Masculinity in The Pursuit of Happyness
Nowadays, men should break down traditional norms like taking care of family, which women are supposed to do. The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by Gabriele, is a movie based on a true story of an African-American man named Chris Gardner, a multi-millionaire investor and a motivational speaker. Gardner is not only a persistent, hard-working, and confident man, but also an emotional and a responsible father who played both masculine and feminine roles as a single parent. Thus, he is a clear example that proves the negative stereotype about African-American men is wrong. There is a stereotype that African-American men are easy to give up on working and raising a family. Due to Gardner’s incredible efforts, his story has inspired many
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In the article “Becoming Members of Society,” Aaron Devor mentions that confidence is one of the most important characters of men (393). Through the movie, it is easy to realize that Gardner was really confident since he never showed any fear in bad situations where people mostly feel nervous. As an illustration, when attending an interview of an internship course, he did not dress formally, even worse than normal, since he appeared with a dirty face and wore a tank top, a jean jacket and blue jeans instead of a vest and a tie. Due to his dirty appearance, he made interviewers think that he looked down on them. He was not embarrassed, but he controlled himself to remain calm by explaining the reasons for his casual performance. During the interview, he was as confident as giving concise answers when being questioned, so he was accepted to be an intern at a stock company. Therefore, Gardner’s story demonstrates that confidence is an important masculinity trait and men should have it or improve themselves to be self-confident because of its