By the time a boy is five years old, he’s pretty much taught it’s not okay to cry in public” is one of the many quotes from The Mask You Live In which is a timely and topical documentary about hyper masculinity, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The documentary explores how socially constructed gender norms and the way society defines ‘boy’ and ‘man’ can be destructive. America’s young boys are taught to be a particular way from the cradle, and by teaching boys they have to hold in high regard those characteristics which will make them ‘masculine’ and ‘strong’, society is rendering young men emotionally stifled.
