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. Through some of the
The film “The Mask You Live In” reveals a fact that we have been conscious of, but rarely envisaged that gender discrimination not only hurts the women, but also harms the men. Film mentioned that doing a sample of a group of male and female’s personality, assuming that "absolute femininity" is the minimum value, "absolute masculinity" is the maximum value and then draw the map. The mean and variance of the two normal distributions are close, and the overlap of the two distributions is 90%. This shows that most men and women are alike in masculinity and femininity, and there is no real difference in dualism. The difference between men and women we see is that society deliberately makes boys more masculine, while girls are more feminine.
It’s a hard time to be male in America and that fact alone should make everyone want to change it. In the Ted Talk “The Mask of Masculinity” by Connor Beaton, he described how men are faced with many challenges throughout their whole life. This includes being taught not to have emotion and that their highest value in life is to have dominance and control. If they portray any kind of feminine traits like singing, dancing or love, they are automatically not a real man anymore. Beaton claims that the biggest challenge men face is, “. . . being able to overcome and move through some of the negative stereotypes that surround masculinity.” The biggest problem today is that men think in order to succeed in life, they have to be in total control and
In Pollack’s expert of Inside The World Of Boys Behind The Mask Of Masculinity, the author illuminated the oppressive struggles males endure as a result of “Boy Codes”. Within the excerpt, Pollack defines “Boy Codes” as a “straitjacket”, or a constraint of male emotions in order to correctly function with society’s assumption, attitudes, and codes towards male figures. Thus, Pollack notes that males employ a “mask of masculinity” to “hide their genuine self” and in turn “conform to our society’s expectations”. Through one’s use of the “mask of masculinity: or “boy codes”, males begin to live a “semi-inauthentic lives” by deeming “fear, uncertainty, loneliness, and need” unacceptable.
Reading chapter six about the men and masculinity it was interesting to finally read a chapter about men. From reading all about the female or femininity side of gender it is finally good to see the male side and to learn more about it. Not just also the side of the patriarchy, but also the race and class. This comes into play with the hierarchy of men. Lisa Wade and Myra Ferree defines this as a rough ranking of men from most to least masculine, with the assumption that being more masculine is better (2015).
Society has a way of creating standards and expectations for the roles of men and women. The two videos Killing Us Softly and Tough Guise showed how society truly portrays men and women. The overall media system defines men. It is where they learn it what it means to be a “man”. In the video, Tough Guise, dominance, power, and control were the most commonly used adjectives to describe men. (1) Media not only gives men a certain role but it stereotypes certain races of men. Latinos are seen as boxers or criminals, Asian’s are seen as martial artists of sneaky criminals, and African Americans are seen as thugs or murderers. (1) Media directly associates violence with men. Violence has become an acepted part of masculinity. Young boys learn that if they don't want be be a “wimp” then they have to act out in violent ways. On the contrary, in the
The documentary ‘The Mask You Live In’ discusses how American males in today’s society battle between the need to stay true to themselves and the idea of masculinity portrayed to them; it highlights what it’s like to be a man in America. During the course of the documentary, we are presented with boys and men of all different ages as they discuss how the idea of ‘being a man’ affected how they present themselves. << This documentary addresses how boys are brought up with the idea that men cannot be anything close to the idea of femininity. That to be a man, you are required to be tough all the time, you are not to cry, you are to be violent.
The movie “Tough Guise” examines and evaluates the relationship between cultural and social construction of masculinity and the images we see in mass media and popular culture. The movie recognizes immense violence in America as a product of gendered associated phenomenon, and identifies and explains its connection to cultural codes and ideals of “masculinity”. In the movie, Katz main thesis revolves around the idea: masculinity is created; it does not inherently exist, as opposed to one’s biological sex. Central to his argument is this concept: One may be born as male or female: which is one’s biological identity, but the concept of “masculinity” is a societal and cultural construct. To further empower his thesis he argues that media plays a vital role in dispensing and sustaining this cultural construct.
Society’s current structure of masculinity is unforgiving in form. It cuts out other forms of masculinity, it physically and mentally demanding, and its ill effects extend far beyond the men it infuses itself in. Yet what would we do if we were given other options for masculinity, ones that allowed for unique blends of attitudes and perceptions? Looking in to the lives of homeless men we can see the forced strategies which create new masculine codes created for the adaption against patriarchal pressures. They are made out of survival need to circumnavigate the painful mental and physical reality that is only made worse by harsh masculine standards. Yet these new masculinities hold out a form of hopefulness for society. They offer up new discussion to what it means to be a man, the potential for change, and what we can expect from changes in male identity over time. Using what we learn from the disadvantaged, we can hope to improve the lives of people, although the process will take time, effort, and careful mediation.
“Tough Guise” examines the relationship between the social construction of masculinity and the images we see in mass media and popular culture. The central theme in Katz’s arguments in Tough Guise revolves around the notion: violence in America is a gendered associated phenomenon, and in order for us to understand violence, we must focus on its relationship to our
Usually when I think about a mask, I think about scary halloweens and fake goblins, but people have been wearing invisible mask for their whole lives without knowing. There is nothing fake about the invisible mask that men have to wear, but it is indeed scary. In the film, The Mask You Live In, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, explores how our culture’s narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys and men. The film educates the viewers about the emotional expression, suicide rates, and sexuality of men.
There is a masculinity crisis in America that has been escalating, since society has gravitated to the auspice of anti-marriage and single parenthood. The nuclear family is the root of a successful society. In a traditional nuclear family, family structure plays a vital role in the healthy developmental stages from birth through adolescence; otherwise, the child cannot adjust due to lack of social conventions. There are numerous factors that contribute to the threat of masculinity in our society; namely, families headed by single mothers, the media metrosexualizing males, and absence of God.
I know that for myself, I always hold back my emotions out of embarrassment and fear of being seen as weak—even as a woman, I’ve trained myself to perform masculinity to survive in our culture. Again, this
To read Babio without recognizing the gender politics at work in the play would disregard much of how the play itself creates meaning. So much of the play’s plot and character dynamics are related to the way gender functions in this play. One major theme of Babio is the idea of masculinity and how masculinity is defined. Through the portrayal of Babio as an effeminate character, Babio is able to define masculinity through absences in Babio’s Character. Consequently, Babio makes the additional point that lovesickness is not an intrinsic aspect of medieval masculinity, despite the fact that love sickness is often attributed to men.
The Mask You Live In discusses the ways that projecting an idealized version of masculinity is harmful to men who try to live up to this description while also constantly reasserting their masculinity. No matter how much a person alters their behavior, a gender performance that is not true to one’s personality will never feel authentic and will ultimately create negative feelings. The movie goes on to say that gender has been so overtly simplified that children have no choice but to choose one extreme or the other. Certainly, there are people who identify as male and enjoy doing things that are associated as masculine, but it is very unlikely that all their mannerisms will align with stereotypical masculinity.
The Mask You Live In deals with masculinity and all the pressures that are tied alongside that heavy term. The documentary portrays a society that in many cases, seems to pressure young men into hiding their emotions and remaining stoic to maintain the façade of manhood. Alongside this, young boys are also set up to degrade and objectify women as a result of the media they consume. The film seems to highlight that masculinity is a social construct and emphasizes the importance of teaching young boys to convey their