Blog 4: Endless Oppression of First Nation People

For centuries Europeans descendants have claimed North America as their territory, yet First Nation people have been on this continent for much longer. Many seem to forget or leave out the fact that European people colonised the land, eradicating rich Indigenous culture, leaving on remains. Today the descendants of  the First Nation people work endlessly to keep their culture intact and alive, but once again, they are at threat. Due to the differences in European and First Nation cultures, distaste can form causing an effect transcending generations. This is apparent with the similarities in Willeen Keoughs and Lara Campbells Gender and Cultural Diversity in the Early Contact Period and Tony Zosherafatains Trans in Trumpland:Idaho, which helps show that First Nation communities have always been again at risk. Glenn Gears journey and artistic works also help bring awareness to the issue. The issues First Nation communities face are apparent through the everlasting European views hurting First Nation Culture, the time-transcending negative views towards Two-Spirit people, as well as the eviden effort First Nation individuals show in order to keep their culture thriving.

Since the first encounter of European and First Nation cultures, they have always contradicted each other. Due to the different religions and faiths, both parties had different views. This is apparent in Gender and Cultural Diversity in the Early Contact Period when it writes, “The power exercised by Aboriginal women within their families was unfamiliar and disturbing to the French missionaries, who upheld a patriarchal religious and family system that rested on the God-Given authority of men” (Keough 16). It mentions that the French missionaries, tasked with spreading the Christian religion, found it disturbing when seeing the power women had in First Nation society. This is an obvious clash of matriarchal and patriarchal views, as European society was extremely patriarchal, the opposite of the First Nation communities, matriarchal society. As their views clash, the French missionaries will try to make the First Nation people adopt the European way of life, in an attempt to make it a patriarchal society. It is not just the past where aboriginal communities were oppressed, but also the present. In the film, Trans in Trumpland:Idaho, a reporter states, “The Trump administration wants to legally define transgender out of existence” (Zosherafatains 00:01:09-13). Many may think that this is not connected to the oppression that First Nation individuals face, but this law pushes a Eurocentric view point. Two-spirit people are mentioned later in the film, these aboriginal people often identify as transgender, Trump pushing to get rid of their identity shows the cultural conflict once again. As Trump has Eurocentric viewpoints which conflict with aboriginal viewpoints, it shows a trend with that of the past. This shows the endless oppression that First Nation people face and the constant threat against their culture.

As mentioned before, Two-Spirit people face many challenges when facing Eurocentric views. Two-Spirit people are a core part of indigenous culture, exclusive in a sense as well. From community to community Two-Spirit people played different roles and were different. As mentioned here, “In some groups two-spirit individuals assume both masculine and feminine gender roles and wear a combination of masculine and feminine dress. In others male-bodied, masculine-gendered individuals performed masculine roles and wore masculine apparel. Two-spirit people might marry or have sexual relationships with people of either sex, although female-bodied two-spirits tended to marry other female-bodied individuals” (Keough 17). As you can imagine this was very different from European culture, as they had homophobic tndensies, as it laters states, “European observers referred to two-spirit individuals as berdaches –a derogatory term describing what they saw as unmanly softness and passive homosexuality among “pretty” Aboriginal men’” (Keough 17). European observers, with their Eurocentric views, looked down on Two-Spirit people, who represent their aboriginal culture. Considering the use of berdaches, a homophobic insult for them, it shows to what extent Europeans disliked First Nation people. Similarly in our day and age, the dislike hasn’t left. In 2017 Donald Trump banned transgender people from beingin the United States military, “​​President Trump made the announcement via Twitterm and justified the decision by saying the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail” (Zosherafatains 00:07:10-20). Yet these costs are just a fraction of 1% of the military healthcare cost as stated later (Zosherafatains). Donald Trump, the serving president of the United States at the time, is passing laws with Eurocentric views which are harming transgender/Two-Spirit people. As Two-Spirit people are important to indigenous culture, it shows the discrimination towards First Nation communities in present time. The hate and discrimination Two-Spirit people face has been never ending, past to present.

