The Man Box Research Paper

The man box is a group of ideals or qualities that society uses to raise young men. Some of these include not to express emotions in public, not to act like a woman, and that men are supposed to be aggressive and powerful. Men are constantly being put into this "man box". Like the TED talk stated, when a boy told Tony that if the coach said he was playing like a girl, it would "destroy him". In society, people like to shame men if they are beaten by a girl at something such as a sport. Personally, I do not put other males in this "man box" because I consider the qualities to be very ideal. Society wants to have men be powerful and confident all the time, but the reality is, not all men can or want to match society 's ideal image of a man.

Putting males in this man box can be dysfunctional for society because it teaches kids at a young age that men are supposed to be superior to women in every way. Another problem is that as a result, young women could think of themselves as inferior and to only obey orders given from a man, therefore encouraging the ideals

Because many of the ideals in the man box are mostly about "not being like a girl", men can break free of the man box and feel free to live their own lives without being held down by a set of standards. In addition, women would no longer be stereotyped because while the man box is targeted towards men, it also indirectly targets women and stereotypes how women behave in society. If I were to make changes in socializing children, I would try to encourage boys and girls that it is fine to express emotions and that not everyone has to be strong or aggressive. Some people choose to be that way, but that should not mean everyone has to follow a set example. Another way for children to develop healthy qualities would be to not stereotype gender roles since they will always meet different people who live by different standards and not just one set