Cultural Constructions of Masculinity

     In Scott Rubarth's article, titled "Competing Constructions of Masculinity in Ancient Greece," he describes different factors that influenced "masculinity" as defined in ancient Greek civilizations. He compares and contrasts the different factors among three different Greek groups: the Athenians, the Spartans, and the Stoics. This works because these three groups were notably different from one another, exemplifying the cultural implications of "masculinity."

1. Courage - Rubarth describes courage as a major defining factor in masculinity. Obviously, this is most prominent in Sparta because their entire civilization was based on war. In Athens, this was less vital to one's image but still a signifier of more masculine personhood. Stoicism complicated the concept of courage because their beliefs were more philosophical and less about a physical death on the battlefield. In fact, courage in the Stoic community was more about the knowledge of life's true meaning and the intention of dying in an honorable way. 

Photo: TheCollector

2. Patriarchy - Rubarth explains another competing factor affecting perceived masculinity, and that is patriarchy, or a man's dominion over his household. For Athenian men, this was a much more reliable definition for masculinity, as a man was supposed to be the center of his home, instructing his wife and slaves according to his beliefs. This was less so in Sparta, where young boys were sent away to train for war long before puberty. Therefore, the responsibility of raising children was more of society's responsibility as a whole than any one individual.

3. Political involvement - In regard to politics, the differences among these groups are very significant. Obviously, political participation was a very important part of a man's life in Athens. Being more involved meant being perceived as more masculine, as it was a man's responsibility to society and women were not able to participate at all. In Sparta, this mattered much less because their focus was on war rather than on the discussion and debate attributed to political life. The Stoics create an even larger gap in this context because they did not value temporary, material things (such as wealth or status) like the Athenians did, but they also did not value the physical nature of training to become a warrior, like the Spartans. In fact, most of the focus for the Stoics was philosophical and therefore mental. The goal was to become wise rather than to become strong or influential. 

Photo: Foltz painting, Wikipedia

4. Sexuality - This last category is interesting because it seems so much less significant than one might expect. Factors like courage and political involvement were considered more telling of one's masculinity than his sexuality. There were many differences among the groups in this case, as well. For example, most of masculinity depended on simply not being feminine. It was a strict binary, one which forced men to be more like one extreme than another in order to maintain the desired level of manliness. For Stoics and Athenians, these beliefs were relatively similar; however, pederastic relationships were a notable aspect of Athenian men's lives, whereas Stoics believed gender and sexuality should align in the way they believed all aspects of nature to align. The Spartans differed in that women played a much different role in their society. Unlike Athenian women who were limited to the household and remained typically unseen, Spartan women were allowed many freedoms such as physical training the same way that many men did. They did not raise children past a certain age, and the focus of their civilization was different enough that they enjoyed very unique femininity. Rather than see them as more "masculine" for embracing the physicality that Spartan men did, the men simply accepted this as a way of life for them. 

Photo: The Stoics, TheCollector

Many modern theorists and philosophers continue to study the Stoics and their belief system. See the link below for an interesting example of Stoicism in modern society:

https://greekcitytimes.com/2018/11/02/ancient-greek-stoicism-to-treat-anxiety-and-depression/