Conclusion: Towards an Understanding of Masculinity, Jealousy and Cinema

Abstract

A central question of this book is whether there has been a cultural shift away from narcissistic formations in favour of what might be called ‘good enough’ modes of masculinity, which are less defensive and better able to cope with emotional loss and the complexities of difference. Chapter 1 set the scene for those discussions by examining the alleged ‘feminization’ of society. That chapter presented the case that a shift is occurring in Western societies that is undermining dominant modes of hegemonic masculinity and the sense of patriarchal entitlement that underpinned it. Not surprisingly, the cultural response has been mixed. The idea that Western societies are increasingly ‘feminized’ has given rise to cultural anxieties for those who regard it as a negative development, inscribing a male loss as the cause of a crisis of identity for men. Such fears may be regarded as a backlash against feminism, or even as a cultural repudiation of difference and the otherness of femininity. But there have also been contrary responses which allow for the creation of less defensive and more reflexive states of mind, and thus for less rigid spaces for new masculinities to emerge.