Being the "Ideal Man"

One of the more interesting body practices in my household and the rest of society that I see throughout the media and through cultural practices, not only within my studies of the Hmong culture, but predominately in American culture as well is the reinforcement of "how a man" is suppose to act in public and in company. Ever since I was young, I was told by my father,on how to act as a man in a family gatherings, how to hold conversations like a man and how to act like a man in public. The way I walk, the way I talk, and the way I act represents not only yourself but the characteristic of the men in a particular family. This habit stems from years of Hmong culture being known as "maleness." A patriarchal culture and society that values the opinions of a man and not a woman, as you can tell, has rules and regulations on how a man is suppose to act and carry himself. The intelligible body is much more exemplified. The ideal man in my culture, doesn't speak loudly; at a volume only so that the receiver of information is getting the message and not the surrounding persons. More confident the man, the better it is and considered manly.

In essence, we sit here in our little offices writing these blogs and we question the legitimacy of body practices through our own experience and what we see as society but what we view as negative and/or positive is our own perspective of the world. And that is particular the case in pursuit without terminus in which case, that the ideal man of Hmong society has dramatically shifted over the years. These effects are highly influenced by secondary factors, such as Immigration, Classism, Poverty, etc.. Nevertheless, the ideal man are changing swiftly within the Hmong culture and has shifted from being a man who knows how to wistfully speak in public but a man who take cares of his bills, has a full time job, and has a great education. This is a never ending image of MEN in society.

This rendered the male body unfit to conduct in activities outside of the wanted areas of masculinity. This is the useful body responding many pursuit of masculinity norm that in essence makes Bordo suggests that we must give attention to the useful body.