According to psychologist Michael G. Thomas, the sexes have much more in common than not. After giving the same psychological test to both males and females, of all ages, Thomas found that the results indicated a bell-shaped curve with 90% of the responses overlapping. This suggest that the differences among males and females only make up 10% of human psychology. Although this concept is highly contradicted with the social standards that come from gender roles, which often reject any similarity with each other or cause domination over the other. For example, masculinity in male culture is centered around refusing femininity and elevating themselves above those who are feminine. The documentary The Mask You Live In main focus is to bring
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The use of “normal males” negate the main argument throughout the film which is to encourage a culture change that releases males from the harmful and idealistic mask of masculinity. A culture that bombards males with messages of physical aggression and the absence of emotion puts our boys into gender boxes just as girls are forced into gender boxes of submission and inferiority. At a young age our children submit to these gender boxes when our girls are given skinny, perfect Barbies and our boys are given muscular, violent G.I. Joes. As they become older, media surrounds them with stronger social pressures and boundaries resulting in harmful behaviors. Hoff-Sommer’s idea that the positive aspects of masculinity only apply to “normal males” and denying that both, masculinity and normal, are constructs only pushes the creators of the film from its goal of creating a healthier self image for all males. As depicted in the film, this harsh standard for hypermasculinity in adolescent boys causes a variety of problems later in their life, including an inflated rate for male suicide and greater risk of addiction. Studies show that 80% of suicides are among 10-24 year old males in 2013. A vast majority of these death resulting from mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, with symptoms that are ignored or gone undetected because of male
The use of “normal males” negate the main argument throughout the film which is to encourage a culture change that releases males from the harmful and idealistic mask of masculinity. A culture that bombards males with messages of physical aggression and the absence of emotion puts our boys into gender boxes just as girls are forced into gender boxes of submission and inferiority. At a young age our children submit to these gender boxes when our girls are given skinny, perfect Barbies and our boys are given muscular, violent G.I. Joes. As they become older, media surrounds them with stronger social pressures and boundaries resulting in harmful behaviors. Hoff-Sommer’s idea that the positive aspects of masculinity only apply to “normal males” and denying that both, masculinity and normal, are constructs only pushes the creators of the film from its goal of creating a healthier self image for all males. As depicted in the film, this harsh standard for hypermasculinity in adolescent boys causes a variety of problems later in their life, including an inflated rate for male suicide and greater risk of addiction. Studies show that 80% of suicides are among 10-24 year old males in 2013. A vast majority of these death resulting from mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, with symptoms that are ignored or gone undetected because of male