Journal #18: The Mask You Live In Reflection

On Wednesday, I attended the screening of the documentary the Mask You Live In that Gen X sponsored. It was a wonderful film that analyzes the way our society treats masculinity and the messages we send our men about what it means to truly be a “man.” This topic is relevant to our Gender, Activism, and Leadership class because hyper-masculinity in America is a problem that affects both people of all genders. Hyper-masculine men are more emotionally constipated, which causes them to lash out and be violent. As young activists in the Gen-X learning community, this documentary should encourage us to make a difference and change the way our society is brainwashing men to be emotionless and violent human beings.

The Mask You Live In was created by the same people who created Miss Representation. The two films are correlated because they focus on the images we put forth pertaining to masculinity and femininity. The media portrays women as being emotional and weak beings. These images of femininity teach young boys and men that being emotional is exclusively for girls. This reassures the notion, that to do anything “like a girl” or to be a woman is the worst possible thing to be.

I learned a lot from watching the Mask You Live In. However, a few things really stuck with me. Over 90% of gunmen involved in mass shootings are men. I also learned that only 30% of men with mental health disorders will seek help. An alarming amount of internet porn contains sexual abuse and fetishizes rape. On top of that, men watch an average of 2 hours of internet porn per WEEK. I will use this information in the future if I ever have sons. But also I’ll utilize this information now to encourage my younger brothers to have a healthy image of masculinity. I want them to know that being a man doesn’t mean being tough and never crying. I hope they’ll grow into intelligent, feeling, sensitive men. Rather than becoming another cog in the hyper-masculine machine.

For me, the most unforgettable part of the Mask You Live In was the inmates discussing the ways masculinity was presented to them at a young age and how that carried over in their adult lives and the crimes they committed. Throughout their childhoods, all the men said that they were told real men didn’t show emotion and if they did show emotion, it was anger. They were also taught that men asserted their dominance and solved issues with violence. This image of masculinity lead them to commit homicide and other serious felonies. After being in a workshop where they deconstructed masculinity, the men said they felt more whole as a person and felt more comfortable with their emotions. This will always stick with me because it shows how destructive and harmful hyper-masculinity can be.

I think it’s extremely important we start opening up lines of conversation about masculinity. And obviously, the people who need to hear it most are the men. I think we should begin to organize workshops with local middle school, high school, and college level sports teams where we encourage conversations about deconstructing masculinity. Sports players are most likely to hear, ‘you’re doing this or that… like a girl,” or, “MAN UP.” They’re more susceptible to have a skewed vision of what it means to be a man. Therefore, we should work to promote a healthy image of masculinity for young men before they become adult men with a very definite image of masculinity already engrained in their heads.