Emasculation in Fight Club
So I am a big fan of the film 'Fight Club' and I have recently noticed that this idea of Emasculation is a recurring theme throughout the film. I have studied this film at school and I have read few interesting theory's that I wanted to share with you. You may disagree with this idea and Its OK ! because when I was learning about this film I also disagreed with many themes and theory's too.
I am going to approach the masculinity identity and the emasculation theme in the film 'Fight Club' (Fincher 1999), as this approach carries many interesting issues involving the consumer capitalist society and how it developed emasculation to the male characters in this film.
Emasculation becomes a central theme in Fight Club as men are not presented in a fearless, proud and strong way like they used to. They are tamed by a more organized economic system of production, which made the consumer culture take over their masculinity. This makes men feel emasculated, leading them to create their own way of escapism by creating violent fantasies like the 'Fight Club'. This relates to the masculine identity perspective of Charles Guignon who refers back to the Middle Ages to show how the world has changed. Because it was a violent period, courage, honor, strength and power were what men got valued for. Whereas now, because the western civilization evolved, these rogue noblemen were tamed and slowly evolved into today's consumer capitalism.
The Narrator also finds a different way of taking out his frustration by visits support groups.. In a testicles cancer support group he meets Bob who has developed feminine features resulting from his treatment. This loss of manhood is the worst possible fate men could imagine; therefore it is clear that this film tries to show men at their worst. Even though the narrator didn't loose his masculinity by having testicle cancer, he burst into tears and sobbed to Bob, which is also a very ironic as men usually don't express their emotions and are known for not crying as crying denotes weakness. Then trying to comfort the sobbing Jack, Bob says in a high pitched voice, 'We're still men,' with Jack confirming "Yes, we're men. Men is what we are." This could be seen as a sarcastic comment as in that state, they are the complete opposite of being manly. This could be why Bob and the rest of emasculated men feel they have to appreciate their masculinity due to fight club and Project Mayhem
In today's society masculinity has become a brand and a way of selling products to men. Being a masculine man now means having a fit body and owning brand clothing, watches or cars. Like Tyler said 'the things you own, will end owning you' as it is not that important any more if a man is powerful, strong and fearless and it is what they own and what they look like that gives them power and masculine value. This is also shown in the bus scene as the narrator points out the Gucci advert of a well-built man and says that he feels sorry for men that try to look like him. He comments 'Is that what men should look like?' and Tyler then laughs, criticizing self-improvement while having a body that is the result of hours spent in the gym.; this could be seen as a glaring contradiction.
Tyler exists in the Narrator’s mind as a prime male physical inspiration. He is someone that is suggestive to how advertising says men have to look. The narrator later on in the film feels aromatic jealousy and rejection from Tyler after he becomes close with Marla Singer. The Narrator also experiences emasculation because of Tyler’s relationship with Marla. This could be because he has lost his place next to Tyler, who embodies a perfected sense of masculinity.
Another reason for both the narrators and Tyler's emasculation could be because their fathers were not a major part of their lives. The narrator mentions that his father left when he was young and also Tyler says his father is a distant figure which he rarely spoke to. This could be why both the narrator and Tyler didn't have a role-model figure, just men in society and advertisement. You could also argue that because his father rejected the narrator/Tyler, that was the reason for them to reject what their fathers wanted which was to have a good career with a high salary, get a wife and children.
Most importantly the whole context of creating the 'Fight Club' and putting men to fight and go through pain is so that they can strip away their worries and issues with their masculine identity. Of course, their need to fight is so that they can feel physically masculine again but you could also say that it is a rejection of what they have been taught masculinity is by the mass generation, mass media and the consumer society.
Linking to the men's need to redeem their masculinity by fighting, Tyler also believed that by creating chaos through the 'Project Mayhem' would not only gotten some attention in the world, it would give the narrator and Tyler a sense of purpose. This could be because they did not have a war or a historical/political challenge to overcome; therefore they could have felt like they had no identity's and great resolutions. Also if they gave the world a great purpose, the world would change and people maybe then would stop worrying about their consumer lives and what they want and own.