The Myth of Male Power

By Saimir REXHEPAJ, Voltisa GJERGJI

Abstract
Introduction: The topic of this study relates to the myth of male power regarding the cultural and gender narratives and how it is confronted by men themselves in nowadays society.
Aims: This study aimed to understand how men themselves perceive the maleness in society and how they live their masculinity. Method: An interview with open-ended questions was conducted with 27 men, aged 18-45 year old. We investigated their perception of masculinity. We asked how men can manage social expectations and pressure, how their masculinity would satisfy society and the opposite gender. Most importantly, they could describe if they were free to express their vulnerabilities, desires and fears if they had any. We had two hypotheses: 1. The concept of masculinity still remains archaic in Albanian society, made up from the socio-cultural and historical context 2. Men feel almost forced to perform every time without considering their feelings and vulnerabilities. Results: Many of the interviewed men had some kind of archaic perceptions of masculinity and many of them could not express their vulnerable moments because of the stigma that they may be considered weak men. They confessed that they were expected to perform almost anywhere and anytime without considering their emotions; expectations for high efficacy were high from society even though they felt they were getting very little in return. They already knew that this kind of behavior was not suitable for them, but they were doing it anyway. In case of not binding by those society norms it meant exclusion from community, which for them was perceived as a fatality, loneliness, depression and slow death. Conclusions: The men in this sample despite being aware of the archaic and unfair concept of masculinity still choose to not disclose it publicly and performed accordingly. Otherwise, they feared the society’s punishment with exclusion and loneliness.

Key words: myth, male power, male vulnerability, gender roles, narratives, fatality perceptions