With all the trouble these people have faced, yet they have still prevailed, this is due to the endless fight aboriginal people are putting up to keep their culture alive. Take Glenn Gear for example. Gear is a first nation artist who specialises in aboriginal art projects. Glenn Gear represents his arts in many different showcases across Canada, in a sense spreading his culture. Even doing many presentations in front of large student bodies spreading his culture as well as bringing awareness (Gear). Glenn likes to display art which represents endangered animals, more specifically on seal skin, whereas seals are often seen as endangered animals (Gear). By displahing his art on endangered animals, he is connecting the animals towards First Nation communities as they too are very limited and considered to some as endangered. His talks and showcases spread indigenous culture and bring light to their lives. He is actively working in order to keep his culture alive as they face many dangers in a Eurocentric world. Similar to Glenn Gear, the indigenous Two-Spirit Shane Ortega also works very hard to keep his culture alive. As demonstrated in the film, Shane Ortega does many cultural rituals as well as community gatherings in order to keep their culture alive and well (00:12:36-00:17:02). He is doing many community tasks in order to keep his culture alive and well, whether it is the ceremonies or the gatherings, he is doing all he can in order to bring awareness and keep his ancestors culture live. Shane Ortega is a perfect example of a First Nation descendant who is determined to keep his culture alive.

First Nation people have faced challenges from European culture time and time again, yet through resilience they stand strong. From cultural differences causing rift, to Two-Spirit raising questions, they work endlessly to keep their culture alive. From the past to the present, society must learn to be more accepting of differences in the future.

Works Cited

Glenn Gear, presenter. 29 Apr. 2024, Montreal, Vanier College.

Keough, Willeen G. and Lara Campbell “Gender and Cultural Diversity in the Early Contact Period.” Gender History: Canadian Perspectives, Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 16–28

Zosherafatain, Tony. “Trans in Trumpland: Idaho.” Kanopy, The Film Sales Company,

http://www.kanopy.com/en/vaniercollege/video/11561418. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.

Blog 3: Racism in North America

The black community, more specifically black men have struggled for many centuries when it comes to racism. In North America especially, there are more and more conversations regarding racism, with many saying that it has died down and that there is much less of it, Jordan Peele and Desmond Cole’s stories say otherwise. The movie Get Out produced by Jordan Peele from 2017, as well as Desmond Cole’s novel The Skin We’re In from 2020 grasp on many concepts, concepts which surround that of racism towards black men in the United States and Canada. These concepts are issues with law enforcement, casual racism or micro-aggressions as well as the ever so large white privilege.

First of all, law enforcement exists to enforce the law, yet they are far from just. Especially with the recent event and uprising concerning the death of George Floyd, a black man who was unjustly killed after a white officer refused to get off his neck during an arrest. Demonstrated by both authors, they both seem fed up with police officers. The example of this in Get Out is when a police officer asked Chris Washington, the protagonist of this film, as well as a young black man, for his drivers license even when it was his girlfriend who was driving whilst the accident took place (Peele). This can be seen in the video clip below. What Jordan Peele is trying to push is the fact that the law enforcement in the film is unjust toward black men. Considering that there was no probable cause or suspicion towards Chris, the police officers attempt to identify him appears to be based on prejudice. To is abuse of power by law enforcement and a perfect example of unjust treatment to black men in the United States, as this movie is based in the US. As if in routine, this is very similar to how black men are treated in Canada. As said by Desmond Cole in his novel, “Over the course of the next few years I would be stopped or followed dozens of times by police in Kingston and Toronto” (Cole 16). This quote mirrors the experience in Get Out, a young black man is being treated unjustly. Desmond Cole tells his personal experience of being a black man living in Canada. Cole is trying to imply that just for being a black man, he has been followed and identified by law enforcement explicitly based on prejudice. This is unjust towards black men and a clear example of racism being disaplayed. Both Peele and Cole are trying to display the fact that black men in North American struggle with racism from those in a position of power, specifically law enforcement.

