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Masculinity In The Film The Mask You Live In

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The documentary The Mask You Live In makes a strong case that the root of our foul culture comes from our society selling outdated and hazardous notions of masculinity. The overall image of the documentary depicts a culture that desperately needs to change. The film builds an argument about how early development of distinct attitudes in boys and negative reinforcement from authority figures and society have created men who are violent, callous, and self-destructive. We have been taught that the best man is the strong, silent type rather than the man who’s inclined to emote in a non-destructive manner when he’s upset. Everybody feels emotional affliction, however the ideal man is the one who never shows anguish and projects that he’s “just one
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In discussing the many facets of masculinity among young men, one key issue has been the correlation it has with several developmental concerns. In Michael Kimmel’s 2008 publication “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code”, he talks about how men believe manhood is really achieved. More specifically, he talks about “Guy Code”, the universal rulebook that all men must follow if they wish to remain in good standing among their fellow man. These rules are taught as early as their toddler years.

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Society should not base masculinity with these traits since it is learned by observation and demonstration, and this leads men to disconnect their emotions. The author is trying to take away the blindfold on society's eyes because there is an injustice towards men and woman. These aspects of masculinity are how men are taught to be, but if we remove, eliminate, or ignore those aspects and misconceptions men will express their emotions openly without having to restrict themselves and be able to fit in society or at least feel like they are a part of the society. As you can see these views make men disconnect with their emotional side Jensen mentions this when he gives the example of his friend that worked on Wall Street and his friend described it as “coming to work as like walking into a knife fight when all the good spots along the wall were taken” (131). If we stop identifying masculinity as conquest, men would stop trying to be competitive, dominant, and even violent men might not need to always be on their guard to keep this appearance all the

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The Creed by Ryan Coogler is a movie about a person who want to find his memories through the death of his father. His name is Donnie. The film is mostly a story of Donnie on the way become a champion of World Heavyweight by the support of Rocky; who was his father friend and rival. Ryan created a Donnie character who is a strongest boy with wonderful dream and overcome challenges. However, it relates to a speech on Tedtalk by McKelley about “Unmasking Masculinity”.

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Unfortunately, toxic masculinity plays a role in every society, therefore many people, mostly men, put on a “mask” to hide behind in order to make a false impression of their best selves. No matter who it is, everyone has a way that they want people to know them by, which is why it plays such an important role. The book Lord of the Flies is a fiction text about a group of young boys whose plane crashes after it was shot down during a war. The boys turn from civilized to savages on their long journey on the island as they become less and less of a society. Toxic masculinity affects society in more ways than one and often is used to get ahead or to be seen as superior.

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Similar to Sapolsky, Katz argues that the media teaches men from a young age to be tough, aggressive, and not to show emotional vulnerability. This is what he calls the “tough guise” or the artificial definition of manhood that forces men to conform to society’s expectations by being “tough” and powerful and hiding their emotions. In the beginning of the film Katz shows interviews with various young males where he asks what it means to be a man, and all of them provide an answer referring to strength, such as “powerful,” “intimidating,” “strong,” and of course, “tough.” When asked what a male is called when they fail to live up to these expectations, the young men replied, “wuss,” “fag,” or “sissy.” Katz points out that this just one of numerous methods that society uses to contain young men in this “tough guise” box, using insults to drive them to perform the way they believe a man should.

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In Macbeth and The Mask You Live In, the characteristics of masculinity begins with the questioning or threatening of their manhood, which then leads to successive violence, and lastly, the desperate behavior that occurs when ashamed. In Macbeth, and The Mask You Live In, Shakespeare investigates the connection between a man’s questioning and

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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

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Men’s Real Emotions Gender is a large part of everyone ’s identify that is often defined by psychological differences between people and people like men and women. therefore, those differences are reflected in many gender stereotypes, for example, boys often like blue color and are very strong, and men rarely share their feelings, while girls usually like pink color and are very weak, and women are more emotional. From the earliest age, the boys are told “Be a man,” “Don’t cry,” or “Man up.”

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What constitutes “masculinity?” Sadly, the term has been defined so harshly that it is having detrimental effects on our society. The definitions of gender roles bombard us everywhere, from books, to advertisements, to movies, there is seemingly no place one can hide from these absurd standards. Canadian sociologist Aaron H. Devor points out in his article “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender,” that gender norms are learned early on in life, burdening children with these restrictions (388). This is what makes movies which clearly reject and mock gender roles, such as The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, so refreshing.

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He also explains how the world can change men and how values and ideas change men. People fear these changes are affecting the society and lives of other people that they show a bad image to what manhood looks like. Some men do not mind these changes while men do. In some parts of the article, the author talks about the changes in men and how it is

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Both meaning to become brave or tough, this phrase is most often spoken to men who are displaying emotion, and the belief in which the phrase is founded is evident: manliness is not solely focused on appearance, but also, one’s ability to be invulnerable. Jackson Katz, an anti-violence educator, explores the idea of male toughness through references to many iconic men in the media, including the Marlboro Man. All of the men Katz describes in his interview assert their manliness through austerity and impassive behavior, expressing to society that, “interdependence, connection, and relationships [in men] are forms of weakness; that stuff’s for women”. Moreover, a study published in the journal entitled Social Science & Medicine by a University College Dublin sociologist, Anne Cleary, also emphasizes the notion of complete indifference in men. In her study, Cleary highlights the commonalities among fifty-two young Irish men who survived suicide attempts: “all expres[s] reluctance to disclose to anyone the significant, long-lasting emotional pain that had threatened to overwhelm them” (Freed).

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In” documentary by director Jennifer Seibel Newsom. After I watched this movie, I can answer for all these questions: what does it mean to become a real man? Can boys cry? And do all fathers on the world can share their emotions to other people? Through the movie, I can image how boys and young men struggle to live with their true-life in American controversial of being a real man.

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Ingoldsby describes this as being “masculine” and strong” as “lack of emotion is part of the superiority of the male” (Ingoldsby 57, 58). This is true as men are thought to not cry and show any emotion other than one’s relating to masculinity. Plascencia uses the inability to express emotion as detrimental not only to males, but to surrounding people. Lacking expression provides a lack of connection to other people, which in turn creates a detrimental effect on one’s mental health. Plascencia uses Federico as a metaphor of men in society, showing how males being taught to be reserved and remaining emotionless is terrible.

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There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.

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Masculinity (also called boyhood, manliness or manhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with boys and men. But the culture doesn’t end at the definition, it starts from there. The first thing to come to mind when the word masculinity is heard is usually a man flexing his gigantic muscles, as the word might sound to suggest, and that right there is the current culture of masculinity because sadly, in the world we live in, not everyone has a “muscular body”. So far we know the concept of masculinity, but the culture is what is truly hampering.

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