The video presents issues of gender diversity when the speaker talks about different roles that are appropriated to each gender. He mentions that while men are expected to be strong, unemotional, brave and leaders while women were seen as weak, subordinate and inferior to men. The speaker emphasizes on how these traits are socialized into either gender while growing up and became the defining characteristics of each gender’s identity. Gender diversity is thus not practiced in such communities among adults as people are taught from a young age that men are better than women. It therefore takes the effort of everyone to solve this issue and ensure that children grow up understanding and appreciating the potential of gender equality.
The man box contains all the things that men think are necessary for them to qualify as men. They include not expressing any emotions but anger, not showing fear or weakness, controlling others especially women, to be dominant, heterosexual, to avoid being like a woman, to be tough, athletic, and courageous, and to avoid acting like a gay man. There is no compromise for these traits and a lack of any disqualifies one from being a real man. For instance, the speaker talks about how his father refused to cry over the death of him son especially in the presence of women to avoid appearing weak. He also talks about how as a young boy of twelve years old, he would have rather pretended to have sex with a mentally ill girl than defend her honor because she was socialized to treasure the man box more than human decency. The man box is a toxic and unrealistic categorization of masculine traits because it is impossible for one to be all these things. It places unnecessary pressure on growing children to conform to a standard and turns them into adult men who do not respect women.
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Gender socialization is a process by which children are taught the specific roles and traits that socially correspond to their sex. For instance, boys are taught that the way to fulfill their manly roles is to be brave, strong, athletic, smart, heterosexual or domineering. Girls on the other hand learn how to not be seen but to be heard as they are deemed inferior, to be treated as sexual objects and property of men, and to be subordinate to them. Gender socialization is culturally specific and it allows members of a community to be well functioning adults in their various gender roles. However, depending on the values taught to children in this process, gender socialization can create issues such as gender inequality, rape culture, oppression of women, and limited opportunities for the inferior gender.
Knowing what I know about gender socialization, I would advise others against the rigidity of gender roles as presented by the man box. Some of these traits do not necessarily make one into a good man and it is possible to find a middle ground where one can be strong and still be sensitive. There are many sorts of ways to be strong and masculine and teaching boys that it is bad to be like a woman is not a good way to help solve gender diversity issues.
