Emasculation in Fight Club - Essay Example

Emasculation in Fight Club Introduction According to “Fight Club”, “the first rule about fight club is you do not talk about fight club. The second rule about fight club is you do not talk about fight club” (Palahniuk 25). Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk aims to portray the narrator as a person who is suffering from a crisis in his manhood. The narrator is experiencing contradictory powers in his life. These powers are caused by the imposition of hegemonic ideas about masculinity and they are aggravated by the ideas of disparity between his inherited language or notions of masculinity and his experiences in life. As a response to the crisis, the narrator begins a nostalgic backlash that will help him to grapple with the outcome of the crisis. As the backlash materializes as aggressive affirmations of manhood, he comes disillusioned with the struggles in his life. He comes to terms with his crisis and decides to enter into a relationship with Marla Singer. The narrator’s life is characterized by undeviating job and life experiences. He considers his job boring and his life dreary. However, things turn when he met Tyler Durden during one of his flights. After the meeting, his life began to transform based on the ideas of manhood gained from Durden. The narrator realizes that emasculation in a society drives men to a rugged life, which leads to revolt. In the book, emasculation is a central theme. The male characters in the book have become slaves to a world of consumerism. The narrator notes that he “was not the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue” (Palahniuk 43). Nesting instincts are not associated with men because they do not become pregnant, and they do not give birth. This is the first instant in which the audience meets an emasculated character in the book. This statement shows that men have abandoned their duties and assumed new roles that give them nesting instincts. Emasculation is a central theme because it has been portrayed by the narrator in his association with support groups. The narrator states that emasculation has been caused by the consumer culture. He finds solace in a support group for people with testicular cancer (Collado 47). In my opinion, this is a metaphor that is meant to support the idea for emasculation. During his interactions with members of the support group, he met Bob, who was a former body builder. Jack learns that as a result of the testicular cancer, Bob has started to develop feminine features such as breasts. The narrator tried to comfort the crying Bob when he rasped in a high pitched voice, which also signifies his loss of manhood and emasculation. The consumer culture emasculates men through the creation of false ideas that are based on images that motivate men to assume contradictory images. These images also motivate men to change themselves in line with the emerging trends. In this case, Jack longed to be an alpha-male. Durden helps Jack to achieve his idealized image of an alpha-male because he felt emasculated. In order to move from this burden of emasculation, Jack created ideas about the image of a man (Packer 53). Durden’s role is to help Jack free himself from the burden of emasculation. During the initial stages of the story, the audience meets an emasculated Jack who seeks identity and solace in different social help groups. He also finds identity in a number of consumable products, instead of finding his identity within himself. During the meeting between Jack and Durden, the two are seated next to each other during a flight. Durden reads out the emergency instructions to Jack, which led Jack to comment that the person who would take the seat had great responsibilities to open the emergency door. This instance highlights the theme of emasculation because Jack is not willing to take the responsibility of opening the emergency door (Brunn 18). In fact Durden proposed a change in seating to which Jack replied, “I am not sure that I am the man for that job” (Palahniuk 68). Jack’s lack of a sense of responsibility and confidence is an indication that he is an emasculated male. In another instance, Jack describes his relationship with Tyler. According to Jack, the two “were like Ozzie and Harriet” (Palahniuk 58). This confuses the reader because of the analogous pairing. Additionally, one of the airport attendants outlined Jack as an emasculated male when she said that Jack’s luggage may have been lost because of a vibrating dildo. Fight Club is a book about the emasculation of men because of the portrayal of Jack as a boy who needs guidance. The characters lack of identity led them to fill the void with things and ideas. Ultimately, they are led to see themselves as men through these products rather than their fathers. Men in the book turn violent as they seek to reawaken their senses of manhood. They also turn to violence in an effort to overcome their boring or dreary lives. Outside the bar where the fight club was formed, Tyler tells Jack to hit as hard as he could. This statement from Tyler helps to support the notion of emasculation as men revolting. The narrator states, “I did not want to, but Tyler explained it all, about not wanting to die without any scar, about being tired of watching only professionals fight and wanting to know more about himself and self-destruction” (Palahniuk 73). It is not normal for a person to ask his friend to harm him intentionally. However, the characters in this case want scars on their face and body because it will help them be rugged and manly. The intention of Fight Club was to help its audience realize the changing nature of the post modern society. In the current society, people are bombarded with rapidly changing trends. The narrator also noted that, “advertising has us chasing clothes and cars, working jobs we hate so we can buy things we do not need. We are the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place” (Palahniuk 85). This statement seeks to motivate men to revolt against the current state of the society in order for them to become men. Conclusion The main theme in Fight Club is the emasculation of the male members of the society. Tyler Durden represents Jack’s need to be an alpha male instead of a passive slave of trend and culture. The book also helps the audience to ponder their own emasculation. This theme encourages people to change from living in superficial world of consumerism. Work Cited Brunn, Stefanie. Feminized, Post Masculine Men In Fight Club. Massachusetts. GRIN Verlag. 2006. Collado, Rodríguez F. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Choke. , 2013. Print. Packer, Sharon. Dreams in Myth, Medicine, And Movies. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002. Print. Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. London: Vintage, 2006. Print. Read More