Masculinity: Is this a Real COOL stuff?
I am sure that not all of men are born to be a real masculine men with strong hearts which never feel pain or sorrow. No one knows from when men were forced to act masculine. Masculinity can be defined as quality that has traditionally ascribed to men, or an appropriated image of a man. But who decides the appropriate image for men? Society has always put pressure to men to be a real man, and portrayed man as what they expect, which are, "Hide your emotions, do not cry, do not be scared of anything, do this because you are man". However, is hiding emotions and pretending to be cool masculine? I don't think so.
"The Mask you Live in"
The video "The Mask you Live in" is filmed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a director of documentary films and a miss representative. This video was made by the concern of Jennifer to the young boys who are forced to be masculine, which can be called, a boy crisis. What I really liked about this video is that it really looked at the deep insight of the boys, who had to hide their emotions, just by the reason that they need to be a real man. According to the film, masculinity stops boys to be emotional, sensitive and warm men, but makes them as disconnected, cold, and lonely men by the stereotypes of the masculinity that society has made. Actually, a lot of boys were affected by the forces of the society to be masculine, be a man. I began to think that masculinity can lead the boys into acting violently because of the stereotype that men always should be strong. Boys then accept the concept of being cool, as being strong in a inappropriate ways. Such as beating up their friends. Also, the boys are always forced to hide their feelings. All men should not cry anytime, and always act manly. Again, who chooses what is it to be 'manly'? Do real men really not cry and always have 'coolness'(which also is difficult to define)?. No. Hiding emotions, can be thought as being boring. When the boys go to high school, they all are adapted to the masculinity and do what others do. As a result, they get no one to talk with about serious topics like their concerns, because a 'cool' man does not ask for help to others, showing his emotions. Actually, I can see many boys in high school who try to be cool but have many personal concerns. It is a serious problem that teenage boys, who have a lot of personal concerns during that time, cannot express them to anyone, because of the stereotype that the society has made. So if the teenager boys cannot express their feelings to anyone, then how can their stress and concerned be solved? During the video, when Ashanti Branch, the educator and youth adviser, told the boys to write the things that they do not want to show others, most of them wrote, pain, anger, those emotions that masculinity denies. This kind of coercion can bring desperate end to men who feel suppression by the stereotype that the society has made. Actually, a lot of people are getting interested in this topic, 'Forced Masculinity'. If you want to see more opinions from other people, you can go to this site, and read the posts. (http://masculinityu.com/blog/)
Here is the video about masculinity.
My Thoughts...
Masculinity is something that should not be forced to any of the boys. Everyone has different perceptions of what a real cool man is. For me, expressing violence, and hiding true emotion do not actually look cool. During researching about masculinity, I found a blog that posted about the reality of masculinity. (http://reclaimingmasculinity.tumblr.com/) In this blog, it addresses really well about what it means to be a man. Forced masculinity problems are happening not only in America, but also in Korea. Korean society forces boys to be always powerful so that they can protect the women. This concept has been progressed more by the military program, which strongly forces the concept of masculinity. This kind of thoughts has already affected teenage boys in Korea. Most of the Korean boys accept cigarettes as a symbol of masculinity. Because it looks cool teenagers try once and then be addicted to the cigar. Masculinity can affect and is affecting teenagers in bad ways and is leading to the desperate ends. Therefore the society must stop forcing boys to be a real man with stereotyped masculinity.
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