Yet it is not just law enforcement. It is also random people who can display racist characteristics towards people of colour. They can be displayed through casual racism or micro-aggressions. Peele chooses to demonstrate this element through the white old men who were present at the gathering taking place at his girlfriend’s parents house, which of course the audience did not know until later in the film was a gathering for the auction of Chris Washingtons physical body. This is of course a reference towards black slaves being auctioned to rich white men. The white folks at this gathering would give racist remarks toward Chris in many ways. Whether it was the stereotype of black men being good in bed, or saying that black was in fashion, or trying to connect with Chris by mentioning a popular black figure (Peele). This is displayed in the youtube video below. The constant remarks by the old white people at the gathering were often seen as a  “backhanded compliment” to Chris Washington. It would seem that they were admiring him, more explicitly admiring his shell. Only seeing what was on the outside and less who he was. Only one person had a remark for his skill in photography, that being a blind man who proceeded to buy his body in order to see again. The constant commenting on Chris’ physique (of course hints at the auction coming later in the day) but also the fact that they are saying this without explicitly realizing what they are saying is negative, as they all seem extremely positive about it. They only seem to be commenting on his physical ability, look, one even mentions that being black is in fashion. This is important as it hints to how slaves used to be treated, not what was in the mind, but what they were physically capable of. The ability for those in privilege not to realize what they are saying is harmful is often regarded as an attitude those in white privilege have. Peele is trying to demonstrate how often black men are displayed to casual racism and microaggresions, especially in the United States, pushing for the case of how racism is still very present to this day. This is also the case in Canada, use Desmond Cole’s novel as an example. As writen, “Someone asked for the “skin colored” pencil”(Cole 14), as well as “In time I realized white people just assumed black people in their city were related. Schoolmates would ask if I was the brother of the other two Black girls in my class–even though our families were from three different countries.”(Cole 15). Both of these incidents display microaggresions. Although none of them were explicitly said in order to display racist connotation, they can often be interpreted as that and be harmful to the victim. In the quote regarding how schoolmates would assume all black people were related, this connects with white people of privilege only seeing black people for what they look like. The dark skin caused people to automatically assume that they were related, even when there are so many more aspects which can display an actual family relation to someone else. Growing up with casual racism all around is a negative thing, Cole’s novel perfectly demonstrates this. Both Peele and Cole’s examples of this display how black men have to deal with racism all the time and how it is still very much present.

Lastly white privilege is one of the hardest things a black North American man must live with. The main issue of white privilege is displayed constantly in both the film and the novel. Considering that both Canada and the United States are both countries which exist due to white men and women taking over and appropriating that land, it is inevitable that white privilege is everywhere. Take Get Out for example, the people at the girlfriend’s parent’s house all display a humongous amount of wealth, and they are all white, with exception to a few (Peele). This of course is a hint to how white people tend to be in better financial successs compared to people of colour. Of course this is Jordan Peele trying to explain through his movie that white people tend to be at the top of the financial ladder in many cases, whether this is due to generational wealth or how life is much easier when they do not encounter racism during their journey to it. This of course is apparent in the United States, as common knowledge is that most wealth is controlled by extremely rich white men. I mentioned before that white people tend to face less obstacles than people of colour, this is also something that happens in Canada. In Desmond Cole’s novel, it tells the story of a black man who struggles with enforcement, mentioning that it is racially motivated. As written here, “When John applied for liquor licences for gallery events, the police found further excuses to harass him. Interestingly, John said white gallery owners who heard his story were surprised he even bothered to apply for liquor permits; they admited that they never did” (Cole 5). White people live in privilige, often unknowengly. This quote is trying to show that black people face many more obstacles than white people trying to do the excact same thing, this is racism. Peele demonstrates how white people are much more successful, and Cole shows how black often face obstacles on their way to be successful due to the obstacles they face whilst subjected to racism.

To conclude, racism towards people of colour, and black men is still very present in today’s society, whether it is the United States or Canada. Jordan Peele and Desmond Cole expertly demonstrate how law enforcement, micro-aggressions, casual racism and white privilege will always be obstacles towards black lives unless action is taken.

Works Cited:

Cole, Desmond. “‘negro frolicks (January).’” The Skin We’re In, Doubleday Canada, 2020, pp. 1–17

“Get Out: Casual racism HD CLIP.” Youtube, uploaded by Binge Society, 24 February 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCijS9vAWPw.

“Racist Cop Scene Get Out (2017)” Youtube, uploaded by Fear: The Home of Horror, 21 December 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2vNiY_AuPs.

Peele, Jordan, et al. Get Out. Universal Pictures, 2017.

