11.9 Post

     I think that Freud would describe Jack as being masculine for two main reasons. From just seeing the first episode of the show, we get a pretty good view of what type of person and more importantly, what type of man Jack Bauer is. We see that Jack Bauer is defiantly very masculine because of power. In both today’s world, and maybe even more evident hundreds of years ago, is that a man is often considered a man (and how much of a man) based on his power, and how much of it he has. It seems evident that Jack Bauer is quite powerful. For one, it seems like he basically runs his “office” that he is in. When he asks someone to do a task, they do it, and he doesn’t really have to report to anyone, he kind of does what he wants and is his own boss. We see several times, just in the first episode alone, that he uses his gun for power and to get what he wants. His power is a way in which Freud would see him as being masculine.  
     Another way in which Freud would describe Jack Bauer as being a man and having masculinity characteristics, is his sexuality. Often times in culture (although many may not agree with this or think this is right) a man is, sometimes judged by his sex appeal, and how much sex he has as to how much of a man he is, which is apparent in this snow. Even though this is not a show where we see him having sex (as is sometime shown in shows on a network where you have to pay to watch such as HBO and Showtime), we still get a glimpse into his sexual life. We learn, just in the first episode that he has a kid, a wife and had an affair so it’s clear to see that he is a sexual being, so Freud would probably describe Jack as being masculine, because he (like another human being) has been influenced by his “infantile sexuality”. Freud states in the second part of his work that “A comprehensive study of the sexual manifestations of childhood would probably reveal to us the existence of the essential features of the sexual impulse, and would make us acquainted with its development and its composition from various sources.” Even though we don’t see (at least in the first episode) things from Jacks childhood that would prove Freud’s point, we must, by Freud’s standards, say that he is sexual as a man, because of his childhood. Because of this, we can conclude that Freud would probably believe that Jack is sexual man, and hence is a masculine character.