The lecturer, Doctor of Cultural Studies, Professor of Department 705 Kostyantyn KYSLYUK, explained that the image of a “real man” took shape at the beginning of the 20th century in the conditions of the colonial expansion of the West and “wild capitalism”. It reinforced the idea of the dominance of white men, who by any means had to achieve financial success and high status. Later, this image was constantly reproduced in mass culture and gradually changed: from “cowboys” and “gangsters” to “superagents” and “superheroes”.
At the end of the 20th century, the requirements for “authenticity” became too difficult for most young people. The image began to blur – from sensitive characters to computer players who calmly choose characters of the opposite sex, in particular female ones.
Separately, the lecturer focused on how these images functioned in Soviet, post-Soviet and Ukrainian cultures. In the Ukrainian context, he emphasized, the key trait of a man is not “brutality” or “manliness,” but above all “Ukrainianness.”
Such material is a good opening for a conversation about how culture shapes perceptions of masculinity and how these perceptions change over time.