Bruce Springsteen and Sexuality, by Gareth Palmer

Bruce Springsteen’s music narrative as a reaction to the crisis of masculinity.

The Springsteen narration of the father/son relationship is told through three stages during which masculinity is discovered and reinforced/worked upon: 

At first, the son idealizes and idolizes the father character; it is through the father that masculinity is understood in the child’s eyes.

The second stage is of rebellion; the adage of rock n’ roll. The son character discovers disappointment in the father figure. At the same time, the father is a powerful repressive presence. The fathers in Springsteen’s narrative are reduced to a force against which the son must rebel.

Luke Skywalker vs. Vader in VI Return of the Jedi

But the father himself is repressed by economy and the feeling of emasculation at the workplace; become an empty shell of a man, and stripped of his masculinity. With this realization, the son is alienated from his father.

The male character finds his masculinity in a strict diet of being active, independent, dominating, and unfeeling.

Masculinity for the male hero figure becomes a dichotomy of power and discipline. The man holds a kind of power by being the breadwinner, but this also represents a captivity which denies him independence and freedom which are at the core of mythic masculinity. Work {often jobs requiring physical labour} is closely linked to identity and masculinity.

The female characters in Bruce’s world are first seen as beautiful things to be captured and imprisoned behind the bars of the home. Women in the home are seen as the, albeit mysterious, prize at the end of the masculinity journey.

Rather than as characters, in the Springsteen narrative, women are seen as symbols of domesticity and commitment that men go up against to define their masculinity. 

They are initially innocent, and then corrupted by the world. {women are often portrayed as prostitutes, for men to confirm their masculinity by possessing and overpowering, as well as maintaining an independence}

Springsteen paints women as sad, hopeless, despairing creatures who need men to protect them through marriage; this perpetuates the male/female divide of patriarchy.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth

The role of the women in this narrative helps to define a masculinity based on ownership and control.

Springsteen’s own masculinity is tied up in his image as the “average joe” as well as the macho posturing of his concert performances. 

Queries: 

1. Will Springsteen's model of masculinity be able to evolve or change as masculinity and femininity change? Reaction to the third-wave feminist? 

2. Is the Springsteen narrative a reaction to the crisis of masculinity, or a cause? Is it perpetuating the crisis or solving it?