Today LU welcomed a guest today to share his artworks and his experience. The one that attracts me most is Toxic Masculinity. This term describes a group of males in our real life, they never show their fragile self in front of people even they do feel sad. Some of my guy friends, always show off their bravery and courage for no reason, especially in front of girls. I remembered when I went haunted house with some guy, they just like who will pay today's dinner if they scream during the play. There has no reason to make such a promise, having fun is the basic thing we should do. However, they even never open their eyes during play, but they still say I will protect girls, trust us. To be honest, their sentences even make me feel more insecure.
My research about toxic masculinity gave me a deeper understanding of this term, especially some traits like suppressing emotion, trying to appear tough, and physical aggression. The guy in this painting does not have any facial expression on his face, we never know what does his real mood look like. Also, he is in the superhero outfit and every body part shows strong muscle and a perfect body shape. He acts like a model in the magazine to attract attention from different audiences.
I also found it interesting as some ideas of this "toxic masculinity" comes from these comic books. Being fictional characters, they are built in a fantastical way, and it is near impossible to replicate what they do in real life. I really like how artist Andrew Norris takes this and makes viewers of all types think about what masculinity is.
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