The Mask You Live In – Trailer
The Hook Up Culture, Hypermasculinity, and the Call for Redefinition
The Mask You Live In is a documentary that explores American Masculinity. This documentary addresses how society shapes the concept of masculinity and stresses the need for boys to “man up”. This concept of masculinity gives boys the idea that they are unable to express emotion unless it is anger or indifference. The documentary introduces the idea that men put on a mask to fit in with masculine culture and those around them but often forget to take this mask off or have difficulty doing so.
This documentary also addresses the concept of hookup culture and how it is predominantly an issue regarding masculinity. In modern society masculinity is often measured among younger males, specifically those in their twenties, by how many casual sexual encounters one has with various women. Men are praised and encouraged to have impersonal hookups while women are shamed for doing so. The problem becomes that men are caught in-between this double ended sword when it comes to women. Men who are indifferent and forward towards women are considered masculine but are also viewed as disrespectful in the eyes of women yet those who talk about their feelings and emotions are viewed as weak and unattractive to women. Men are constantly receiving contradicting demands in terms of how they should act/ portray themselves which is why masculine culture is considered to be harmful.
Katey Padden
brocodeamst140 