Gentrification

Gentrification
Gentrification is the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area, such as an urban neighborhood accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents. Dramatic changes are playing out across parts of urban America, making many neighborhoods hardly recognizable from a relatively short time ago. A new class of more affluent residents is moving into once underinvested and predominately-poor communities. Development has followed, typically accompanied by sharp increases in housing prices that can displace a neighborhood’s longtime residents. It’s a scenario known as gentrification, and one that presents a growing dilemma for policymakers.

Statistics

• According to citylab.com, on an article called, The Neighborhood That Went to War Against Gentrifiers states, “As cities nationwide struggle with issues of affordable housing, new development, and displacement, disputes over the effects of gentrification are common. What’s different about the battle in Boyle Heights is the protesters’ tactics.”
• Gentrification remains rare nationally. It did, however, greatly accelerate in many cities over the past decade. The following table summarizes the extent to

According to governing.com, the reason as to why this census is scripted as such is because, “These lower-income Census tracts experienced significant growth in both home values and educational attainment. To be eligible to gentrify, a tract's median household income and median home value needed to fall within the bottom 40th percentile of all tracts within a metro area at the beginning of the decade. Tracts considered to have gentrified recorded increases in the top third percentile for both inflation-adjusted median home values and percentage of adults with bachelors’ degrees.”
My Opinion

• I believe it has become a serious issue, especially here in the East Los Angeles area. Today, of about 100,000 residents, more than 90 percent are Latino. About one-third live in poverty, and about 17 percent are estimated to be undocumented immigrants. The community has one of the highest population densities in the city of Los Angeles and in Los Angeles County. Now, home prices in Boyle Heights are surging. This has delighted some families, who are eager to cash in and move away. Others in the area, which has a high proportion of renters, are wary. It has just become so serious that so people can’t even afford to live in a house that they’ve been living for years!

Stephanie Jacobo:(What do you notice everyday?)
  “I see this happening everyday, but what I have also noticed is that the art community has a lot to do with what’s going on in the city that I currently live in. Lots of “white hipters” are coming over to this ethnically populated area and are attempting it make it there own. However, I am not saying these individuals are not welcomed, in fact they are more than welcome, but the fact that they think they can change the culture surrounding this city is what is not okay.”

I see this happening everyday, but what I have also noticed is that the art community has a lot to do with what’s going on in the city that I currently live in. Lots of “white hipters” are coming over to this ethnically populated area and are attempting it make it there own. However, I am not saying these individuals are not welcomed, in fact they are more than welcome, but the fact that they think they can change the culture surrounding this city is what is not okay.”

Carlos Contreras:(What have you noticed in your community?) ” You have white guys telling a brown guy from the projects what to do in the community he grew up in, its just not right man. This is what causes everything to become weird. Tension is everywhere now and it was caused by this issue unfortunately. And it’s only getting worse with time.”

Samantha Claro: (Are art galleries leaving the Boyle Heights area due to gentrification? What does this mean?)
“I've said this before, but the land Boyle Heights is on makes it too desirable to remain a working-class, immigrant neighborhood. Its proximity to Downtown and transit mean it's going to be gentrified whether they keep out art galleries or not.”



Resources:
https://www.governing.com/gov-data/los-angeles-gentrification-maps-demographic-data.html

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/03/the-neighborhood-that-went-to-war-against-gentrifiers/518181/

Sasha Binder: Vacation in the United States

    Works Cited

1.    Achor, S., & Gielan, M. (2016). The Data-Driven Case for Vacation. Stress. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/07/the-data-driven-case-for-vacation

2.     Guzman, Z. (2018, Aug 15). This chart shows how far behind America is in paid time off compared to the rest of the world. Careers. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/15/statista-how-far-behind-us-is-in-paid-time-off-compared-to-the-world.html

3.     Landau, E. (2011, May 24). Why your brain needs vacations. Health. http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/24/vacation.mental.benefits

4.     Mejia, Z. (2018, Aug 30). New research finds taking a vacation could help you live longer. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/30/new-study-finds-taking-your-vacation-could-help-you-live-longer.html

5.     Mindful Staff. (2011, May 24). Why Vacations Are Necessary. Mindful. Healthy Mind, Health Life. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/why-vacations-are-necessary/

6.     Pawlowski, A. (2011, May 23). Why is America the ‘no-vacation nation’? CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/05/23/vacation.in.america/index.html

7.     “Road Trip! Health Net Points Out the Health Benefits of Vacations.” Health Benefits of Vacations. Retrieved from https://www.healthnet.com/portal/home/content/iwc/home/articles/health_benefits_of_vacations.action