Oral Blog Post: Giga Chad

Written by James Valerio

According to the Marian Webster online dictionary, in the context of the internet, a meme is “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media”. In the context outside the internet the definition of meme becomes, “an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture” (Marian Webster). Understanding both of these definitions is important as it helps us understand that meme’s have influence, with the ability to carry anyones ideas whilst spreading widely online through social media. 

Ernest Khalimov, popularized as Giga Chad, claims to be a model for SLEEK’N’TEARS, an “Art Family Project” by Krista Sudmalis, which bases their work on “the idea of ICONic Male Beauty”. Khalimov goes by @berlin.1969 on instagram, with his first post dating back to December 9th 2016. Yet all of this is still unconfirmed, with no evidence of his definite existence. Many speculate that Giga Chad is a combination of many models edited together in order to emphasize a more masculine physique. 

The many pictures of who Ernest Khalimov claims to be have spread around the internet for many years, showing longevity as they wish not to fade away with time, intensifying the mark on the male user base. 

According to Know Your Meme Giga Chad became extremely popular in 2021, with the meme format of Average Fan vs. Average Enjoyer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmiBxsXq4Zw

The physique of Giga Chad is often considered that of the peak male, at least according to the male population, in a study done by Date Psychology, out of 234 people, it was deemed that men found Giga Chad more attractive, as opposed to women who found him on average to be unattractive. Below is a density plot graph based on a 1 to 7 scale displaying the results, with pink being women and green being men. This brings relevance to the idea that men are the ones who enforce toxic masculinity as they seem to idolize Giga Chad more than the women.

To many online, Giga Chad embodies masculinity. A man with the perfect physical body, with many physiological attributes which seem to come with it. Giga Chad is often used to showcase the trait of not caring. In the meme format mentioned before, he was just a couple images. He is a photograph of a man with barely any emotion revealed on his face, carrying the idea that one should not react and show emotion. As mentioned by Will James in his talk, Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, one attributes of toxic masculinity mentioned is that of being too reserved. James brings attention to the fact that younger audiences are the easiest to influence. Considering the fact that children come across internet memes often with social media, they might absorb negative ideas at a very high rate. Giga Chad, is not necessarily negative, as his physique may have also inspired many to begin working on oneself physically, which leads to living a healthier life. Yet his physique is unobtainable, which in turn can create many insecurities affecting one’s mental health. It is a double edged sword.

To conclude, it must be understood that internet culture is unpredictable, anyone is able to attach an idea to an image and release it on social media. Giga Chad is merely an image of a really strong male model, edited or not, its purpose was to amaze people, not to propagate toxic masculinity and negative ideas. 

Work Cited:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme

https://opensea.io/collection/ggchd

​​https://www.facebook.com/sleekntears/

https://www.instagram.com/berlin.1969/?hl=en

Women don’t find Gigachad attractive

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gigachad

James, Will, Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, Vanier College, March 5, 2024

Blog 2: Toxic Masculinity in Online Communities

In recent years, people have started to gravitate towards online communities with the help of online accessibility, many of these communities can be seen as helpful, joyful and caring. Yet some can also be quite the opposite. As technology begins to progress, more and more people haved turned to online communities as technology has become more accessible and widespread by the day. Many of these communities possess negative ideologies, commonly seen as dangerous to certain people, and as children tend to be the most impressionable, it is very easy for them to indoctrinate them. One common ideology expressed in many of these communities is that of masculinity. More specifically toxic masculinity. Everyday young men fall into the trap of online communities propagating toxic masculinities. The documentaries Charlottesville: Race and Terror by Vice News and Inside Incel: Alek Minassian and Online Misogyny by The Fifth Estate both house many ideas and characteristics mentioned by Micheal Kimmel in his essay, Masculinity as Homophobia. Will James’ speech Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom is the connecting bridge between Micheal Kimmel’s viewpoints and the documentaries to the young children easily being influenced. Two important traits mentioned by Micheal Kimmel are putting others down, and wishing to be seen as more powerful.

