Aleah Murji
The societal pressure forced upon men from a young age to follow societal norms and traditions has led them to constantly search for acceptance and validation. This includes stereotypical acts like dominance and violence. Men feel as though they need to act out in certain ways to be heard, whether it be by being sexist, racist, homophobic or even just violent in order to regain dominance over others. These ideas were explored at length in the text Masculinity as Homophobia by Micheal S. Kimmel, the documentary Charlottesville: Race and Terror by Vice and Inside Incel by The Fifth Estate. These authors do so with the use of imagery, current events and real-life situations.
Kimmel gives us the example of the image of a chauffeur to describe how men feel in society. Telling us that it may seem as though the chauffeur is in power, but in fact he is taking orders from others and is completely powerless. In consequence of feeling powerless, men tend to want to act out. An example seen in the documentary Charlottesville: Race and Terror was the incident at the protest where the car ran over innocent people. According to Christopher Cantwell, a white supremacist, the driver supposedly had no choice but to hit the gas to get away from the protestors. Since society has brainwashed him to having to follow the norms, to be seen as a real man, the driver felt as though he needed to be violent in order regain dominance over these people.
The feeling of powerlessness, that comes from the idea that men always have to be in power, pushes them to support groups and leaders like Nazis, The KKK and the MAGA movement lead by Donald Trump; these highly negative influencers and organizations make them feel like they can regain their lost power. They give them the validation that what they’re doing isn’t wrong because other people have the same views and values as them. Their values being: racism, authoritarianism, violence, antisemitism and homophobia. For example, the main reasons that the KKK were fueled to act the way they did was the desire to have control over others and the fear of losing their power to minority groups. Men who felt this way were mostly accepted into this cult. They think this way because at a very young age they were probably told many times that real men are dominant and aggressive. One of the many things that they did to assert dominance was by being violent and intimidating minority groups through acts of terror like lynching, arson, bombings, and physical assaults. This ensured that they would have power over others by inciting fear and using violence. David Duke, former grand wizard in the KKK, tells us in the documentary Charlottesvile: Race and Terror that they are trying to ethnically cleanse America from minorities, who are seen as a threat to their existence. But, the reality is that these white supremacist men fear losing their power in society. Another example of a man acting out due to feeling powerless would be, Alex Minassian from the Inside Incel documentary by The Fifth Estate. Minassian’s classmate from high school told us that he was bullied and picked on due to the fact that he was very different from the other students. As a result, he felt very vulnerable and unempowered during these times. Through the pressure put on by his classmates to follow the societal norms that men need to act a certain way and not be vulnerable, Alex was pushed to prove his masculinity by being violent towards others, whereby fitting the male stereotype. After the van incident, where Alex drove a rental van down a sidewalk in Toronto killing 10 people and injuring 16, he was able to be empowered and no longer be the victim by becoming the bully himself. In addition, he finally received the validation from other men that he never got as a child, after a song that was published by a young artist making reference to the van attack and promoting aggressive behavior and provocative language. Unfortunately, after the release of this song, many young men who felt the same way as he did got inspired to act out as well.
In efforts to prevent the next generation of men to act this way, we need to teach them from a young age that these societal standards are outdated and inappropriate. They need role models who demonstrate positive masculinity that allow them to be themselves without feeling ashamed. This is something that Will James emphasizes a lot during his talk on Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom. He teaches us how we can help young boys and future generations to get rid of the male societal norms and be more comfortable expressing themselves in a way that won’t hurt others, while fulfilling their potentials. Will James tells us about his experiment where we went to schools and asked young boys what they wanted to be. They all responded with jobs that are perceived as “masculine” and manly like being a cop instead of a nurse, which is seen as a feminine job. This proves to us that, to this day, masculine stereotypes are still very much forced on young boys. In order to help society get out of this endless cycle, educators can encourage young boys to critically examine if these societal norms are still desirable to succeed in life. Sooner or later, they will realize that the values behind these behaviors are harmful and simply wrong. Hopefully, the new generation of men will decide to change and spread awareness within society, thereby leading to a less violent, sexist, racist and homophobic world, while perpetuating new positive male norms.
In summary, society has put so much pressure on men at such a young age that the ones that weren’t able to look past these are now acting like the stereotypes of being sexist, homophobic, needing to be dominant and violent. To avoid passing these undesirable traits onto their male offsprings, there needs to be open dialogues within families and schools that challenge the current stereotypes that have been perpetuated from generation to generation. Also, role models and influencers can promote positive masculine and non-aggressive behaviors through social media to shape new societal norms that will transform our youth to experience much brighter and fulfilling lives.
Kimmel, Michael. Masculinity as Homophobia. 1994.
Charlottesville: Race and Terror. YouTube, Vice News, 14 Aug. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P54sP0Nlngg&t=5s. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022.
Inside Incel, CBC, The Fifth Estate, 27 Jan. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqWjCHPg9gA. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
James, Will, Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, Vanier College, March 5, 2024
HBO Video
Fight Clubs/Night Clubs 
Your introduction sets up the topic well, but the thesis statement could be more explicit. Clearly state your main argument at the end of the introduction. You’ve made strong connections between the sources and the concept of toxic masculinity but ensure that each paragraph has a clear main idea that ties back to your thesis. When discussing examples from the documentaries, be sure to explicitly link them back to Kimmel’s concept of masculinity as homophobia and James’ insights on toxic masculinity.
You demonstrate a good level of critical thinking by analyzing the motivations behind the actions of men in the documentaries. Your analysis of the Charlottesville documentary and the Incel movement is insightful, showing a deep understanding of how societal pressures can lead to toxic
The overall structure of your blog post is clear, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through your argument. Consider reorganizing some paragraphs to flow more logically from one point to the next, maintaining a clear progression of ideas.
Your writing is generally clear with few grammatical errors. Proofread to catch minor typos and ensure proper sentence structure. Pay attention to the use of commas and semicolons to avoid run-on sentences or comma splices.
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