How many of you out there have either heard these words or said them to others? I’m willing to bet most males out there has heard it at some point and many women have told the males in their lives these words. It’s part of the social narrative, these constructs of what gender is and how someone should and should not act. Men are strong, men don’t cry, men are athletic, men demand respect, men settle their differences physically and most importantly men don’t show weakness.
Of course, this is all tripe. These social constructs are ultimately just that, constructs. And like anything constructed, it can be deconstructed. When these things are deconstructed, the seem silly and pointless. However, pointless as they may be they are still exceptionally harmful.
And of course that’s where Be A Man comes in. These three words are the epitome of how patriarchy harms everyone. These three words are toxic. These three words have done so much harm to so many men that I am ill equipped to describe exactly how. Fortunately for both me and you the good people at The Representation Project are. They are currently creating a film tackling this very issue. I urge everyone to watch the trailer for this upcoming film: The Mask You Live In.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
2 comments
March 22, 2014 at 10:24 pm
House Mouse Queen
Hi DWR,
I watched the preview when it came out a while ago and I loved it. Of course the MRA’s hated it, even though it’s EXACTLY one of things they supposedly hate, which is the term ‘man up.’
The illogical MRA’s claim that because this film was made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a feminist, it renders the work totally meaningless to them. These are the same guys who want us to take their message seriously when they’re more concerned about ‘fighting feminism’ than they are about helping men and boys.
Recently they’ve decided to attack the social sciences because they think if they attack that they’ll get to those nasty feminists. It’s all a vain attempt at blaming everything on women.
I can’t wait to see the full film. When is it coming out?
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March 23, 2014 at 12:15 am
bleatmop
Hi House Mouse Queen and thank you for taking the time to post a comment. I am somewhat unsurprised that the MRA’s hate this film or anything else that is created by someone calling themselves a feminist. It seems to me that their entire existence is defined by taking the contrary opinion of what feminism is. Thus I think that if someone such as Jessica Valenti said that the sky is blue they would be quick to argue the point.
I did not know that this film is being made by Jennifer Siebel but I hope it comes out as well as it looks in their preview. As far as the release date goes, the only information I have to go on is that which is listed on their website which says it will be this year. I’m hoping to see it soon though :)
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