The Mask You Live In.
Introduction
Our general public has, after some time, made this identity of what young men and men ought to resemble and act like. This character doesn’t take into consideration the uniqueness of the numerous existence of guys. As indicated by the film, these gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and situation, making a maze of identity issues young men and youngsters must navigate to become “real” men. This film is a great opportunity for myself, boys, and men to start the conversations about our own identity and to think about the masks that we are wearing in our daily lives that cover our true identities, feelings, issues, and preferences.
This issue is something that I as well have struggled with. I’m a very sensitive male, but I cannot count the number of times I’ve shown that side of myself. I like romantic movies, I love art, I get easily attached. I’m scared to show this sensitive side of myself for the exact reason why many males like myself don’t. This is an issue numerous individuals in the film and North America experience. It’s very hard for us as males to express the one innate component about ourselves that makes us humans: our emotions. Society and our upbringings have embedded in our heads the wrong definition of a man. We were taught to be tough, show no weakness at all costs. This is not attainable or healthy at all, as even the most powerful men in the world have shown weakness. Tyson Fury, the British heavyweight boxing champion of the world, is a fine example of this.
At all accounts physically, he beams muscularity: a six-foot-nine frame, massive arms, and a big broad chest. Let’s not forget about the 40-million-dollar net worth he possesses. Yet he fell into a very depressed state where he gained about 100 pounds and neglected his overall health entirely. Now tell me why on earth a man on top of the world would fall into a state like this? The answer to the question is simple. Regardless of gender, we are all human! We are not always happy, and we don’t always take the best care of ourselves, we’re not always going to feel pleasant emotions! That’s one hundred percent normal, except as a man, we are deprived of expressing those feelings. We keep all those emotions bottled up until a breaking point is reached. Tyson fury has reached that breaking point, I have, and numerous men have also reached that point. With the variation of men, there will also be a variation in how we act out once the breaking point is reached. Tyson fury turned to food. Other men turned to violence as we saw the prison inmates talking about their murders in the documentary. Some turn to the second source of the family where they feel they can be listened to, as we saw demonstrated by the support group in the film. Society must become that second source of the family that men dearly need. We need to accept that it’s ok for men to cry when they are sad.
It’s ok for us to share our fulminant sides without being ashamed. That it is ok for us to shift away from the societal definition of a “man” and express our true desires, emotions, feelings, thoughts, problems to create our definition of a man. No man is the same, so why should we use one strict criterion that defines a man. Men and boys all crying out for help! We are tired of wearing our masks, and it shows as the number of suicides by men and boys by far surpasses the amount regarding females. The faster we change our mindset about the identity of what a man is, the faster we can start moving forward as a healthier, safer, and acceptable society so that the future generations of boys and men can avoid the identity conflict that is so apparent in today’s world and truly live a fine life that is true to themselves.
Works Cited
Corrigall-Brown, Catherine. Imagining Sociology: An Introduction with Readings. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Newsom, Jennifer S, Jessica Congdon, Jessica Anthony, Regina K. Scully, Joe Ehrmann, Michael S. Kimmel, Caroline Heldman, Lise Eliot, Michael G. Thompson, William S. Pollack, Carol Gilligan, Madeline Levine, Judy Y. Chu, Terry A. Kupers, Niobe Way, Pedro Noguera, Philip G. Zimbardo, Byron Hurt, James Gilligan, John Behrens, and Eric Holland. The Mask You Live in., 2015.