Gender Communication and Roles in Brokeback Mountain

The movie Brokeback Mountain is an exploration of masculinity and male sexual desire in a culture of compulsory heterosexuality. The movie is set in the Midwest, a part of the country known for it's conservative attitudes towards gender roles, and occurs over a stretch of time which was particularly difficult for any person who had same-sex feelings. The two protagonists, Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar, appear at first to be very typical in their masculinity; they're cowboys who meet while looking for work with a sheep rancher. However, their masculinity isn't typical, in that they find themselves attracted to each other and end up in a long-term affair.

The premise of the film—two men who fall in love but are unable to openly act on their love— hides a more complicated critique of heteronormative masculinity. One of the classic archetypes of masculinity in the United States is the cowboy; cowboys are tough, independent, strong, manly frontiersmen, who thrive on adversity and solidarity. Implicit in the traditional view of masculinity is the idea of strict heterosexuality—men can only be attracted to, and have sex with, women. According to Keller and Jones, “[w]hat makes Brokeback unique is the traditional masculinity of the gay protagonists, and one of the principal markers or constructs of this masculinity involves the filmmaker's adaptation of the Western genre to the gay subject matter” (23). By setting a same-sex love story against a Western backdrop, the filmmakers are showing that the idea of masculinity is not incompatible with homosexuality or same-sex attraction. More often than not, gay men are stereotyped in the media as effeminate, emasculated, and feminized; Jack and Ennis are not gay stereotypes, and are allowed to be masculine and in love with each other.

By making the characters of Jack and Ennis cowboys, the writers are undermining the viewer's expectations. “Real” men aren't supposed to develop complex emotional relationships with other men, and definitely aren't supposed to have sexual relationships with them. Men are supposed to dominate their relationships, and “to be penetrated within the heteronormative order is to be feminized” (Benshoff 2008). The presentation of Ennis and Jack as masculine contrasts with their later sexual and emotional intimacy.

Throughout the film, the men are shown to be struggling with their feelings towards each other. In a scene where they are asked by their boss, the sheep rancher, to come down early from the titular Brokeback Mountain, Ennis is clearly upset by the fact that his time with Jack is over sooner than he had expected. He's unable to articulate how he feels, though, and when Jack engages him in what begins as a playful tussle, Ennis ends up lashing out in frustration. Men are socialized to handle their problems with aggression, which can sometimes be expressed as violence, so when Ennis is presented with the problem of losing someone he cares about, he knows no other recourse but to strike out.

 In a society where the norm is compulsory heterosexuality, two men who find themselves attracted to each other, and ultimately develop intimate feelings for each other will end up having to repress these feelings or face violence for going against societal norms. Ennis and Jack aren't even able to admit to openly each other what they each feel for the other. They both end up in heterosexual marriages, as is expected of them. Ultimately, however, their marriages become traps, and they can't find happiness in them. Despite the idea that men should be strictly heterosexual, otherwise they lose their masculinity, neither Jack nor Ennis find contentment in following this proscription. Their marriage problems stem from having to repress their sexuality and same-sex desires; an open relationship between the two men might not have worked out, but if they had the option of being able to explore their sexuality rather than being restricted to a single acceptable sexual orientation, it's likely they would have been so miserable in their marriages.

The way in which Jack and Ennis internalize homophobia illustrates the harm gender stereotypes can have. The two men aren't allowed to express or accept their same-sex love because of masculine stereotypes. According to Benhof, “the film is about 'the disastrous emotional and moral consequences of erotic self-repression and of the social intolerance that first causes and then exacerbates it'” (2008). In denying their same-sex attraction, the two men negatively effect not only themselves—they can't be wholly themselves if they're denying that they feel attraction to other men— but other people in their life. Their wives and children also suffer because of the unhappiness these men feel. Compulsory heterosexuality doesn't just make people who feel same-sex attraction repress those feelings; the unhappiness a person who is repressing a part of themselves feels is evident to other the other people in their life.

Brokeback Mountain shows us the damage done when society defines gender roles and expression so narrowly. What it means to be a man is strictly defined in our society, and is policed closely, often with violence. Brokeback Mountain questions our assumptions about masculinity and same-sex desire by putting the two together. The film gives us an alternative to the hypermasculine, heterosexual narrative that is accepted as normal—it shows us that it is possible for masculinity and same-sex desire to co-exist, and it gives us male leads who are complex emotionally as well as masculine, a novelty in modern media.

Sources:
Benshoff, Harry M. "Brokering Brokeback Mountain — a Local Reception Study." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media. Jump Cut, Spring 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. .
Keller, James R., and Anne Goodwyn Jones. "Brokeback Mountain: Masculinity and Manhood." Http://pcasacas.org/SiPC/30.2/index.htm. Popular/American Culture Association in the South, Spring 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. .