Jenifer Siebel Newsom's Film The Mask You Live In

We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity becomes this hard, small cage, and we put boys inside the cage. We teach boys to be afraid of fear. We teach boys to be afraid of weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to mask their true selves because they have to be, in Nigeria speak, ‘hard man’ (Adichie).

This sense of entitlement is one of the reasons that violence is so prevalent among this age group of men. Although most men believe that acts of hazing, bullying, rape, and fighting are wrong, they conform to this culture of silence because they are afraid of being shunned by their peers. “Silence is one of the ways that boys become men.” (61) They are forced to be silent witnesses because if they were to express any vulnerability, they would likely become the next target. As Kimmel says, “what happens in Guyland stays in Guyland”. (62) By silencing oneself and turning a blind eye, these young men are not only supporting themselves, but also protecting themselves. When the community dismisses these violent acts, the criminals who commit these atrocious acts are protected, which in turn “enables them to transgress again, or even escalate the severity of their actions.” (63)

The United States is made up of an astounding assortment of people of all different types, boasting one of the most diverse populations compared to anywhere around the world. Of these different peoples, toxic masculinity affects each group differently, with an especially profound effect to be found when studying those who identify as Latin- or Hispanic-American. While attempting to homogenize the many unique and beautiful facets of various Latin and Hispanic cultures is a disservice, they tend to share many traits which can be simplified, including their ideas on gender roles. In many Hispanic cultures, there are strong gender roles and ideas about gender that are traditionally built into every aspect of the culture, especially in the form of “machismo”, or the Hispanic ideas of masculinity. In some cultures, “…women are supposedly submissive… men are characterized by verbal and bodily aggression… and sexual dominance,” (Cantú 150). When combined with the gendered expectations and stereotypes that are increasingly prevalent in American culture, young Hispanic-American boys are growing up with an overwhelming volume of standards being impressed upon them from all sides. This same phenomenon can be seen again in African-American communities and cultures, with the already painfully present standards of white American masculinity being taken to another level by a culture which serves to pile on an even stricter set of standards on to its men. As with the Latin American ideas of

The film The Mask You Live In was written, filmed and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It was released on January 25, 2015 at the premiere of the Sundance Film Festival. Jennifer also released a similar film called Miss Representation, a film about what the expectations of a woman were according to the media. According to the film, using hyper-masculinity among boys and young men through parental teachings and social expectations in the United States negatively affects them psychologically as it affects their way of decision-making and become more isolated throughout their lives. I firmly agree with Newsom’s message she was trying to send out to her intended audience, the parents and our society at large communicated through statistics shown as title sequences and the testimonies coming from boys and men who were once at-risk.

Masculinity is a term that is often associated with strength, power, control, and dominance in men. However, many texts support the claim that masculinity can be perceived as “socially constructed” and available for systematic discrepancy, similar to femininity. For example, in Michael Kimmel’s “Men, Masculinity, and the Rape Culture,” Kimmel identifies the “traditional masculinity” in which men exclusively can experience the “right to manhood” and the “dare and aggression” that is rightfully theirs (Kimmel, 142).

Gender roles often have disastrous consequences for people who struggle to fill their assigned stereotype. Last Wednesday, Carnegie Mellon had a special showing of a new film, The Mask You Live In, that focuses on how society’s narrow definition of masculinity can cause more harm than good.

As a boy grows into a man he faces the ever-raising mountain of masculinity. In regards to the occurrence, he finally reaches maturity he has no choice but in order to fight to retain his measly sense of manhood. He is not allowed to act feminine or else he’s not man enough, he can’t show his emotions, he has to hide that he can do anything a woman can do sans give birth. Boys grow up being told they are not allowed to cry and that they are supposed to be tough, that they are not able to be like girls and in the event that they are then they are not real boys. This concept is known as toxic masculinity, some people are not aware that men are being forced to suppress their emotions or even that toxic masculinity should be a topic that is

Violence is the intentional use of force or aggression against another person. Violence is another component of masculinity and the requirements to be a man. This is shown through the physical aggression males have when they get mad, or angry. Society is constantly telling boys to fight back. If a boy is getting bullied, they are supposed to fight the bully back. If a man gets in a fight at the bar, they are supposed to fight back. This aggression is also engrained in males from a young age. Violence can also be an example of a characteristic for a boy suffering from depression. Depression can typically lead to aggressive behaviours and cause a boy to misbehave. With violence being an aspect of masculinity, it can cause issues when trying to diagnose suffering teens with depression. By making violence a common attribute among boys, it decreases the likelihood of adults noticing those in need of mental health assistance.

