Exploring the connections between the mask of masculinity and the mask Essay

Exploring the connections between the mask of masculinity and the mask of femininity - Essay ExampleA study of the first chapter Saplings in the Storm of bloody shame Piphers Reviving Ophelia and the first chapter Inside the serviceman of Boys Behind the Mask of Masculinity of William Pollocks Real Boys give an insight into the complex head word of adolescent girls and adolescent boys in coping with societal expectations and norms.Saplings in the Storm and Inside the World of Boys approach the same issue from two different perspectives. both(prenominal) take us back to the world of adolescence. While Saplings in the Storm tells us about the distress of adolescent girls, Inside the World of Boys presents the struggle of juvenile boys. In both the cases the young boys and the girls are trying hard to be masculine and feminine rather than naturally grow up into men and women.A girl has always been an enigma to a boy and vice versa. It is but natural that adolescent girls and boys fa ll on and off in love. A magic soon gives way to disillusionment as one sees the other without the mask. They are in love with the mask which is based on unreal concepts of masculinity and femininity. The adolescent boys and girls pass through the same experience of trying to fit into the mask. They struggle to play a certain role and sink in depression when this abnormal struggle takes a toll on their mental health.Today most of the young girls would go to any extent to be the femme fatale with killer looks and a perfect(a) 10 figure or be that pretty young thing. Sadly enough, this is the recent trend of femininity. Pipher begins her chapter Saplings in the Storm with the example of her cousin Polly who gave up her hoydenish and spontaneous self to become a social butterfly only to be accepted by her peers. (Cited in Schmidt et al) Pollock in his Inside the World of Boys points out to a similar situation of how boys try to live the myths about masculinity. (Cited in Schmidt et al) Boys dont cry, boys are tough, boys are