Masculinity In Full Metal Jacket

Society has hammered into are minds that men are always supposed to be strong, brave, courageous and can withstand anything. The film “Full Metal Jacket” directed by Stanley Kubrick is an excellent example of this crisis of masculinity. The crisis of masculinity, and what it means to be a man has been shaped by society and our definition of what it means to be masculine. Masculinity doesn't mean that a man must be tough, hard, angry or emotionless. This scene from the full metal jacket gives an excellent example of the crisis of masculinity. Men are pressured to fit inside this box that society has created to represent manhood and manliness. Every person is human and different and because of this, every man will act in a certain way. Sometimes

He begins by telling the men who he is. He drills them very hard. He calls them all kinds of degrading, and emasculating names. He makes it known that they are nothing. He tells them they will become weapons, and they are not even human beings. He makes racist and homophobic remarks. He also mentions that he treats everyone the same and is a hard but fair man. He orders them to speak only when spoken to. Joker makes a joking remark, and the sergeant punches him in the stomach, hence from then on he is called Joker. The sergeant interrogates him and tells him to work on his war face. During this scene, he names a few other people. He names one of the men Cowboy and another Pyle. He tells them they will end up hating him and that they are nothing. When he gets to private Pyle he tells him he doesn’t like his name and that his name is for sailors and fagots. While the sergeant is speaking with Pyle he has a smirk on his face. The sergeant doesn’t like this and tells him to get on his knees and choke himself. This is very demeaning and also enervating. This relates to the crisis of masculinity, in that men are often taught by society to be powerful and seek out power over others. The idea of a man on his knees taking orders from another man is not masculine, but quite the opposite. The Sergeant is constantly bullying and mentally abusing these men without a care for how it may affect them at that present moment, or in the future. Men feel pain, men can be weak, and they can cry; these are trait that society has equated with the opposite