8.     Torberg, S. (2017). Importance of taking vacation. THRIVE. Retrieved from https://www.allinahealth.org/healthysetgo/thrive/importance-of-taking-vacation?id=36507232167

Disclaimer: The images and clip art are not own my be. Usage of these images are for educational purposes only. All rights belong to the original artists and sources.
If you are interested in my survey you can still participate and see other peoples responses. Be a part of the discussion! https://forms.gle/uFtuDWEtdqXQ8NBK8 

Edwin

Police vs Us

Research

Police brutality has occurred for so long in the United States. Its occurrence ranges from as late as the 19th century to the 20th century. Police brutality is the illegal use of force against civilians by any police officer. There are different types of police brutality, it can range from verbal to physical abuse. All races, ages and genders have faced police brutality. This country has had many devastating deaths and injuries because of the conflicts between a civilian and a police officer who used excessive force on them. 

Police Brutality Statistics:

• On average, a police officer takes the life of a civilian every 7 hours.
• 1,037 people had lost their lives in 2015 due to police brutality.
• 61% of police officers stated that they do not always report serious abuse that has been directly observed by fellow officers.
• 84% of police officers have stated that they have seen police officers use more force than required on a person.

Cases:

• On July 17, 2014 a black man named Eric Garner passed away on Staten Island, N.Y after a police officer put him in an illegal choke hold while being on the ground. Since then, no police officer has been charged with the murder of Eric Garder since then.

• On July 6,2016, African-American Philando Castile was pulled over at 9:00p.m  by police officer Jeromino Yanez. When the officer pulled over to greet Philando, Philando stated that he had a weapon in the vehicle and that it was all legal. At the time of the stop, Philando Castile was with his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter. When Philando let the officer know that he had a weapon in the car the officer told him to not reach when Philando stated that he wasn’t reaching for the gun but for his wallet. That is when the officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile 7 times and killed him. 

Personal Impact:

Living in East Los Angeles, there has always been a strong surveillance in the area. With strong servalenace there has been a lot of times where I would see police officers harassing people who looked to be affiliated with gangs. I have seen young teens who are stopped and slammed to the ground with no resistance coming from their end just because of the area they are in and because of how they are dressed. It is a sad thing to see that as children grow up in the community they tend to be afraid of the police because of the abuse that police officers do.  

Resources:

Chief, Editor in. “42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics.” Vittana.org, https://vittana.org/42-shocking-police-brutality-statistics.

Gross, Terry. “'I Can't Breathe' Examines Modern Policing And The Life And Death Of Eric Garner.” NPR, NPR, 23 Oct. 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/10/23/559498678/i-can-t-breathe-explores-life-and-death-at-the-hands-of-police.

Moore, Leonard. “Police Brutality in the United States.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580.

“Shooting of Philando Castile.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Oct. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Philando_Castile.

Dann Francisco - The Decline of Volunteers within United States of America

Dann Francisco

More Volunteers are in Need

Research

        The Bureau of Labor of Statistics creates a report on the Volunteer rates in the United States of America.

        This Report indicates that within the past decade there has been a decline of the amount of Volunteers that participate in Non-Profit Organization within the United Sates of America. It reveals that within the past decade there have been a slow decrease in the percentage of volunteers volunteering within the states. The report tells us the total percentage of the country's population that volunteered within the past years, as well as, informs us of the percentages of age ranges and races that have volunteered from September 2014 to September 2015.
          The percentages of volunteers within the country have declined from 25.3 percent to 24.9 percent. About 62.6 million people had volunteered at least once between the year of September 2014 to September 2015 through or for an organization. This table below indicates and reveals that there has been a continuous decrease of the amount of volunteers throughout the documented list. The table separates percentage of population that volunteered into various variables such as different age groups to ethnicity to their current status in education and employment. 

Table A. Volunteers by selected characteristics, September 2013 through September 2015
(Numbers in thousands)

 1 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
 2 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
 3 Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
 4 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
 5 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
 NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum 
 to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
 Latino may be of any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January
 data. Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at
 any point in the year ending in September. See the Technical Note for further information.

