This legitimization teaches males that boys and men are not allowed to cry. There also exists the belief that boys are often required to do 'men's work' outside of the home such as mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, etc., and not 'sissy women's work' such as cooking and cleaning, etc. .
Other factors help to perpetuate certain standards expected of men and boys (Stearns 1990). The violence boy's witness on television further legitimates this belief. Katz explains that advertising imagery equates masculinity with violence. For boys this means aggression is instrumental in that it enables them to establish their masculinity (Katz 1995). Lee Bowker researched the influence advertisements have on youth. He asserts that toy advertisements featuring only boys depict aggressive behavior. Strangely, the aggressive behavior generally results in positive consequences more often than negative. Bowker also looked at commercials with boys that contain references to domination. The results of all the commercials indicate that 68.6% of the commercials positioned toward boys contain incidents of verbal and physical aggression. There was no cross? Gender display of aggressive behavior. Interestingly, not one single-sex commercial featuring girls shows any act of aggression (Bowker 1998). This research helps explain that it is not just the reinforcement of close caretakers to the child that legitimate masculinity but society as a whole (using the television as a symbol of society and it's desires). .
Athletics is another type of legitimation that reinforces society's definition of masculinity. Boys watch how their fathers dote and fawn over 'the game', whether it is football, basketball, or any other sport that epitomizes masculinity. Children notice that the 'men' on TV impress dad and they want to be like that. This initial reinforcer is a major impetus for boys wanting to learn athletics (Thompson 1995).
