A Real Man: Taught or Inherent?

     First off, I should apologize for my lack of posts. I am still getting used to this whole school thing. I mean, I have been in college for 3 semesters (this being my 4th) but I am not used to the reading overload which is becoming my life. Don't get me wrong, I love it, its just really time consuming and hard to stay focused sometimes. Oh well, life of an English major I guess. (:

     So my favorite class so far is definitely my literary genres class on American Naturalism. I know, the title sounds super daunting, but is  absolutely fascinating. We have been reading from the novel,
The Red Badge of Courage. This book is set in the civil war and honestly, I can't say that I love it or that its my favorite, but the discussions my class has been having about it have really intrigued and inspired me.
     Now is the part where I let all of you see my extremely dorky inner nerd. Anyone who knows me knows I am a bit of a feminist and also that gender studies absolutely interest me. I have always had strong opinions about gender roles and things like that, so when I get to discuss them in classes I am one happy college student. The protagonist in the book, Henry, struggles to be a "man" or what he thinks a man should be. He cowards away from the battles, but then is able to fake a wound and suddenly, he is brave and a "man." We talked a lot in class today about why this is. Its so interesting that we live in a world that falls into a false social construct of what a man should be.

Our society thinks a man...
-should be brave, not afraid of anything
-should be tough. They don't cry because that what girls do
-is insensitive, because being sensitive or emotional is a weak feminine thing to do.
-should love sports
-should love guns, camping, anything of that sort
-be a provider and protector- thats it. housework and home making is for women.

The list goes on and on.

(sorry in advance for the few expletives used in this video)

     Today in my discussion and studies, I was realizing how much of this is trained. Boys aren't born thinking they can't cry or thinking they have to be tough, or any of the other things. These things are all taught. Boys are the way they are because we teach them to fit into this social construct that has been around forever. For me personally, I do believe that men and women have different roles and traits but to what extent are they inherent or taught? Because of my religious background and upbringing, I believe man and woman are very different in their roles and ways, but I am not positive as to what is taught and what isn't,  I believe woman naturally have a more nurturing aspect than men, but I am still unclear on this fine line. Thoughts? This blog post isn't really me sharing what I've learned, but mostly to help me to learn. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.