It's the end of fall semester, my grades are in. This normally means that I need to start reading again. What happened to my daily reading? I got caught up in all the other things I needed to do like battle traffic, go observe lessons, grade papers, sleep. So this is my day to start it up again and I just spent an hour and a half watching this. It was time well spent.
Source:
Siebel Newsom, J. (Producer, Director). (2015). The mask you live in [Motion picture]. United States: The Representation Project.
What is Sacred:
This documentary is currently streaming on Netflix. This documentary follows young men and boys as they struggle to navigate the hyper masculinity that is American society. It talks about how to raise a "healthier" generation of young men. The consequences of not doing so will continue to create a society where we outlive our children.
Connections to Current/Future Work:
I definitely want to use this as one of my film study pieces for my introduction to middle/secondary education. Perhaps pair this with Kumu Hina as a way to start dialogue in the block 1 practicum. We will see because I do not run that practicum.
The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.
Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become “real” men.
Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it.
The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.
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