Toxic Masculinity In Jamie Lake's I Got You

For men, when we think of gender performance, we think of the concept of toxic masculinity or men who are hyper aggressive, non-emotional, hypersexual, and violent. In Jamie Lake’s I Got You, only one character possesses all these traits and its Steve, the gay basher. Although in the beginning Benjamin portrayed some of these characteristics, he changed and grew throughout the story. Jake, on the other hand was not your definition of a stereotypical man.
In society, everything a woman does is put under the radar, the way she dresses, what she eats, the way she speaks, and even something so private as her sex life. In the dialogue from A Gay Man and a Straight Women, they state “I just think that women's eating habits fall under the general category of "things the public feels comfortable commenting on," like women's clothes, bodies, and faces. They would almost never do so for a man—not because they're shy, but because they don't care. (Straight girl …show more content…
Jake decided that he needs to help himself because he knows the views of those in his town will never change. So he goes to Benjamin, his stepbrother with boxing class, for help. At first Benjamin sees Jake just as someone trying to get help, but became to see something different in Jake, which inspired Benjamin to help him. Benjamin teaches Jake boxing in order to fight off his abuser and also saves him twice for doing something stupid. Once from getting involved in a bar brawl and telling him that he had been watching him for a while. Some may see this as creepy, but other may see it as sweet. Seeing it as if Benjamin is the hero, i.e. the prince and Jake is the damsel in distress. For me, the Jake and Benjamin story have a little more to their story making it different from most love stories. While Jake went to Benjamin in need of help, instead of Benjamin just always trying to save Jake. He taught Jake to help and stand up for