Terminal Masculinity in American and Pop Culture

The article "Terminal Masculinity" surrounding the changing format of male masculinity in film from the 1980s to the 90s was a surprise to me.  I guess because action films are amongst my least favorite of film genres, so I do not have a huge grasp on the classic actions films from this period and how the male character dynamics might have shifted.  However, in reading the article especially in it's comparison of Arnold in the first Terminator versus the sequel, as well as his role in Kindergarten Cop, the shift is quite noticeable.

I am currently in a sociology course on the shift of gender roles over the last hundred years or so, especially in terms of motherhood and fatherhood, so this article reminded me a lot of that class, specifically in the shift and merging of father versus mother stereotypes.  For instance, the mother figure has had a large shift, especially since the 1950's, from stay-at-home mother to, in many cases, breadwinner.  While many fathers have shifted from stern, discipline authority to caring and (in terms of stereotyping) more feminine in their parental relationship to the child.  As the article points out, the Terminator and Sarah Connor practically reverse their roles in this same fashion: the Terminator becoming both mother and father to John while Sarah becomes more "masculine," tough, and almost distant from her role of mother to John.  The fact that the Terminator takes on these parental roles and isn't even human is a conversation for another time and place in terms of human kind's relationship to technology.

Further, the shift from hard-body to kindergarten cop seems to be a trend that has stuck with the varied "hard-body" actors that have come to fruition.  Take for instance Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who, just by the changing of his name from merely The Rock to aforementioned one shows his transition from hardcore man to--let's be honest--almost dweeby sounding.  He has performed in action-packed blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious series to donning a tu-tu in The Tooth Fairy.  Vin Diesel is another prominent example of this common practice, playing these cops/secret agents/drill sergeants/etc. and then being displaced into a mother-like role taking care of children and babies.  However, while the article states the political fueling behind this shift, nowadays, the shift, especially with actors such as The Rock and Vin Diesel, seems comedic and often stupid (or maybe that's just me).