The Mask You Live In

     Well, I guess I had to do a ranty post at some point.

     This past week, we watched Miss Representation in class and discussed the media's portrayal of women in America. The film's sequel, which I recommend everyone watch (it's on Netflix), is called The Mask You Live In, and is essentially the male equivalent to its prequel. The Mask discusses the ways American men are taught an unhealthy definition of masculinity and the ultimate effects this has on society at large. DISCLAIMER: I don't intend to use this post to undermine the problems presented in Miss Representation. These are legitimate problems facing women that we absolutely need to solve. The reality is that media portrayal of men isn't too generous either, and tackling the problems of both men and women is the key to creating a less sexist, overall better society. 

Here's a trailer.

     

     One reason I preferred The Mask over Miss Representation is because it did a better job of discussing the root causes of society's views of gender. The ideal man is typically portrayed as tall, heroic, muscular, tough, and powerful, with "coolness" prioritized over displaying emotion. Why is that? Much of it comes from the desire of straight, cis-gendered men to impress/appeal to women. If we focus on the media, ads for male products often appeal to this desire. This does two things: first, it reinforces the idea that guys' main goal should be to get girls. This in turn reinforces the second effect, which is that men believe they can get women by being like the men pictured using the product: attractive, powerful, emotionless, etc. Masculinity then becomes associated with domination over women, which is obviously harmful to women, not to mention men who aren't attracted to women in the first place and can't fit that definition, 

     Media plays a huge role in defining this view of masculinity, but men's upbringing ultimately defines how they accept or reject this definition. The Mask included a great segment of interviews with a focus group made up of male prisoners recounting the childhood influences that led them to commit their crimes. Almost all of them had abusive, absentee, or single parents. The guys had a common feeling of anger from their lack of guidance from parents, who defined the men's views of masculinity by seldom praising them. This contributed to the men's desire to seek satisfaction in ways that landed them in prison. Think of what a lot of parents would say to a young boy who plays with dolls instead of superheroes; most would say that dolls are "girl things" and superheroes are "boy things." How is a boy supposed to be healthy when he is insistently told a rigid definition of masculinity that he inevitably can't entirely fit? He can't. What we often get instead is a culture of hypermasculinity that encourages guys to be aggressive and, in the prisoners' case, commit crimes. 

     The Mask, like Miss Representation, shares some shocking statistics about the effects of society's narrow definition of masculinity, the most troubling being those concerning mental health. On paper, women are statistically more likely to become depressed or develop eating disorders. However, as The Mask points out, an estimated 50% of men with mental illnesses never seek treatment. When the definition of masculinity emphasizes concealing emotions and being independent, untreated mental illness becomes a huge problem. Look at eating disorders as an example: people typically see eating disorders as a feminine problem, but it's estimated that 25% of people with eating disorders are men. Yet only 10% of those in treatment for eating disorders are men, meaning "masculinity" has come to mean hiding faults beyond reason.

      As we discussed today, strict gender definitions harm both men and women. Just look at the comment section under The Mask trailer. Hundreds of commentors complain that The Mask is making boys "pussies" or causing the "feminization of America." So, being feminine is bad? Having compassion makes you more feminine, which makes compassion bad? The message this sends is simply that being a woman is bad. Media outlets like the magazine above perpetuate the ideal of traditionally masculine traits in men, suggesting that diverging from this ideal makes a man more female and thus worse. Glorifying hypermasculinity then not only harms men, but perpetuates sexism against women as well.

     The Mask is a great film that I highly recommend. I could easily talk about much more on this topic, so feel free to bring the discussion to the comments!
What it meant to be a man in 2015.