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MASCULINITY (Almost All Characters Are Men (Tyler, Big Bob, The Narrator,…
MASCULINITY
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The Fear of Emasculation
Castration
Testicular Cancer Group
Big Bob has breasts because he got his testicles removed due to cancer. As a result, the narrator doesn't want this to happen to him so he ups his masculinity.
"Bob cries because six months ago, his testicles were removed. The hormone support therapy. Bob has tits because his testosterone ration is too high. Raise the testosterone level too much, your body ups the estrogen to seek a balance" (17).
Tyler
Tyler threatens the police commissioner with castration unless he calls off his investigation. Tyler implies that he isn't fit for the position if he doesn't have masculinity.
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The Narrator
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"If anyone ever tries to shut down the club, even you, then we have to have him by the nuts" (187).
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Violence
Project Mayhem
"The idea is to take some Joe on the street who's never been in a fight and recruit him. Let him experience winning for the first time in his life. Get him to explode. Give him permission to beat the crap out of you. You can take it. If you win, you screwed up. What we have to do is remind these guys what power they still have" (119-120).
Men became space monkeys because it was a way for them to lash out, embracing their masculinity. He also meant for men to take pain "like a man".
Fight Club
“The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club, the second rule of fight club you don't talk about fight club, Two men per fight, one fight at a time, no shoes, no shirts, fights go on as long as they have to" (50).
Men participated in Fight Club because it was their way of expressing their feelings, rather than holding anything back. It wasn't about winning or losing, but showing their masculinity through violence.
Pornography
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"Tyler makes slides out of the best single frames from a movie...Porno got into the theatres and these projectionists, some guys they built collections that got epic" (29).