I just wanted to talk to you guys about masculinity and why American society puts such a heavy image on men’s masculinity. I am really in to makeup and I came across a guy makeup artist, James Charles. He is the complete opposite of what the normal masculinity is supposed to be. He is very sassy, not muscular, high pitched voice and loves makeup. He honestly is better than a lot of girls I know with applying their makeup. Men typically have traits of toughness, independence and competiveness.
As we watched “Murderball” and reading “ Coming to Terms Masculinity and Physical Disability” by Thomas Gerschick, it made me compare men I know to what I have learned from the two. I learned a lot about Paralytic disability and how it counter reacts to masculinity. Paralytic disability men aren’t typically fast, strong, active or independent. Although, in “Murderball” , these men were very active and touch while playing rugby.
My mom’s friend’s husband is paralyzed from the waist down because he wrecked his motorcycle when he was younger. He reminded me a lot of the guys in the movie because he acts the exact same way. He is extra loud and tries to be extremely aggressive towards others because he is upset about his disability. I can understand why he is upset but like they stated in the movie, you can either move on from it or don’t.
Comparing the make-up artist to my mom’s friend there is a huge difference, which means that all men don’t have to fit this perfect role of masculinity. The men in the movie and my mom’s friend both fit the role of hegemonic masculinity. They want to really prove themselves because that’s the one way they think they can. If a guy who is paralyzed wanted to makeup, I personally think that would be inspiring and awesome to see. I hope one day we as a society can put less norms on things like masculinity.
The movie “White Chicks” is very relatable, as well because it’s two men, who are super masculine and have to fill a part of two women. It’s very funny how masculine men tend to act in a less masculine way. As females I feel like we also have a role to fill but it’s not as strong as a man. I’m not sure why society is the way it is.
Unruly Bodies 
Performing gender norms can be extremely exhausting as they don’t allow room for sensitivity at times for men. When it comes to impairments people in general but men in particular should not be afraid to let people help them for our impairments don’t decrease of gender visibility therefore the hyper masculinity is not necessary.
Thankfully, as the years go by I feel that gender norms are being broken. We see more men wearing makeup and many major companies promoting men wearing their brand of makeup. For the men in murder ball, I feel that most of them were trying to portray a tougher image based off of how society views the disabled (not independent/sexless/weak). But it must be hard having to break those stigmas of being masculine and disabled. Furthermore, I feel like women are also changing the norms by becoming more masculine. I see more women dressing manly and body building, which breaks the norms of being feminine.