In North America, the ideologies of
masculinity
frequently incorporate a fear of the feminine, because femininity, like the female sex, is less socially valued and valuable. Such gender imbalance further shapes other cultural relationships, especially assumptions about social power and worth. The influential Cartesian mind/body duality accords greater significance and importance to the rational mind—typically understood as “masculine
”—over the irrational and “feminized
” body. Similarly,...
