Men need to be strong, both psysically and emotionally. Otherwise men are seen as weak. It is a narrative that is very present in the media, whether that is in a movie or in advertisement. Andrew Tate is an example taking this to the extreme. It is harmful cause the whole world suffers from the consequencesof men not being allowed to be vulnarable. Oppression of women (and other non-males) and even femicide are problems that stem from toxic masulinity in my opinion. Very visible and known already is how the representation of women and stereotypes are impacting women. The body positivity movement, amongst other things, has done a lot for women (as it should), but men and their well-being get overlooked.

Men Need To Be Strong

Anna-Raven Bloten

In a previous project I asked on instagram what stereotypes people could come up with regarding men and masculinity.
A lot came with 'men don't cry' and men don't talk about emotions.

In this issue there is an artikel about young boys trying to live up to a certain body standard
AND
an artikel about femicide, which is an interesting combination

presentation of men in movies...

bodybuilding-magazine covers

Some archival material of men next to women and the men always being depicted higher, coincidence?
Not very relevant though.

Joeroen van den Bogaert makes work based on archival images on boys

...and in advertisement

Toxic masculinity in movies examples:
https://whatnerd.com/examples-of-toxic-masculinity-in-movies/
https://www.bustle.com/p/29-toxic-male-movie-protagonists-who-are-seriously-the-worst-2812035

Counter narratives
https://collider.com/honest-empathetic-movies-about-the-pressures-of-masculinity/
Movies: Kinky Boots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFlUXmaZMbc

Film essay:

After decades of emancipation, a lot has changed for women in the Western. For men the standards are basically the same as 100 years ago. Men need to be strong, both physically and mentally; not showing emotion, not talking about it and definetely not crying. Things are moving two ways, on the one hand there is more awareness of the mental health of men, but on the other hand conservative view points are rising again. Think of Andrew Tate with the alpha male concept. The dominant narrative of men needing to be strong has been, and still is, very visible in popular culture, like film and advertising. It sustain the image of how a man should be, behave and look, this is often quiet toxic.

In my opinion femicide, other violent crimes and oppression of other genders than male, in general all root in toxic masculinity. This means, being a woman, toxic masculinity is something that could turn out dangerous for me. It makes it not only a problem for men, but for society as a whole to solve. When I am on the streets at night and I don't feel safe, I can feel a certain anger towards men. I feel myself blaming men for everything. That is in itself, not the most advantageous. I think the only way out of this is: understanding that everybody suffers from toxic views on masculinity. It is the wanting to dig deeper and asking why. It is looking at the matter with compasion, moving towards the middle instead of blaming each other.

Men are, and have been considered, the median and women the deviation. Similar to being white is the median and being straight is the median. Being a white woman means I will never deal with certain things people of colour deal with, but it doesn't mean I don't have struggles. They are just not related to being white, but to being human. Being a woman means I will deal with certain things men will not have to deal with. But I strongly believe that being a man will come with negative elements that are linked to being a man, just like negative elements that come with being a woman. Maybe in the end these are all things that come with being human, but it is important to not overlook the negative elements men deal with in order to have a healthy society.

THINGS TO LOOK INTO
-In Vietnam there is much more feminism, according to Josefien
-Oude boekjes die vertellen hoe je een goede man bent. (Zijn deze er?)
-how toxic masculinity is harmful to all
-how masculinity has changed for men
-talk to sem about changing society