Cock Fight
My design capstone exhibition, “Cock Fight: Men vs. Masculinity” tackles the idea of masculinity and how it is changing. Masculinity can mean many different things and I think we are starting to lean away from viewing the “traditional” man as the epitome of masculinity. “Traditional“ notions of masculinity are being challenged and the truth is, there is no one way to be a man. Through this exploration of modern-day manhood, I will focus on relating ideas such as: toxic masculinity, emotional vulnerability, patriarchy, and how we handle the idea of masculinity around young boys and men.
At the root of this idea is primarily toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be “tough all the time”; that anything other than that makes them “feminine” or weak. However, this doesn’t mean that all men are inherently toxic. For many men, myself included, our identities are wrapped up in whether or not at the end of the day we feel like we're man enough. Without a doubt, there are some wonderful things about being a man. But at the same time, there's some stuff we really need to begin to challenge, look at it and really get in the process of deconstructing, redefining, what we come to know as manhood.
At the root of this idea is primarily toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be “tough all the time”; that anything other than that makes them “feminine” or weak. However, this doesn’t mean that all men are inherently toxic. For many men, myself included, our identities are wrapped up in whether or not at the end of the day we feel like we're man enough. Without a doubt, there are some wonderful things about being a man. But at the same time, there's some stuff we really need to begin to challenge, look at it and really get in the process of deconstructing, redefining, what we come to know as manhood.
Men vs. Masculinity Publication
“It’s A Cock Fight” 3-Process Poster Print
Click here to see my process!