Masculinity

Miguel Street has many characters and nearly all of them are men. These men are very diverse but they share some key characteristics. They are poor, and are habitually out of work. They rarely achieve their aims and they have poor and dysfunctional relationships with women, relationships that often include numerous affairs and routine domestic violence. But one source of hope and admiration among these men is their concept of manliness. The idea of manliness on Miguel Street is complex. First, it involves being somewhat adventurous. Bogart is not highly regarded until it is discovered that he engages in wild, dangerous adventures when he would disappear for months at a time. Big Foot is given an enormous amount of respect as his boxing career expands but loses all of his respect when he cries after losing his first big match.

Men are frequently mocked when they are excessively...