The Mask You Live In Analysis

The Mask You Live In is a documentary about the way that society raises boys incorrectly and the consequences that come with it. It starts with the way society views masculinity. As a society, we are very hyper-feminine and hyper-masculine. We tell boys that to be a”real man” they must be aggressive, violent, and tough. This leaves boys from a very young age without a way to express themselves emotionally. All children, no matter their gender, start as a blank slate. but from the start society treats them differently. They are dressed different, they get different toys, their rooms are painted different colors are physical examples, but the way we treat little boys are girls are very different as well. We call little girls princesses and little

boys little man. Even in preschool children begin to only associate with their gender. A study on a group of four-year-olds showed a hierarchy already emerging among the boys with rules and consequences, the biggest one being do not be friends with girls or else we will kick you out of the boy club. This grows as they get older. The final hierarchy normally has tough guys on the top and girls and more feminine boys on the bottom. Also, part of the tough act society views in a man is that when times are tough he goes at it alone. This leaves a lot of teenaged boys without peers to discuss their problems with even though many of them had very strong friendships at age 11 and 12. These expectations will cause problems for boys throughout their formative years while they try and understand what it means to be a man.
The main way boys are influenced to do this is through the media.

The biggest culprits are video games, movies and television, rap music and rappers, and porn. 31% of men and boys claim to be addicted to video games. The more addictive video games are the more violent ones. Boys can come to idolize their video game characters who are normally aggressive, violent and can not express themselves in a healthy manner. A study by the surgeon general shows that violent video games will make boys more aggressive and less sympathetic to other people's pain. Violence in movies will also do that, but more importantly, the movies only portrait three stereotypes as “real men”. First is the silent but deadly. He is aggressive, violent and does not express any emotions; he is a James Bond type character. Secondly, there is the superhero. He is also aggressive and violent, but he possess some skill to make him more violent and better than other men. Lastly is the man-child. He is not aggressive or violent, but he proves his masculinity through doing stupid things like partying, excessive drinking, drugs and the objectification of women. Though most music does not spread great messages for young children, the rap industry is currently the worst and the most influential on boys. It associates being a real man with fame, power, money, excessive drinking, drugs and having sex with lots of women. Finally, porn is a huge contributor to the masculine identity currently being forced on boys,

because it is so easily accessible. 34% of children are exposed to pornographic material unintentionally. They will click on the wrong website or on an innocent looking ad. A shocking amount of young men watch it intentionally, though; 68% of young men watch it weekly and 21% of young men watch it daily. When the first sexual experience these boys have is through porn it teaches them wrong ideas of women and their sexuality and increases their sexual aggression by 21%. These images of men the media is projecting is leading to massive consequences.
The main consequences that come with the current masculine identity are our rape culture, violence, drinking and drugs, depression, and suicide. The objectification of women as a being only as a way for men to brag to each other learned from movies, rap and porn have young men to believe that those ideas are okay. As a result, 1 in 5 women are raped in college, every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten, and it teaches boys not to view women as humans but as things. The violent images also tell boys that to be a “real man” they need to be aggressive and violent. As a result, 90% of homicides are committed by men and 50% of those men are under the age of 25. Drinking and Drugs are another result of our culture. Alcohol is a window for boys to be able to express themselves while still being considered a boy and it can help them deal with the loneliness that society enforces on boys. As a result, by the age of 12 34% of boys have consumed alcohol in one form or another and the average age a boy will try drugs is 13. The loneliness also leads many boys to become depressed. Unlike girls, at first, boys will not demonstrate the traditional depression symptoms. Instead, they will begin to act out and misbehave; this is often misinterpreted by people as simply a bad kid when it is a plea for help. For some boys, the pressure is just too much. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for boys and boys ages 15-19 are five times more likely to commit suicide than girls their age.
This can be fixed, though.

It will take a large effort for many different people. Mothers need to stay in touch with their sons because boys with a healthy relationship with their mothers are less likely to be involved with crime. Secondly, fathers need to be good role models for their sons and embrace their emotions and not try and squash them. After media, a boy's second biggest influence on what he perceives a man to be is his father or a father figure in his life. On a similar note, coaches need to realize they are the father figure to these boys and they need to enforce not only athleticism but good values like teamwork and friendship. Without good coaches, sports can not grow one's character. Finally, us as a society need to put a media with more realistic people, both men, and women. This can teach our young children how the world really is and try and push some good messages through

technology.