Masculinity In The Documentary The Mask You Live In

“Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood & American Culture” is a bold documentary highlighting the role of masculinity as it implicates American culture. In the opening scene you are befuddled by historical and Hollywood images of violence, high tempo music, and male-driven aggression. As the narrator, Jackson Katz, details in his openings statement: whether you are recoiling from violence or celebrating it, you are doing it from the viewpoint of male-driven masculinity.

In the video “Tough Guise” Jackson Katz argues that, “widespread violence in American society, including the tragic school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and elsewhere, needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in masculinity.” He considers that while the social construction of femininity has been extensively examined, the role of masculinity has remained invisible until recent years. From the beginning of the episode male students are asked, “What is a real man?” Katz got replies like, strong, independent, intimidating, physical, powerful, and tough multiple times. Then after asking what is a real man, Katz asked, “what happens if you don’t live up to these standards?”

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).

A documentary film, The Mask You Live In, published in 2015 by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, expresses a social topic that many people ignore or don't see as an issue. This moving documentary examines what it means, "to be a man" in this American society.   Toxic masculinity; A negative socially constructed attitude towards the gender of males. Thus, pointing out "unmasculine" traits which eventually lead to anger, violence, mental illnesses, and many other factors.

Masculinity is a quality of a man, a man who empowers strength and expertise to achieve goals easier. The essence of being masculine, illustrates powerful behavior, such as courage, and audacity. Stephen, fifteen-year-old pulp-cutter trying to fit into an environment, feeling extremely honored, as his father modeled, "become a man", impels a decent reputation in his father’s

Tough Guise 2 is a documentary that focuses on the ways in which American culture uses videos games, movies, advertisements, and other sources of media, to force ideas about masculinity and manhood. Not only in America, but cultures across the world how high rates of “violent masculinity,” which means that men are resorting to violence in order to maintain respect and demand power. If they do not conform with societies expectations of what it is to be a man, they put themselves at risk of being shamed and no longer fitting this societal idea of “manhood”. Using gender stereotypes and schemas, as well as the gender role strain theory, I will focus on how these ideas connect with the ideas in the film, and how culture is one of the leading cause

“The Mask You Live In,” the 2015 documentary produced by Jennifer Siebel Newson was made to inform it’s audience which are boy and girls from aged 10 to adults that the social expectations which contemporary society sets upon males through popular culture, sports and media is very harmful. This message is not only important for the males who are negatievly impacted by the “man box” however it is harmful for everyone else in their lives as they are impacted directly. This film hopes to shed light to an issue that has been around since the militarization of civilizations when women became inferior to their male counterparts and patriarchy became the dominant approach to social norms. Through the film, we’re able to understand the term of the “manbox.” This term is societies’s rules for acting like a man; the mentality behaviours and restrictions that men and boys are socialy constructed to such as being strong, athletic, providing, aggressive and unemotional.

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!”

In the documentary “The Mask We Live In,” there was a lot of interesting material that is often overlooked within our society. The aspect that stood out to me was when former coach and NFL player Joe Ehrmann stated that the most destructive statements within our culture are “Be a Man.” I found this intriguing for the fact that within our culture we often use phrases such as "Man up" and" Act like a man" not understanding the actual context of the term itself. The documentary exposed that within society there is rules and expectation for men to behave in a manner that reflects strength and masculinity. As a result, these standards are confronted earlier on in a young man’s life.

The nature of the self is what controls one's instincts like reacting violently and it is largely influenced by internal and external factors including destructive societal pressure. In the documentary The Mask You Live In, it provides the idea that masculinity in modern society is highly emphasized, causing several destructive effects. For example, males from a young age are often taught to behave like a "Real man" who is not allowed to shed tears publically. As a result of these masculinity "Rules", men always tend to hide away their emotions afraid that it will challenge societal beliefs. Over a long-term, boys who endure these external pressures experience longlasting toxic outcomes including becoming self-enclosed.

Seeing all the ways masculinity is performed and expected really made it clear to me the way everyone performs masculinity in society, especially in terms of holding back emotions. In The Mask You Live In, they discuss how by the age of ten, boys are socialized into believing it is not okay to cry in public because emotions, especially sadness, are seen as feminine and weak. While this especially affects boys and men, it also affects anyone trying to gain power in society. Women have to perform masculinity in order to be seen as competent, respectable, and strong if they ever want to hold a position of power. For example, if a female politician shows any strong emotion, they would be seen as emotionally unstable and therefore unfit for the position.

The movie surveyed a wide array of the troubles faced by boys and men as they try to navigate the realm of masculinity. A common theme was the command “be a man” and the cultural baggage that comes with living up to that ideal. To “be a man” means to not cry, to not be sensitive, to not let people mess with you, to respond with violence, to be angry, to drink, to womanize.

In today’s society, masculinity has changed throughout time. Fast forward one hundred years ago, masculinity is defined as being strong and having a good paying job. But as the world is changing so is the representation of manliness. You don’t have to show your dominance over men or women today, but you should support your family nowadays and we have all been brainwashed by the thought of masculinity from our ancestors. As men our reputation is always being valued but now it isn’t so much about our reputation but about caring for one another and especially for our families. Perspective of manhood is also a significant factor in portraying what masculinity is in the eyes of other people. Masculinity has been shown through money, appearance, and providing protection for your family members but as we shift into the modern world, masculinity is not seen as displaying the most discipline but caring for one another by taking out some of your time to help one another. Throughout the paper, I will be writing about my interviews from a broad spectrum of ages from one of my younger sisters to my dad with not friends not at Seb’s in between so I can get what it really means to be a man from all ages.

The gender stereotypes, which are constructed by our society, formulate what is required to “be a man”. The desired stereotypical trait of masculinity is a well-established male characteristic, which is vital to fit with assigned gender norms. It is perceived as desirable attribute among society, when in actuality may be causing harm with how it is shaping younger generations. The gender characteristic of masculinity and the attributes required to make a man, have been causing various mental health issues among males. The mental heath issues caused by masculinity are discussed in the movie, The Masks You Live in. Through the ideas of The Mask You Live in, this paper will discuss toxic norms associated with masculinity, how they are

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