Masculinity is typically defined as characteristics that men or boys have. Within different cultures, those characteristics vary greatly. After researching masculinity, very interesting trends and differences became apparent between different cultures.
Before I researched masculinity, I thought it was staying the same over time. However, it actually has changed a lot. I also found that masculinity varies largely from culture to culture. That said, throughout my research I discovered that masculinity varies from person to person. Many people have different definitions of masculinity. Each person has different and unique views. Although this diversity is very interesting and positive, there is also a negative side to masculinity.
Throughout my life I have encountered and experienced the effects of healthy and unhealthy masculinities. Toxic masculinity impacts everyone around it, not just women, not just people in the LGBT community, and not just men. Masculinity, just like femininity or any other label that people use to define themselves, relates to everyone. One thing I realized through researching this topic is that there are certain trends associated with “becoming” a man, certain “trials” that achieve one’s manhood, and this was a trend across cultures.
Media sources are some of the main conductors of ideologies and stereotypes. One of the mediums that I found inspired character and trends in masculinities the most were movies and tv shows. Social media also had a great deal of influence on the younger population, setting trends and expectations with no limits. Additionally, familial relationships and settings have a large impact on how men and women perceive masculinity.
One move in particular I feel has powerful themes of masculinity and what it is/should be is Beauty and the Beast. In Beauty and the Beast the development of the beast throughout the movie is important to analyze. It’s the same with Gaston. Thinking about what made Gaston the way he is, so traditionally masculine, it had to have been how he was raised and who he was raised around. His big ego and over confident personality affected others in so many negative ways. It affected Belle, other people in the town, and he ended up trying to hurt The Beast because he couldn’t accept Belle’s rejection.
Gaston tried getting rid of what he thought to be a monster, when he was the true monster inside. If Gaston was influenced differently in his youth, could this be different?
Just like in reality, humans are raised and ideologies are planted in them by family and friends and their surroundings.
Movies that have really good themes involving positive masculinity are ghibli movies.
Throughout researching masculinity, there were very clear positive ideologies of what masculinity should be: kind, positive, vulnerable, and accepting. These ideas are conveyed in social media and in movies. However, I came to the realization that these values, and assigning values in general, inherently causes a negative outcome. An expectation of traditionally masculine men is to be physically fit, strong, and athletic. However, women can be those things too.
Being more accepting of others is a way masculinity has changed. Men, especially younger men, are more and more accepting of others and their gay peers. Although this is a positive value to enforce, it should not be a masculine trait, or a feminine trait. It should be a human trait.
To erase toxic masculinity, we must first learn to see past and forget those words. Instead of seeing someone as masculine or feminine, we should see them as human, because we have our humanity before our masculinity or femininity. Encouraging others to be more masculine restrains the soul, but encouraging others to be more human is what one should work toward.
Although I put a lot of time into researching masculinity, I would never be able to truly grasp what it is. I could never truly find the answers to how humans should be, because there is no exact value for that. Everyone’s definition for what masculinity should be is different and constantly being influenced and changing even if we don’t know it. If you could answer a couple questions in this open ended poll for my senior action I would greatly appreciate it, it will be completely anonymous!
