'Look Like You Give A Damn'

“Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent 'Re-civilized ' NIVEA FOR MEN ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”

“Be a man!” A phrase which is very prominent in popular culture can be seen anywhere from movies to a household. In fact, there is a documentary entitled, The Mask You Live In, about how young boys are molded into men by the things they see and hear every day. Today, most American boys grow up with a predetermined definition of masculinity based on certain things that they see every day.

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).

In Paul Theroux’s article “The Male Myth” Theroux makes a point that he does not like the stereotypes placed on men in today’s society. Theroux’s article is focused on exposing the stereotypes that men face and the reasons for their occurrence. He claims that writers and many others are directly affected by the expectations of masculinity that are thoroughly incorporated in America. The ideas of masculinity are deeply rooted in high school sports, in the view of the president, and in many other areas. Theroux attempts to prove that being a man in American is, “…pitiful, a little like having to wear an ill-fitting coat for one’s entire life.”

Masculinity has changed and evolved since the beginning of human creation. Males have had to adhere to the social norms of their time to survive without undue persecution. In the beginning of the 19th century, there was a shift in the way men could attain manhood. It was no longer easy for a man to enter into manhood with straightforward expectations and rituals. The state of manhood became difficult to obtain because of its precarious nature. During the same period, the industrial revolution was in full bloom giving birth to mass information outlets like newspapers, magazines, and advertisement: media. This set a prevailing state where boys and men alike could gain material on how to become or be men

Every man want to be superior to their counterpart, that’s why men lift weights and workout, resulting in them being more muscular, and more “manly” then other men. They further believe they need money, and drive a tripped-out car to attract a hot girlfriend. In addition, they want to be more athletic than other men. Kimmel states, “They do it because they want to be positively evaluated by other men,” they want to be considered cool and athletic. “What men need is men’s approval.” In “How Is Men’s Conformity to Masculine Norms Related to Their Body Image? Masculinity and Muscularity Across Western Countries”, Calogero and Thompson state that, “Young men often view the attainment of a muscular body is indicative of having reached the status of being a man,” however after achieving this goal they are not satisfied and must set a new goal. Many body builders reach

According to Pleck, “There…is a special concern about boys who adopt a strong masculine role in adolescence, because this is increasingly being found to be associated with problem behaviors” (1995). He goes into more details by saying, “what defines traditional masculinity in many ways Western cultures includes between behaviors that do not have social approval but nonetheless validate the adolescent boy’s masculinity: premarital sex, alcohol and drugs, and illegal delinquent activities” (Pleck 1995). So why it is that boy are socializing to play this “super guy, super inhuman, and super detached” role? It is safe to say that these gender stereotypes are due to more than one factor. Biological, social, and cognitive influences all play a part in this dismantlement and “ostracization” of the male

The documentary “The Mask You Live In” by Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s shows a wide array of interviews and case studies of men and young boys showing them talking about the pressures of masculinity in the American culture, then that of young girls. This documentary shows how they handle and deal with the pressures and hardships of living up to this image of the American male. From a young boy, they are told to “Be a man!” “Don’t cry!” “Stop with the emotion!” and “Man up!”

that labels these things unmanly, feminine, womanly, and gay, and teaches boys to avoid them at all costs.” If these characteristics are things that men have, and make them a better person, why is it so merely reinforced by society that men shouldn’t have the qualities? If a guy is blocking these out because they’re not manly, there could be some serious repercussions. These characteristics that are generally associated with women are made fun of in men and they often feel their masculinity is becoming threatened. Due to this men may suppress certain emotional issues, especially around other men. An example of this is shown in the book Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are by Brooke Kroeger. In chapter one, Not Some Social Agenda Struggle, Kroeger tells the story of David Matthews, a young man who is caught between two races as he struggles to find his identity. David was raised in a single parent household with his father raising him. He brings up how he and his dad rarely talked about his mother or anything emotional saying, “We were just tough guys and it just didn’t seem like the kind of touchy-feely stuff I needed to know”. Here David shows that he and his dad both feel they are too tough to talk about touchy issues that he

Jenifer Siebel Newsom’s documentary, The Mask You Live In, is about the struggles young men and boys face while they are figuring out their identity in a stereotyped America. The film highlights the negative psychological and sociological implications that stem from society’s expectations of “masculinity.” According to Dr. Caroline Heldman, masculinity is defined in the U.S. as a rejection of everything feminine. American culture has classified masculinity as a strong, hardened, domineering, powerful, and controlling state of being. There are typically three lies that boys learn at a young age that plant the idea that they have to be masculine. Those lies are 1) You must have superb athletic ability and be fast and buff, 2) in order to be a “true” man, you must have

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

What makes a man, a “man”? Is it how much money he makes? The car he drives? The life he lives? Or, the amount of “Masculinity” that he shows? These are some of the stereotypical question that becomes the ideas of what men should have or strive to achieve. In Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, they bring forth the ideas/thought of what the characteristic of men should be, by the overly influential control Disney and Pixar have on us and our future generation. Similar to what Matthew Immergut, in his article Manscaping: The Tangle of Nature, Culture and the Male Body, they both share ideas on the thought of man. The argument addressed in the question is either the way we view masculinity should be changed or not to determine us as men. In which the answer is, yes it should. Male or man, is a gender identity which show/ categorize, us separate from our female counterpart, Female or woman. But then are criticized on their place a “males” by getting in situation the emasculate them. Just because men independent or allowing for help, either overly sensitive or possess a lack of emotion, or whether or not “he” shaves his body or not should deter what the worlds thought on his masculinity

If a person where to go out on the street and ask people that they see to describe the traits that they associate with masculinity, they would likely hear terms such as strength, bravery, or any number of other power-related words; moreover, it is for this reason that sayings such as “be a man” are synonymous with taking control of a situation of facing what a person is afraid of. These concept are not, at first glance, directly dangerous to society, but, when studied more closely, these mainstream ideas of masculinity present themselves to be quite problematic due to the fact that they rely on negative aggressive actions in addition to subverting other groups of people in order to be a true masculine man. To clarify, hegemonic masculinity

“Be a man”, is a commonly used phrase that hold multiple assumptions about the idealized masculinity. The connotations for this phrase oozes ruggedness, toughness, and apathy. Similar themes were discussed in the article, “Masculinity as Homophobia” by Michael Kimmel. The author discusses the characterization of masculinity and its social implications.

In today’s society, the imagery of men and women are portrayed in their different personalities. The ideal male is always characterized as being competent, stable, tough,