Firstly, since the dawn of time, people have always yearned to be better than one another, whether it was kings wishing to be better than their neighbouring kingdoms or just a kid in the playgrounds. As Michael Kimmel’s explains this in his essay: 

“Why, then, do American men feel so powerless? Part of the answer is because we’ve constructed the rules of manhood so that only the tiniest fraction of men come to believe that they are the biggest of wheels, the sturdiest of oaks, the most virulent repudiators of femininity, the most daring and aggressive. We’ve managed to disempower the overwhelming majority of American men by other means such as discriminating on the basis of race, class, ethnicity, age, or sexual preference.” (Kimmel 150)

Many different interpretations can be derived from this quote, the most important one being that it is a cycle. People who believe to be better than others will disempower those around them with discrimination in order to feel better; this then causes those who have been disempowered to do the same, continuing the cycle. Kimmel wants his readers to understand that men who exert toxic masculinity will always yearn for more power, forever putting people down in order to make themselves feel more powerful. This is apparent in both documentaries. Take Robert Ray for example, a journalist for the Daily Stormer, in the Charlottesville: Race and Terror documentary by Vice News. While Chirstopher Cantwell, one of the Unite the Right rally leaders was being interviewed, Robert Ray, the white-supremacist exclaimed, “And this is because this city is run by Jewish communists and cirminal [n-words]”(Vice News, 00:06:54) to add context when Christopher was complaining about the injustices in their protesting. The vulgar use of the n-word as well as the saying that the city was run by Jewish communists easily displays what Michael Kimmel’s mentioned, that being toxic masculinity. Robert Ray was disempowering people with different viewpoints by calling them derogatory slurs, and discriminating against them on the basis of race. As the alr-right at the Unite the Right rally felt underpowered and overwhelmed, causing an early departure, and they wished to feel more powerful, turning to discrimination and slurs. Furthermore, the main concept of discrimination is also commonly found in the incel community. In the Inside Incel: Alek Minassian and Online Misogyny documentary by The Fifth Esate there are many instances where a man calls women derogatory terms. This act of vulgary is directly connected with what Michael Kimmel said. The incel community is commonly populated with men who have suffered with their ability to get a woman to like them back. This in turn causes them to feel less powerful than women, so they start putting other women down with derogatory terms. The documentary is filled with many instances of incels putting down other women, one example of this is a small clip. The middle-aged man says, “I wish you all were dead. You’re all just pieces of shit to me” (The Fifth Estate, 00:01:18). Much like Michael Kimmel wrote, men will put others down with derogatory terms and insults in order to feel better about themselves. But sometimes these insults can turn to acts of violence. In the talk Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom by Will James, the concept of children being easily influenced is brought up many times. Children and teenagers are often those who use the internet the most, in turn making it more probable for them to run into these online groups, whether it’s the alt-right or incel communities. These communities propagate toxic masculinity, which can easily be influenced onto young adults. These kids will pick up on the trait of being derogatory in order to feel better which is a danger for their self-esteem and may in turn restrict their path in life.

Secondly, much like the idea of wanting to feel better than someone else, people have always wished not to be seen as powerless. Michael Kimmel mentions many times that men in general hate to be seen as powerless, and they will always look for ways to prove this idea wrong. Mentioned by Kimmel here:

“The dimension of power is now reinserted into men’s experience not only as the product of individual experience but also as the product of relations with other men. In this sense, men’s experience of powerlessness is real–the men actually feel it and certainly act on it–but it is not true, that is, it does not accurately describe their condition. In contrast to women’s lives, men’s lives are structured around relationships of power and men’s differential access to power, as well as the differential access to that power of men as a group.” (Kimmel 150)

