"Hung" and The End of Men

            After reading Gilligan’s “It’s the End of Men. Again,” my mind immediately turned to Hung and its characterization of the down-on-his-luck male in the recessionary era. While Ray did not outright lose his job, he has fallen on hard times and a series of unfortunate events, most notably his house burning down, has left him living in a tent in his backyard, seeking financial stability. Like Gilligan suggests, Ray losing his finances is equivalent to losing his manhood. His kids move back in with their mom and he can’t even spare 50 dollars for his son to go to a concert. He stoops as low as asking his ex-wife for money, placing the female in the more dominant, financially stable role. This is a prime example of Gilligan’s idea of a “female takeover of the male role” when the end of men is framed.   

Additionally, Tanya is given very feminist qualities. She always holds a very positive attitude and believes that she can make something of herself with her idea of lyric bread. She was also very quick to defend herself when Ray accused her of sleeping around. Most importantly, the fact that Tanya wants to be Ray’s pimp proves that she is not just the female, friends-with-benefits character. She is going to play a crucial role in Rays new “job” and will essentially help him get clients.

While there are many feminist qualities to the show, I can’t help but watch Hung and feel as though there is a waft of anti-feminism to it as well. While Ray’s job as a prostitute strips him of his male qualities and can be seen as making him more sympathetic to women, it can also be seen as reinforcing sexual power dynamics. If Ray were a woman, he would most likely be judged for being an escort ten times more than he is now as a man. As the previous poster pointed out, women are very often considered sluts for sleeping around while men high five each other. Ultimately, Hung could be seen as expressing the idea that men can get away with more than women.