Exploring Young Men Gender Constructions - The Asian Media ...

needs, and high deliberation on narrative format. If any, possible horizontal connection
could be established more at the categories of series or serial dramas or local or foreign
serialized dramas. The participants’ composite narratives, however, revealed a narrative
community built on themes revolving around the male social condition. The isolation of
men was expressed as emotional separation from a life-companion, detachment from
one’s past or origin, rejection from one’s roots and the gap between the real and ideal in
one’s life. Faulty fatherhood, told in the person of a dependent husband, deceptive,
destructive and spoiler fathers and an absentee image in narratives, also drove the
conflicts or problems in the composite narratives. Minimized motherhood was also a
distinct theme in the composites that manifested as mothers suddenly disappear or die,
supporting female characters are not made wives or mothers and limit themselves to mere
objects of desire of lead male characters and lead female characters are rendered unable
to consummate a relationship due to psychological incapacity. Finally, enlightenment was
also a central theme that provided the redeeming value in the composites. As lead male
characters accept their sexual orientation and those of others, recognize and share their
emotional resources, follow their desire to stay connected with their past, fight the
establishment and those that claim power over persons, make moral decisions, and heal
themselves to heal their children, they express the desire of the participants for a more
integrated existence built on resolution of situations that affect them the most. In this
case, male composite narrative creation revolves around issues which may not
directly involve the creators but are still considered relevant to the building of a
more meaningful and peaceful life and a struggle to resolve them. Do past and
present series and serial dramas which the participants have and currently watch