In many cases, the male population will feel powerless, this in turn will cause them to try their best to be seen as more powerful. Some go to the gym, others start gathering items which will make themselves be seen as a bigger threat and some gatter in large groups in order to create power in numbers. Take Christopher Cantwell for example, while being interviewed by Vice News and asked the question whether white people were capable of violence, he responded: “I didn’t say capable, of course we [white people] are capable. I’m carrying a pistol, I go to the gym all the time. I’m trying to make myself more capable of violence (00:03:43). This display of trying to be seen as more powerful is a trait explained by Michael Kimmel. Cantweel is trying his hardest in order to be seen as more powerful. This endless search for power and always thinking you aren’t enough is a negative attribute which young men can easily catch on too. This is again displayed really well by Cantwell when he shows off his entire arsenal of firearms to the Vice News reporter (Vice News, 00:19:22). Cantwell displays 6 weapons, 5 of them being firearms, an unessesarily high amount of weapons considering he is one person. He is someone who has the trait Kimmel has mentioned as he is always trying to be seen as more powerful, which in turn is making him get more and more firearms. Following the same trait, Elliot Rodger, mentioned in Inside Incel: Alek Minassian and Online Misogyny by The Fifth Estate, suffers from it too. Rodger had trouble with women, so much in fact he decided that he needed to kill them in order to feel better. In a video released before his killing spree, he says, “I will slaughter every single, spoiled, stuck up, blonde slut. You will finally see that I am in truth, the superior one. The true alpha male” (The Fifth Estate, 00:04:16). This quote displays the trait mentioned in the previous paragraph, that of using derogatory terms in order to elevate one’s feeling of power, yet it also includes that of showing direct power by murder. Elliot Rodgers says that by killing women, only then will they see that he is the superior one. The trait of displaying power by showing their direct access to it, by weapons, and by killing with those weapons is extremely negative. Altough these are on the extreme part of the spectrum, this can and did still happen. We mentioned before that Will James said that young adults can easily be manipulated and can find these negative online communities without trying. These communities are a danger to young men and can harm them in the long run.

In summary, everyday young men will find and be dragged into these negative online communities, learning the ideology of toxic masculinity. The traits brought up in Michael Kimmel’s essay, Masculinity as Homophobia, more specifically being that of bringing people down in order to feel better and that of increasing ones access of power in order to be seen as more powerful have been apparent in both documentaries Charlottesville: Race and Terror and Inside Incel: Alek Minassian and Online Misogyny. Both of these negative traits can easily be picked up by the young men of this world as mentioned by Will James in his talk Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, this is a danger to young men and their surroundings for generations to come.

Works cited:
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

Blog 1: The Unwritten Rules of Masculinity

Many claim that living life is to have a free will, backed by many governments which try their hardest to grant conditional freedom to their citizens, but there is always a catch. The most limiting aspect of life is that of unwritten rules. We can look at the creations of Carlos Andrés Gómez and Vincent René-lortie, to get a better perspective. “Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed.” and “Invincible” both explore the lives of someone affected by an extremely common rule, the rule which engulfs and manipulates what a gender must do to be accepted into a society. The unwritten rule of masculinity. Many aspects of one’s life can be affected by this rule, especially those of the male community, whether it’s the mental or in other words the interior state of one, or the external reaction caused by the rules of masculinity.

“Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed.” explores the issues faced by Carlos Andrés Gómez. This story can be approached as an autobiography. Often in his own life experiences he expriences a push which forces him to abide a certain way, understood that it is the rules of masculinity. Carlos’ stories tend to revolve around homophobia, and the restricting aspects the unwritten rules towards those of the LGBT. Often his own life experiences, where those enforcing the unwritten rules of masculinity are apparent. “Invincible”, on the other hand, is written in the memory of a child. Marc is a troubled child, who often feels trapped, and unable to express his proper emotions as he does not want to be seen as weak. Marc abides by the rules of masculinity, which puts him in trouble. In many ways this can be understood in a physical and mental state for our protagonist, as he is trapped and yearning for an escaped from the physical juvenile detention centre, as well as his own mental state because he does not want to seen as less of a man so he holds his emotions in. Both of these severely affect Marc’s life, and lead to him attempting suicide at the end of the short film. Marc was unable to break these rules, and was ultimately taken down by the rules of masculinity.

