Toxic masculinity and reviews from Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s “ the mask you live in” and Michael Kimmel’s, “Bros Before Hos:The Guy Code”

Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s The Mask You Live In argues that Americans have a narrow definition of masculinity, which negatively impacts young boys, who ultimately grow up to be men who feel a tremendous pressure to adhere to societal ideals of masculinity. Michael Kimmel’s “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code” discusses how young men are influenced from a very young age to adhere to societal ideals of masculinity which in turn causes them to suppress their emotions and feel pressured to demonstrate dominance over others. Both works explore the complexities of masculinity in American society and argue for the need to shift the way young boys are taught to understand what it means to be a man. Write a paper that explores the problems that arise when boys are taught such narrow definitions of masculinity. Your outside article can document the prevalence of crime among young men versus young women, suicide and depression rates among gay men, or be an interview that discusses the pressures that men experience in general.

Successful essays will:
•Assess the issue at large and incorporate evidence from the film and article and outside source.
•Have a clear, concise thesis statement.
•Adhere to MLA format.
•Be free of grammatical and spelling errors.

Grading criteria:
•Accurately and effectively introduce and contextualize the issue of toxic masculinity.
•Thesis statement clearly highlights the social implications of toxic masculinity.
•Critically supports the thesis statement with textual evidence and commentary.
•Cites “Bros Before Hos”, The Mask You Live In and an outside source at least once. Citations are in correct MLA format.
•Conclude paper by presenting a thoughtful, persuasive analysis of the following: the significance of the argument and possible solutions.
•Use an effective structure that smoothly guides the reader from one idea to the next. Your careful attention to transitioning and topic sentences will be considered here.
•Demonstrate a strong command of the written language and have thoroughly edited your paper so that sentences are readable and appropriate for an academic audience.
•Adhere to MLA format, grammar, and sentence structure. No need for a works cited page

**Sample outline:

English 101 Essay 4 possible outline
I.Introduction:
a. Attention-getter
b. Contextualize Kimmel’s article and Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s The Mask You Live In
c. Thesis Statement: bring in the outside article
i. Ex: Kimmel and Newsom expose the need to shift the way young boys are being raised to understand masculinity. Donald Trump’s controversial comments made in 2005 about women highlight this need.
II. Part 1:Discuss the film and article and the arguments they make. a. Example: Kimmel discusses the reasoning behind why men often treat women poorly, stating, “. . . women often become a kind of currency by which men negotiate their status with other men, women are for possessing, not for emulating” (465). i. Analysis: Kimmel asserts that men seek women as a means of validating their masculinity, which can often lead to female objectification and degradation. This falls into adhering to the “Guy Code”, which teaches young men to seek approval from other men by asserting their masculinity. This unfortunately often comes at the cost of women. b. Introduce film. Example: This “Guy Code” is also reinforced through advertising as well. Michel Kimmel, who is interviewed in The Mask You Live In says that men often learn this objectification of women through advertising. “Of course we know that media will have an effect of people’s behavior. If there was no impact, the advertising industry would collapse”. Kimmel suggests that the advertising industry plays a role in reinforcing the Guy Code by suggesting that using women for pleasure and being dominant over them is manly.
III.Part 2: introduce the outside source and how it reinforces the arguments made in the film and article.
a. Donald Trump’s comments made in the leaked “Access Hollywood” tape demonstrate this idea that masculinity is linked to the belittlement of women. In the leaked tape, he implies that his celebrity status allows him to have power over women. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything” (New York Times). b. Analysis: Trump’s commentary reinforces the Guy Code in that it shows that often times, men seek power and approval by using it as reasoning for speaking about women as objects.
IV.Conclusion: Assert the significance of the issue at large, and leave the reader with food for thought.