve as waiters, cooks and other positions considered low in the society. With the changing roles brought about by the effects of corporate capitalism, feminism and the current consumer culture, masculinity is facing a slow death as our society is gradually being feminized by the shifting gender roles. In the movie “fight club” Jack and Tayler are depicted as having gone to the