Men Are Not Gods, Ricky Ochoa
The one on top is posted on the bulletin board of NJCU
My topic for the first intervention project concerns men's societal double standards. Due to the hard work I put into Photoshop, it took me a week to complete. I took a picture of myself and cropped it to the pose I did, placed leaves to use the scanner, manipulated the lighting from Photoshop and color, and finally added images of a mob and a table and did the same for the leaves. Men aren't gods, and the statements ridiculing the man represent what he has to go through daily, suffering in silence. Sadness and Fear are what men aren't allowed to feel because of going against what it means to be a man. I showed myself feeling heartbroken because of this while my entire body turned black, showing how the lack of help from society is corrupting a man to hatred and violence. I really want to touch on that aspect more about sadness and fear because of the psychological horrors of patriarchy that hurt men. They are never allowed to seek help, which leaves them emotionally damaged, leading them to either kill themselves or take the lives of others out of resentment from society. Anger and violence are often glorified because of the ideal of what masculinity should be. However, it usually leads to more pain than satisfaction.
An example of Men being portrayed as gods is usually superhero entertainment, the pinnacle of masculinity. Weirdly, many were portrayed as powerful beings to look up to and emulate. Even if they are portrayed as relatable to the audience, getting a superpower would change a man's life for the better to get the glory and fame he deserves. He is expected to overcome every obstacle and help his comrades. Still, we are never shown failure by the protagonist, and other characters are given the spotlight the protagonist needs. Even if they are shown and express the best of their ability, the protagonist will often learn and even surpass his comrades in their skills or prove that his way is better than theirs, showing how only one man should take control of everything and is supreme at all times. Many main and side characters praise the protagonist, saying he has great potential. I also know they need to be perfect after the end and get all the awards, especially a girlfriend, due to what he can provide for her thanks to his powers. However, I never really liked the idea of skill that defines a man; it's almost like he's treated as a tool to fix other people's problems without ever showing failure. Work is all a man is ever known for his identity. He has feelings, too, and he shouldn't be defined by how many skills he has.
I want to spread awareness that men suffer deep down from the pressures of trying to provide for everyone and always be in control of everything. Men are treated like gods who always have to solve every problem without fail. However, this toxicity has hurt other men, too, since the ideal masculinity has led to putting others down to make yourself feel better when failure does come to shove instead of taking the L. For that double standard of men, they must be successful, wealthy, good-looking, healthy, provide for others, and know what to do in every situation. The worst part is that it has led to chasing an ideal of becoming the one that would fix the world and that only one man could do so. However, the reality is that no one can achieve that kind of power, no matter how hard you work for it. We are human and have limits like any other human being. This kind of thinking leads to doing dirty stuff like manipulation and violence to achieve that standard like it's a battleground. Seeking help and sadness isn't a weakness. It's a strength to ensure you keep going in life and crying because it releases the emotional pain you are carrying. I don't like the term overcome that much because it suggests eliminating your weaknesses. Still, it is more about acceptance and bettering yourself as a human rather than becoming closer to a god-like status. I like that term better since it isn't forcing yourself to feel like you can take it all; instead, you can accept your weaknesses and move forward in life.
Quote 1
"There is an art to every practice, activism included. It’s what distinguishes the innovative from the routine, the elegant from the mundane. Creativity is essential to good organizing. It enables activists to imagine new tactics, strategies and goals to keep campaigns fresh and make them more effective." WHY ARTISTIC ACTIVISM? | Center for Artistic Activism
Response
Art influences people's perspectives, especially how ads, shows, or movies portray men and women. For men about showing off material possessions or their skills of how good of a provider they are. They don't need help, even other men respect and praise him like a god they can depend on. However, this kind of portrayal often pressures men to get rich and work themselves to death to perfect themselves and get the praise they need to feel accepted by others and their partner. For women, they don't need to worry about being a provider since the only thing they need to worry about are appearances which is a different kind of hard. They are never allowed to be better than a man and have to appear desirable. They wait for the right man to come and sweep them away through his perfectionism for a man must be perfect and in control of his partner at all times. Dating is treated as a game instead of genuine connection. It's harmful for how women should look for in a man as well since it portrays an ideal they can never find. This encourages women to be lazy about their aspirations and focus solely on makeup just for the sake of finding a man in the future. Even though women are heading into the workforce and focusing more on education, what they should look for in a man remains the same with an idealized version of the man being better than her in all ways possible.
Quote 2
"Psychological patriarchy is the dynamic between those qualities deemed “masculine” and “feminine” in which half of our human traits are exalted while the other half is devalued. Both men and women participate in this tortured value system. Psychological patriarchy is a “dance of contempt,” a perverse form of connection that replaces true intimacy with complex, covert layers of dominance and submission, collusion and manipulation." Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hooks
Response
This is a great insight of how Patriarchy as a system is what we humans have created to support ourselves yet as we grow older it has done more harm than good over the years. Even though feminism has been doing great, there is stronger pushback than ever before due to a lack of understanding of how it affects men as well but we neglected it. I realized that men aren't gods to be worshipped and that they are humans that need help from others just like us. However, that idea still exists for men and women because of the fear that society would collapse in on itself. But it isn't an end-of-the-world scenario, I instead see it as a way to understand ourselves as humans. If we acknowledge that men have suffered through stuff to end up violent we are acknowledging that anybody can become evil. We are afraid of challenging Patriarchical Masculinity because we are used to scapegoating one person who Is usually a man for all the world's problems and refuse to take responsibility for our actions which usually leads to dehumanizing and treating those that hurt others like monsters that need to die. We never heal or move on because that's what repeating the cycle of violence due to our lack of empathy for men. Since Patriarchy values that men shouldn't seek help they are saying that they need to figure out themselves and get it right or else they face punishment for mistakes. Instead, we should encourage men to seek help and be there for them in times of crisis. We should teach them how to control their emotions and ways of life so they don't unleash their anger onto others. We can prevent many violent outbreaks and save men from ruining their own lives and others. We should also encourage forgiveness and rehabilitation for men who did make those mistakes to give them another chance and a window to change themselves through help from others.
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