Masculinity In The Mask You Live In

In the article “Toxic Masculinity Is Killing Men: The Roots of Male Trauma,” Kali Holloway explains why the ideal of masculinity is so unrealistic and harmful to men. Holloway also gives many studies and writings to back the idea that to be a strong man you have to suppress feelings and pain. In these studies, it proclaims that both men and women start off equally feminine as babies and that these ideas are taught to boys and girls as they grow up learning how to “be a man.” Holloway goes on to say that masculinity is not just taught by parents, but also taught through television and movies that portray men as masculine and strong. There are many examples given showing the ways men release their stress differently than women. This makes it

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).

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

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 today's society, men are held at high expectations. Men are taught from an early age to be tough and bottle up their emotions. The character Macbeth, from Shakespeare's play, is influenced by his wife to forget his morals and learn to be alright with murder even though he knows it is wrong. The Mask You Live In states, “94% of mass homicides are committed by males”. This is mostly

1. In “Many Boys Today Define Masculinity Negatively”, the author Leonard Sax writes about how the meaning of masculinity has become redefined in a negative way. Sax states that the phrase “Be a man!” didn’t always mean to not be feminine, the phrase originally meant to be courteous, respectful, and competent. The original intention of this phrase to have boys emulate the wholesome family men in popular culture but in recent years the men portrayed in pop culture have become less principled. This change in role models has led masculinity to be seen as a negative aspect in society today. Sax believes that the best solution for this issue is to give young boys the guidance they need by connecting them with gentlemen from past generations who actually learned what it meant to be a man.

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.

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 the documentary, Tough Guise, Jackson Katz thoroughly examines and explains the relationship between pop culture and the social construction of male identities. Katz interviews several young men and asks the question, “What does it mean to be a man?” and examines how does media influences the answers the young males provided. Masculinity is defined as the possession of qualities traditionally associated with men such as aggressiveness, courage and independence. To be a ‘real’ man they must fit in a narrow box and if they do not they will be referred to as pussies, homos and bitches. In addition, he discusses how masculinity is connected to violence and how it is carried over to their children.

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.

According to “The Mask You live in”, society in the United States has created an “idea of masculinity” that does not give young males an opportunity to feel safe with their masculinity. Stated by Tony Porter, “from the beginning we are taught as boys to lock down our emotions”. Stated in the film the idea of being weak in the eyes of other boys emerges at a very young stage, in which we later must prove we are not weak to look good in society. Furthermore, in the film one of the participants explains that in school he would get bullied because society determines masculinity by being strong and being able to smoke a blunt and have sex with many women.

Blow utilizes abrasive language in order to establish his disgusted and outraged tone towards the socialization of men. By describing masculinity as, “toxic, privileged, [and] encroaching,” Blow examines how the concept of masculinity has morphed into something that is causing more harm than good to society. In examining the differences between the rearing of men and women, Blow claims that the socialization of men implies that men are merely an, “unthinking mass of hormones, raging and dangerous.” These strong words serve to further emphasize his argument that the gender socialization undergone by men is implicating and teaching young boys that they are not responsible for their actions are they can be simply be brushed off as hormones. This stirs a feeling of disgust and anger within the reader as they understand that men are capable of complex thought and should, of course, be held responsible for their actions.

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

The movie, The Mask You Live In, brought up some very intriguing points regarding gender roles in men and its effects. In the beginning the speakers in the movie talked about how the use of words and phrases: such as “be a man”, “why are you crying”, or “grow a pair” has a demeaning effect of today’s youth. I find it may not affect all children, or not even a majority of them, however, it does have an impact on the ones who are more sensitive. These select few may feel like they will never live up to the expectations of society. More importantly they may feel like they will never be as good as their father, who is the ultimate measuring stick as to what it means to “Be a man.”

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