When boys are young they are told to toughen up or to stop acting like a girl when they are sad or want to cry. Michael Kimmel, author of “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code, discusses how there is a code guys are supposed to follow and how being taught natural behaviors, such as crying or talking about emotions, are wrong at a young age negatively impacts boys for their whole life. Emily Smith, the author of Life on the Island, talks about how a decrease in places that have a feeling of community increases the suicide rate among men. Everyone tells boys to act a certain way their father, coach, even people they don’t know, but this is not the only place they hear these negative statements. Television and magazine advertisements often depict men in an unrealistic way that feels unachievable and because of this young boys who view these ads feel negatively about themselves and because of the guy code they can’t share their feelings and emotions which can lead to depression or even suicide.

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the

Masculinity, a seemingly simple concept. Yet, when examined more closely, it is clear that masculinity is constantly changing in its definition as well as in its most basic essence. Throughout the years, one can see this evolution firsthand by looking back at the men who have been portrayed in popular media in the United States of America. From the suave Don Draper types of the 1950s to the more casual, educated, and easygoing men- with perfectly chiseled abs, of course- that are portrayed in media today, the difference is clear. This drastic, yet unsurprising, shift in ideals, as well as the exponential increase of media consumed every day, has led to a change in how “masculinity” is perceived, as well as how it is enforced by society in the modern day. Alarmingly, this trend has led to the birth of so-called “toxic masculinity”, a bastardization of the original ideas behind masculinity which has created an enormous, detrimental effect on society as a whole. As defined in the article The Difference Between Toxic Masculinity and Being a Man, toxic masculinity is “manhood as defined by violence, sex, status, and aggression. It’s the cultural ideal of manliness, where strength is everything… where sex and brutality are yardsticks by which men are measured,” (O’Malley) This is a clearly displayed truth, and it’s astounding to see how even from a young age boys are taught not to show emotions other than anger, conditioned to believe that being “like a girl” is the worst possible

Masculinity can be defined as the behaviours, social roles, and relations of men within a given society in addition to the meanings that are attributed to them. The term masculinity stresses gender, unlike male, which stresses biological sex. Despite, this we often times see masculinity being represented as directly correlating to men with an inability to adhere to this is shown making you less of a "man". As put by Katz (1999) there is an expectation that men on screen must be void of emotion, not backing down from a fight, tough and an embodiment of the male gaze. Katz (1999) argues that essentially what

In American society, there is an obvious gender hierarchy in which men are viewed as strong, powerful, and valuable while women are viewed as weak and timid. Women face this challenge every day, and more prominently when they are trying to go against the hierarchy. Regardless of how many social norms or “power ceilings” that women break, they constantly face messages that perpetuate stereotypes, which reinforces this gender hierarchy. At the same time, men are also facing similar, gender-related pressures. Because men are on the top of the social hierarchy, there is an expectation that they be strong, brave, and confident. This causes an undue burden on the men that are unable to fulfill these gendered expectations.

Just like women are pressured by the need to act feminine, men are pressured by the need to act masculine. They have to prove themselves superior, independent, and physically powerful else they aren’t seen as a proper man. Nearly every male is judged by this standard which constantly pressures them into roles they may not want to fulfill. Young boys and men within society constantly face the problem of having to meet the standards of the ideal man by having to prove their masculinity which limits the actions that they can perform and conceals their true personality.

Masculinity is seen as a cultural constructions throughout history, by which males are assigned certain social roles of their gender. Traditionally, the image of men is quite clear. Men have to be hard working person, strong father, and disciplined. Historically, the role of man was to provide his wife and family with sustenance. Therefore, masculinity has certain characteristics assigned by our culture. Men are associated in an essential and optional way with the confidence certain aspects are completed when deciding their masculinity and manliness. These aspects range from not crying when they are harm. They can be aggressive and play violent games. The socialization of manhood in our general public begins as early as the main phases of the first stages. The journey of masculinity have been very difficult for many man in America because society expects things that men can’t handle.