Michael Haldeman
Masculinities
Dr. Ellsworth
18 November 2016
Brokeback Mountain
The film Brokeback Mountain portrays masculinity in a time period where being gay is frowned
upon. The two main characters are cowboys giving the notion that they are two straight men from the
beginning of the movie. The way they dressed and carried themselves were depicted as an average
lower class working man. Throughout the movie we see different emotions and traits of the two men as
they grow closer to each other. It seems like through the movie both characters dance between
masculine detachment to loving happiness. In this time period being gay was not normal, it seemed as if
both of the them, mainly Ennis, were trying to cover their happiness towards each other because they
know they cannot express their feelings openly, without consequence.
In the film we can point out a few traits each character has or does that show un-masculine
attributes. For example, Jack couldn’t shoot the coyote, however, real men have the ability to shoot a
gun and destroy their target. Secondly, Ennis states that he is sick of beans right at the beginning.
Society perceives man to not complain or to bear the minor discomfort. Thirdly, Jack and Ennis’
employer states that they are not good at ranching, but real men work their given shift and they do it
