This
is a link to another documentary coming out soon on the topic of masculinity
studies by Jennifer Siebel (who had recently completed another documentary on
women called Miss Representation). It even features Michael Kimmel, a
researcher on masculinity studies and who has been mentioned already. In the
article, Kimmel suggests that young men are plagued with anxiety, as American
society constantly calls on them to prove their masculinity over and over. It
again features Jackson Katz, and talks about the perceived crisis in
masculinity, with boys allegedly 30% more like to fail or drop out of school
than girls.(Mustich, 2013) It also talks about the pressures they face in
trying to conform to masculine conceptions, with alcohol consumption rates for
young men being startlingly high. This piece is an example of the effects that
the current face of extreme masculinity is having upon its practitioners,
those who have really internalized these toxic traits associated with this
modern hyper-masculinity. The following quote from the article apply sums
of the state of affairs in contemporary North American masculinity:
"We've constructed
an idea of masculinity in the United States that doesn't give young boys a way
to feel secure in their masculinity, so we make them go prove it all the time,"
sociologist Dr. Michael Kimmel explains. Psychologist Dr. Michael Thompson
adds: "We have to give boys permission to experience a wide range of
feelings. Masculinity is not never feeling scared; it's feeling scared, and
then to know you can also surmount it." (Mustich, 2013)
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