Masculinity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Men are told many things as they mature their way through life. “Be a man,” “suck it up,” and “don’t cry” are only a few ego-damaging phrases children and men have to hear in their lives. The world writes this off as normal rather than damaging. Today’s society acts much like Nurse Ratched in Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The nurse uses emasculating terms and tactics throughout the book to rip away the men’s manliness and freedom to be who they truly are. When the nurse had found out Billy had done something she did not approve of, she manipulates him into thinking bad of what he was proud of just minutes before, "What worries me, Billy," she said—I could hear the change in her voice—"is how your poor mother is going to take this." She got the response she was after. Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheek like he'd been burned with acid,”(Kesey). Men and

Boys are molded and told from a young age what it means to be a man. Hypermasculinity is expressed to boys in many ways, telling them it is not okay to like anything associated with girls. When readers of an article were asked to answer a few simple questions like “What are boys favorite colors?” and “What toys do boys play with?”. Similar questions about girls were asked and the readers picked the obvious answers for each question. Boys like the colors blue and red and only play with trucks and action figures, while girls play with cute dolls and play dress up with mommy’s makeup. The author of this article and Clinical Psychologist, Doctor Damon Ashworth says, “Most children do not fit into these categories naturally, but are instead socialized into these roles as they grow and are encouraged to do so based on