Jackson Katz attempts to demystify the concept of masculinity by discussing how most assertions of what it means to be a man are social constructs. In the “tough guise,” Katz discusses how masculinity is not a fixed state of what it means to be a man but rather a guise, a mask that men are forced to wear to hide their vulnerabilities from a world that is ready to put them down for not holding up to the expected standards. In Thomas Findley’s “The wars,” the characters unravel at different points to expose that the expectations of masculinity are not the reality of war.
Kats points out that part of being a real man involves taking up a tough guise approved by the dominant culture while hiding any aspect that would show one as less manly. At the beginning of “the wars,” Findley talks about young men filling up wagons to go to war, taking pictures to be remembered even though they know very well that the war is not going as planned. More dead soldiers are being reported, yet many more are taking photos to be remembered knowing they might never come back (12). These young men are living up to the expectation that men are meant to be tough even in the face of danger, ready and willing to die for their country. In the same light, Robert Ross decides to join the war because he fails to protect his sister and further fails to prevent her rabbits from being killed. Robert joins the war to prove to himself and his family that he is man enough, and what better way than to be willing to die in war (Findley 21).
Another key point of masculinity that Kats talks about is the role that women are assigned. Katz points out that for masculinity to have value, women are often degraded, objectified, and sexualized, with the men taking on more dominating roles while also devaluing the contributions of women. These concepts are present throughout the wars, with women taking on diminutive and socially degrading roles. Robert and his comrades visit a brothel where they are each assigned a woman for the night. None of them has a problem utilizing the services of prostitutes because this puts the women among the lowest social ranks and the soldiers above them in every way (Findley 37). As argued by Katz, masculine men tend to think that they should always be surrounded by highly sexualized women, who are only meant to look good but not question the authority of men. Barbara, who displays independence in choosing her partners, is portrayed as a woman with loose morals. Yet, the same measure is not projected on Robert and his fellow soldiers when they visit a brothel (Findley 98 & 152).
Despite all the expectations of men to be masculine, the reality is that they are vulnerable and prone to showing signs of un-masculine behavior. Katz points out that when men don’t measure up to the standards of masculinity, they are labeled with derogatory names or even accused of being homosexuals. This fact is even more clear in Findley’s “the wars.” The only reason that forced Robert to accompany other soldiers to the brothel was the fear of being labeled as a homosexual. Yet, at the same brothel where only women are to be exploited, Robert’s hero Taffler is exposed as a homosexual (Findley 45). Taffler was a war hero; at university, he was considered an all-around athlete, yet he was a homosexual in secret (Findley 33). This shows that even men considered tough and embodying masculinity can hide their secret behaviors from society to avoid being judged. Taffler went as far as dating Barbara in public to maintain the perfect image of being a heterosexual man. Katz supports this behavior by pointing out that out-groups like men of color and other minorities are more likely to adopt hyper-masculine postures to gain the respect of the dominant culture.
In another instance of hidden sexual orientations, even though Robert feared being mocked by his colleagues if he failed to go to the brothel, it is his fellow soldiers who conspire and rape him at the Desole baths. It again shows that the very people expected to be role models of male masculinity are capable of performing the very acts they consider the most debased and unmanly (Findley 168).
Katz points out that masculinity is a projection of toughness, and one would expect that men consistently maintain the projection of toughness and brevity when challenged. Yet throughout “The Wars,” men fail to uphold this level of toughness. On losing his arms, Taffler breaks his guise of masculinity by attempting to end his life (Findley 152). Rodwell endures the horrors of bombardments, but when he is forced to watch rats and cats being killed, he shoots himself (Findley 134). When Robert and his company encounter a German soldier after a gas attack, the mercy he shows them by failing to shoot them is unnatural, with all the soldiers surprised when they realize the German soldier had a sniper rifle but chose not to use it. It shows that even though the military’s assertion of masculinity requires one to kill their enemy, soldiers still possess their humanity, enough o spare an enemy when they could kill them (Findley 129).
Throughout Findley’s novel, the more power that comes through position one has, the more they are expected to uphold the standards of masculinity. Yet the company commander, Captain Leather, consistently shows cowardice. Leathers assigns hard tasks to his juniors and then makes excuses to avoid being present when the orders are carried out (Findley 116). When shells fall on the frontline, Leathers is the only one hiding under a table (Findley 177). Yet despite Rodwell’s cowardice, he values the perception of power; he immediately gets angry when Roberts and Devlin are releasing the horses, even though that was a better decision than letting them stay in the barn. When Roberts shoots Leathers, it is because he is attempting to hold on to the last piece of his humanity and is unafraid of being judged as disobedient, even though this would strip him of the masculinity he has earned through his service and position.
In conclusion, the concept of masculinity is just an outward projection of toughness that is usually depicted by those most afraid of exposing their vulnerabilities for fear of being judged by the general society. Throughout The Wars, Findley shows that even though the characters attempt to abide by the concepts of masculinity, the realities of war show that most soldiers do not embody the requirements to be considered fully masculine. Some have hidden sexual orientations, while others succumb to fear or regret and end up attempting to or committing suicide. As suggested by Katz, it is time that men abandon the unrealistic, destructive concepts of masculinity if we are ever to have a chance at reducing the violent behaviors exhibited by men.
Works Cited
Findley, Thomas. The Wars. Penguin Books. 1977.
Katz, Jackson. “Tough Guise: Violence, Media, & the Crisis in Masculinity (1999).” Youtube, uploaded by Adam Czarnecki, 18 September 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Tbw9_eL_U&t=189s&ab_channel=AdamCzarnecki
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