Lame-o

Society has too much of a negative influence on both men and women. The fact that society has the ability to alter the way an individual acts or thinks is totally whack. Men are taught to act tough, guarded, aggressive, strong, independent etc. When men feel that these characteristics are either threatened or misrepresented, they act violently in order to prove their status as being manly. If a guy isn't acting manly, he's called a multitude of names and told to "man-up" and "quit acting like a girl." Both men and women are sent subtle messages through cartoons, movies, action figures, dolls, etc starting at a very young age. For example, looking at the change between an older action figure vs. a present day one. It was brought to my attention while we were studying this, that this is definitely true and is displayed in more aspects of our lives than we think. While growing up I've noticed the act or mask that guys put on to act tough because that's what they've been told to do their whole lives. The same is true with girls, but in different ways. We've both learned how to conform. I think being a man is defined much differently than it is in society.