An issue that has plagued the male generations for centuries is the push back against transparency, especially if it comes to their emotion, and talking about their issues. It’s understood in society that men are expected to resolve their issues themselves, all while helping others with theirs. Although not expressed on paper, it’s the characteristic of self-autonomy which is praised. If one does not display this characteristic, they are often frowned upon and will be pushed by those enforcing the unwritten rules of masculinity. When studying the works of Carlos Andrés Gómez and Vincent René-lortie similar instances can be seen. In Carlos’ instance, he was on the receiving end of someone displaying their emotions towards him, although unintentionally he was enforcing the unwritten rule. When one of his friends displayed emotion towards him, Carlos was unsure about how to respond, and felt some internal homophobia towards his friend. Now let’s look at opposite situations, where the characters had to keep their emotions and thoughts to themselves. For Carlos he had trouble talking to his father, who didn’t care enough to listen to him. In continuity Marc had similar instances, when he initially came back to the detention centre after a trip with his family, his friend didn’t care enough to listen to him, instead he was talking about a little kid who crying and about how it annoyed him. His friend was enforcing the unwritten rule, all the while Marc was forced to keep his issues and thoughts to himself. This can also be seen when he was told to write a poem for French class. When it came to the poem he was able to write his thoughts onto paper perfectly, displaying each of his issues with perfect clarity, yet when his teacher decided to tell the whole class his poem he felt embarrassed, judged, and even mad. I personally feel like this is to show how Marc is scared of being seen as vulnerable, as problems and issues are to be kept to oneself, especially if you are a man and want to abide by the unwritten rule of masculinity. For me personally, I’ve always been shamed for displaying too much negative emotion by those I know well, especially sadness. On an uncountable amount of times I have heard the phrase, man up, or don’t be a little girl. Much like those in the stories, displaying your emotion as a man can be a difficult task. Yet there is always an issue with keeping something internal for too long, much like an active volcano, which only came to be due to a constant increase of pressure. The unwritten rule of masculinity often leads to not being capable of expressing one’s feelings which can then lead to an explosion of external expression.

An explosion, too much in one space where when the cap comes off, it escapes as fast as possible. Yet explosions don’t just happen randomly, there is always a build up of something, which overcrowded, wants to leave. Grenades work because of the internal substance getting overcrowded by itself, due to the raise in temperature, which is caused externally. Marc and Carlos both had different reactions, one more explosive, like a grenade, the other was like water overflowing in a container. Marc, was that of the grenade, as mentioned previously he had a lot of internal pressure, caused by external devices, whether its people ignoring his pleas and disregarding his emotions. To even a more physical element where he had been kept in captivity, like a prison, forced to stay between the walls of the juvenile detention centre.  Marc was a teen with overboiling internal issues, if given the right time, it was expected for them to explode out. In one instance, Marc had escaped the walls and ran, stealing a car, and driving it into the river due to the fear of being seen as a failure. When taking the car, the driver had initially left in order to get Marc help, as she had hit him, yet Marc followed the unwritten rules of masculinity and left before help arrived. Its understood that this as an explosion of actions. When someone’s’ emotions get high, they tend to do an action to let it out, some punch a wall, others go for a run or a walk, Marc’s reaction was to run for freedom. Yet in Carlo’s context he already had freedom in the physical sense. This led to less of an explosion and more of an overflow, Carlos was able to release some internal pressure through talking to his mother, or getting with women at parties. Yet in similarity, Carlos was unable to talk to father about his feelings, and had felt disgust when his friend expressed feelings towards him. Both main characters had problems when it came to internal issues caused by the unwritten rule of masculinity, yet when it came to expressing them, Carlos was much more calm. Much like Marc, I had a similar situation when it came to uncorking my emotions. The reason I had broken my hand was due to a build up of emotion caused by not being to talk it out, and failing to losing it in a calmer fashion. Much like Marc I had an “explosion” which resulted with my dominant hand being in a cast for a month of my life. The unwritten rules of masculinity are harming generations of men, whether its outright suicide attempt by Marc, or the irrational actions of Carlos’, the rules have an insurmountable amount of control over them.

The unwritten rules of masculinity hold many people in jeopardy. It must be understood that these two stories only account the situations of two people. Yet issues like these arise for each and every single man to have lived this world. In recent history there has been more and more push back against traditional masculinity, this is apparent in “Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed.”, with the constant mention of the gay community as well as the gay clubs. There is more and more attention to the mental health of males, in to avoid similar situations like that of Marc’s in “Invincible”. Actions are being taken, yet the laceration done by the unwritten rules of masculinity goes deep. They say time heals everything, so hopefully life as a man won’t be as constricting and difficult in the near future.

WORKS CITED:

Gómez, Carlos Andrés “Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed.” Man up: Cracking the Code of Modern Manhood, Gotham Books, 2012, pp. 65–83.

René-Lortie, Vincent, director. Invincible, TV5 Unis, 2022, https://www.tv5unis.ca/invincible.