Toxic Masculinity In Man Up, By Guante And Dar Williams

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).

In the documentary “The Mask We Live In,” there was a lot of interesting material that is often overlooked within our society. The aspect that stood out to me was when former coach and NFL player Joe Ehrmann stated that the most destructive statements within our culture are “Be a Man.” I found this intriguing for the fact that within our culture we often use phrases such as "Man up" and" Act like a man" not understanding the actual context of the term itself. The documentary exposed that within society there is rules and expectation for men to behave in a manner that reflects strength and masculinity. As a result, these standards are confronted earlier on in a young man’s life.

The documentary ‘The Mask You Live In’ discusses how American males in today’s society battle between the need to stay true to themselves and the idea of masculinity portrayed to them; it highlights what it’s like to be a man in America. During the course of the documentary, we are presented with boys and men of all different ages as they discuss how the idea of ‘being a man’ affected how they present themselves. << This documentary addresses how boys are brought up with the idea that men cannot be anything close to the idea of femininity. That to be a man, you are required to be tough all the time, you are not to cry, you are to be violent.

Masculinity is a topic that has been debated in our society extensively, through research as well as in informal settings. Many wonder what it means to be masculine, and if we can really assign a definition to such a subjective term. After all, shouldn't one's own perception be the determinant of what constitutes masculinity? This self-construction would be the ideal in our society, but unfortunately, it represents a false belief. Masculinity has certain characteristics assigned to it by our culture. In this paper I will explore the many facets of masculinity and demonstrate how certain beliefs pertaining to it are perpetuated in our society. I will also uncover many of the contradictions between society's assigned definition of

Though this is the case, Braudy states that over time and throughout history, the definition of ‘masculinity’ has shifted in response to the prevailing social and cultural demands (Braudy, xiii). Because the concept of masculinity is continuously being redefined, the concept as whole is not stagnant, and is evolving parallelly the more society as a whole

In this paper I will explore the many facets of masculinity and demonstrate how certain beliefs pertaining to it are perpetuated in our society. I will also uncover many of the contradictions between society's assigned definition of

The “Be a Man”. A phrase that has long served as a guiding principle to boys growing up, but is rather often “one of the most destructive phrases in this culture” (Ehrmann, 2023, 1:25). As a society, toxic expectations of masculinity have prevailed, causing detrimental effects on the lives of men and boys. Defined masculinity as it is needs to be reformed to foster healthier expressions of true masculinity. The documentary “The Mask You Live In” exposes the narrow constructs and hegemonic rules we have formed around masculinity and encourages young boys to follow.

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.

One must take note that the connotation of ‘man’ and ‘masculinity’ varies across cultures and therefore they are seen as social and cultural constructions. Not all men are the same so there is more than on masculinity. Men have evolved just as society has evolved and therefore the traditional views of masculinity may no longer apply to the modern man. There are many conflicts and difficulties that men face in the modern world. It is said to be due to the incompatibility between what modern men need to survive in society today and the traditional or old views on what masculinity is (Barker & Jane, 2016).

In a patriarchal society, the hegemonic form of masculinity represents a successful plan for subordinating women. There are also subordinated masculinities. The forms of masculinity found among men who are complicit in the patriarchal system. They accept the patriarchal dividend, but are not directly involved in exercising power, in violence, or in displays of prowess. Identifying the difficulty of this image goes a long way in explaining the variety in men's responses to feminist ideas.

The participants were fully involved in all the exercises, taking part in discussion, voicing out their opinions and questioning each other’s ideas. Our observation was that social constructions of masculinity were more criticised by the girls because they are mostly the ones at the receiving end of the gender based violence and sexual violence that is perpetuated by this social construction of what a man should be or should behave like. Both girls and boys found that it became difficult to be a different kind of man who believes in equality because the social norms around masculinity were rigid. Girls further added that boys who failed to conform to social acceptable norms of what it meant to be a man were vulnerable to physical, emotional

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

When will society raise itself from perdition, and revel itself in the light of how toxic masculinity is killing men everywhere? Society’s misconceptions of the face of traditional masculinity has allowed for the unconstitutional death of thousands of men and women all over this planet. Yet, even now, these ever-prevalent issues remain to be the discarded plastic bags that society throws away,

But there is an assumption, when someone says it like that, there is a very clear definition of what men should be” (Velez, 2015). While at 2:37 age 39 questions the concept of what being male is, “Who defines what a man is? I mean we all have to walk our own path. What I consider to make me a man may not be what makes you a man” (Velez, 2015). What I found surprising in that stereotypical answers were learned at a young age as viewed throught the answers of the the age 5 and 10, who express answers about strength and acting tough. This shows that through socialization at an early age we enforce notion of maleness. Gosse and Facchinetti (2011) emphasize the need for strong male role model within the education field, citing Smith’s finding about how males must trangress identity constructs that contradict female

Gender norms are socially constructed by society to add a preset notion to each gender. For example, gender norms dictate that a woman should be a housewife and only take care of the kids, while a man should be out working and providing for his family. Anything outside of this is criticized because it was different than the norms of society that have been embedded into everyone. Gender norms are usually placed on women; for example, women are encouraged to become nurses, but not doctors because that is typically seen as a man’s job. However, people often forget the men are also placed into certain categories as well. Men are supposed to be strong and natural born protectors of the family. Michael Kimmel the author of "Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code” explores the philosophy of manhood and the effects it has on young men. Junot Diaz the author of “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” also explores manhood, but he does it through a guide of how to manipulate women of different races. Both authors explore the essential ideas behind manhood and the effects it has on young men of today’s society through different means and outcomes.