Norms In The Mask You Live In

The ability to understand male role models allows for a more intelligent understanding as to why boys act the way they do, and why our conceived notion on what being a boy changes. While examining the movie Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater, and the entry “Boyhood” by Eric Tribunella, manhood is defined by “the ability to dominate, care for, or exercise power over others”, while “to be a boy means to be flawed, inchoate, or incomplete” (Tribunella). The movie and the entry both enlighten audiences with examples of boyhood and how it changes and shifts from each person. Linklater’s

What I’m arguing in Paragraph 2 is that Men are so afraid to be isolated from their group that they don't express themselves. Throughout the stories of “Guyland” you notice that a lot of guys do stupid things to fit into a group. Like in initiation, these guys would do outrageous stuff just to be able to have a group of “brothers” who will support them after college. Also these guys tend to drink large amounts of hard liquor so that they can fit in with their peers. In the passage “Bro Before hos”

In a society where we fight for equal rights all over the world, one would think that the emotional freedom of men and women would not be one. Today, men are still held hostage emotionally and are unable to express themselves without ridicule freely. In the article “Toxic Masculinity,” Callie Zimmerman suggests that males face many hardships simply because they are forced to exhibit a degrading state of manhood (web). Toxic masculinity holds true by pointing out the history of this misconception and providing insight for one to relate, understand and change these views in one’s life. Men are often held to a higher standard than women with masculinity being the most important part of their existence.

Burak defines gender socialization as “the process of interaction through which we learn the gender norms of our culture and acquire a sense of ourselves as feminine, masculine, or even androgynous” (Burack, 1). According to Burack, people of different genders behave differently not due to biological factors, but due to socialization that teaches individuals to behave in a particular way in order to belong to a certain gender. For example, women may tend to be nurturing, not because they are biologically programed to be caretakers, but as a result of society teaching them through toys and media to act as mothers. In this way, gender becomes a performance based on expectations rather than natural behaviors or biology, a phenomenon called “doing

History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be

Over time, the thought patterns of many individuals mould to believe only one perception of what is morally acceptable— a perception that is completely faulty. The ideology of the male body and demeanor is only one of the many societal norms constructed by the media, and it alone can result in mental health fatalities, mass violence, or the mere elimination of self-identity whilst attempting to meet the ever-changing ideals of masculinity. The continuous and stereotypical depiction of masculinity in the media has idealized invulnerability, toughness and physical strength as the sole qualities of a ‘true man’. As a result, the complexity of masculinity is flattened, and immense pressures are placed on individuals to meet requirements that are entirely faulty. According to Katz, cultures, topics, and even genders are not one-dimensional; in order to fully comprehend the meaning the entirety of something, one must look at more than its representation in the media.

The Mask You Live In, show all the pressure from the media, their friends, and the grown people’s life. All the boys and man faced with some messages provide them to hide their real emotions, built up the idea that women are only for sexual conquest instead viewing women are friends, and allow men to communicate anger with other by violence. All the controversial about gender associate with race, class, their situation, creating a confusing of problems all men and boy must to be a man.

In the documentary, Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity, the focus is on mass media and society’s influence and expectations of the male gender and how ‘real men’ are defined. “Boys and young men, learn early on that being a so-called, ‘real man,’ means you have to take on the tough-guise,” Jackson Katz, Ph. D. continues, “In other words, you only have to show the world certain parts of yourself that the dominant culture has defined as manly.” In the opening segment of the documentary, Dr. Katz, one of America’s leading anti-sexist activists, provides the audience of how the title was developed. Together with The Media Education Foundation, the documentary encourages the audience to think and analyze the influence mass media has, socially, politically as well as culturally in the development of young men. Tough Guise breaks down the correlation of pop-culture imagery and the social

In the film, the dominant version of masculinity is composed of male violence and male friendship. Those violence actions are seen as

To change the way others perceive men and women, they put on a mask. For men they wear their “masculinity mask” to

The film explains about that masculinity is a cultural in America’s social. When boys youngest age, the people told to” Be a man!” “Stop show the emotion!” “Don’t cry!” “Don’t be sissy!”

“Masculinity as Homophobia” an article by S. Kimmel, that talks about how men these days have the fear of being judged and ranked based on their manhood. There are some arguments that the Professor mentions and uses in his article that supports his argument and some experiences from other people 's perspective in life of men over the years. The author’s main argument is about how men these days are being watched and judged closely based on how they walk, talk, eat, dress, move and look like. The author explains how the world is judging men and how it tries to take that power and that pride of being a man.

Masculinity, according to Kimmel (1994), is not a manifestation of our inner-self but rather a social construct consisting of attributes and behaviors associated with boys and men that are a part of historical culture. While masculinity can vary across the globe depending on cultures, Western society’s common masculinity traits include dominance, assertiveness, sexual ability, and intelligence (cite). Masculinity, from a Western view, has been too narrow, making young men’s interests less valuable by the evolving social conditions in which they live (Clayton, Hewitt, & Gaffney, 2004). From the framework of masculinity, there has been a shift into hypermasculinity, which is an overemphasis and exaggerated adherence to the traditional male gender roles

They are expected to be strong, to objectify women, and keep their emotions in check. Young boys are evaluated for their masculinity by his father and eventually by peers, bosses and other males; seeking approval from other men, afraid for being exposed as vulnerable, weak, or soft. As an adult, males continue to try to dominate his world, which excludes other groups such as women, non-white men, and homosexuals. “Our fear is “not fear of women but of being ashamed or humiliated in front of other men, or being dominated by stronger men” (Kimmel, 86). American men spend their entire life proving and demonstrating their manhood in order to prove their masculinity of not being like a woman (Kimmel, 86-87).

“ Men are expected to protect,procreate, and provide; these qualities that women also possess. Consequently,societal stereotypes of men being apathetic mentally and physically often leads to the cultivation of practices, which often negatively affect men's health directly, such as excessive competition, alcoholism, risky demonstration of masculinity through dangerous sport activities, etc The difference between masculinity and femininity is emphasis. According to the Freud children are born with aggressive psychosexual behavior which feeds into a psychoanalytic behavior of gender, sexual behaviors and preferences. Affirming that femininity is the counterpart of masculinity; displaying the opposite behaviors and attitudes of masculinity. Close minded theories like this lead to men to lose sense of self-identity, and esteem wondering if they fit the conventional way of life.