Critical review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical review - Essay Example 118). What emerges are relationships characterized by â€Å"homoscoial desire and dominance† and â€Å"power and dominance over women, gay men, and other straight men† (Kiesling 2006, p. 118). Hirammoto (2010) states that Kiesling’s work is demonstrative of the constructs that reproduce the dominance of heterosexual male models not only outside of a specific group but how they are used to â€Å"claim power in a same-sex social group† (236). Hirammoto (2010) also states that Kiesling’s work is reflective of the findings in the literature relative to theories about heterosexual masculinity. Kiesling informs that the way that men display their heterosexuality is deeply connected to communal practices that segregates heterosexuality and other sexual orientations. This assertion finds currency with McEhinny (2004) who argues that theories about relations among heterosexuals typically err when they take position that gender is an attribute and ignore the fact that it is likewise a practice (150). For McEhinny (2004) Kiesling’s study lends greater weight to heterosexual studies in that it emphasizes heterosexual practices as evidenced by language and speech patterns. To this end, Kiesling (2006) takes the position that heterosexual practices together with â€Å"rituals of speech events† and communal activities contribute toward establishing homosocial and heterosexual identity (p. 118). Keisling (2006) demonstrates this assertion by reference to the Greek alphabet and the concept of Greek sororities and fraternities. As Kiesling (2006) informs: The ‘greek’ letter society system is arranged through an ideology of sexual difference, such that fraternities are all-male, sororities are all-female (p. 118). Even events arranged by the Greek society are predicated on the sexual differences and power differences that emerge as a result. For instance mixers and open parties are designed to distinguish between males and females and emphasize the significance of â€Å"heterosexual desire† and â€Å"sex and alcohol† (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kiesling (2006) demonstrates the point by providing an excerpt of a dialogue from a male participant at one of these parties. The excerpt reveals a rather high regard for heterosexual sexual activities. As Kiesling (2006) reports: This high evaluation of heterosexual activity creates a social context in which heterorsexual sex is glorified as an end in itself, thus creating an ideology of heterosexual desire as an important social goal (p. 119). In the dialogue excerpt sexual activities such as â€Å"hook-up† were identified (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kielsing (2006) explores these speech activities further by seeking clarification by conducting an interview with another member the male group. During the course of this interview, Kiesling was able to identify a number of heterosexual driven speech activities such as, â€Å"throwin’ raps†, â€Å"scamming† , â€Å"a drunk thing and a do your commitment thing†(p. 121). The last two speech activities demonstrate how men categorize the difference between their heterosexual desires in terms of instant or long-term sexual gratification. The â€Å"drunk thing† is not only for instant sexual gratification but is also a male bonding affair in which these men express their â€Å"sexual prowess† (Keisling 2006, p. 121). The long-term sexual gratification desires are treated differently among the members of the fraternity. It demonstrates that that the male