Why are they decreasing?
       For what reason are the amount of Volunteers decreasing and why? According to Amy Yotopoulos 
there are three likely common reasons that caused the decrease of Volunteers. One of which is that people 
believe that there isn't enough time or that volunteer schedules are not that flexible. She believes that there
could be two possible solutions to these which are to find the "sweet spot" of when people volunteer before
or/and after they have retired from working. Another solution was to make the opportunities of volunteering
more accessible and automatic for people to have access to them such as offering volunteer opportunities for 
non-working parents who bring their children to school. 
     The second reason or excuse is that people themselves either don't have enough information and that most
volunteer roles are not interesting. She explains that most people are likely to volunteer by personal gratification
and having a meaningful experience. The solution for this matter was that organizations who utilize volunteers 
must appropriately request and apply people who have the appropriate skills to the type of work they need their 
volunteers to do. 
     The third reason she discovered was that some people believe that they need to be asked of to volunteer, that 
others must ask them to volunteer. Yotopoulos found research that organizations with more successful at acquiring 
and keeping volunteers have a full-time paid volunteer coordinator. This person invites people to be a volunteer 
and watches over them throughout the whole process and checks on them at a later date. 

       Interviews:
Anthony Sanchez


         Retention rate for volunteers has been dwindling for many reasons. Poor management and organization of 
volunteers causing them to have a poor or negative experience. Lack of proper training or job details can also lead 
volunteers feeling confused and unable to help attendees properly and feel counterproductive.



Ken Shockley




I think volunteering has decreased over time for a few reasons. The first reason is that people have a bad 
experience and bad word of mouth spreads more than positive word of mouth. The second reason is that more and 
more people don't have the time to volunteer and feel they have "more important" things to do instead of 
volunteering for free.



Oanh Shockley




I use to volunteer for so many organizations, but through time I have other priorities such as work and family. 

Also, I am so exhausted to go out and volunteer. I still love the organizations but I don't have the energy to help out.

My Thoughts

         I personally believe that part of the cause that decreases the percentage of volunteers is unfortunately the fault of our advanced technology. We have begun to take advantage of our use of technology and often abuse that ability, such as being distracted by various devices, and/or using that technology to research or learn about volunteer opportunities and take the opinions or experiences of previous volunteers instead of experiencing it for themselves. The issue with this is ones experience with a situation can be a completely different experience for yourself, as well as, their situation maybe have been at an effect of other social matters that might not have been a direct cause or effect of anything related to the volunteer organization that one participated at, such as the passing of a family while in the middle of volunteering for an organization that hosts an event over a span of a few days. Their experience would be less ideal compared to a person who currently having a normal life situation. In a sense people now essentially just look instantly at bad reviews about volunteering experience reviews and tend to overlook the good reviews that sometimes tend to have more or less than the other, but still will deter ones interest in one way or the other from volunteering for said organization. Part of the solution is that people need to start looking outside the box and look at both sides of the story. As well as organizations adjusting to the social norms of this new technologically advanced era, to where volunteers would become more satisfied or feel rewarded for participating in their events. With out these volunteers certain events would not have been possible and be where they are currently. 

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers, https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s-volunteer-rate-is-still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOLUNTEER, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers, https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s-volunteer-rate-is-still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOLUNTEER, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

Works Cited

Bowles, Annette, et al. “The U.S. Volunteer Rate Is Still Dropping. Why?” Engaging Volunteers,                     https://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s- volunteer-rate-is- still-dropping-why/.

“Volunteering in the United States News Release.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm.

Yotopoulos, Amy. “Three Reasons Why People Don't Volunteer, and What Can be Done About It.” Longevity.stanford.edu, http://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont-volunteer-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

The Ideal Body Image

The Ideal Body Image 

Living in a first world country such as the United States has many benefits: wealth, health, and guaranteed education all being part of them. However living in a heavily Eurocentric based society creates problems for people as well. Body image being one of them. As a society, there are rules in which you can only fit into two genders, as well as act, and look in a certain manner. This creates unrealistic standards that others based themselves on. Always questioning the characteristics of the body they were born into, and how it can be changed in order to fit into the majority's ideal body type. 

WHAT IS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT?

• Allison Hendricks defines civic engagement in the article “What is civic engagement? Definitions, examples, how tos, and more,” as an engagement that focuses on participation in political activities, community activities or both.
• In the article “Civic Engagement: Why Cultural Institutions Must Lead the Way” Deborah Cullinan says “At its essence, democracy in the United States is a system of government rooted in a belief in liberty and justice for all. This system depends on the consent and participation of the people. It depends on citizen engagement.
• My definition of Civic Engagement is being involved in the community in order to create a change for the better, or at the very least start a conversation towards change. For this class I believe it would be defined as using public art in order to use it as a tool for social impact.

Findings

In "THE THINNER THE BETTER? COMPETITIVENESS, DEPRESSION AND BODY IMAGE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENT WOMEN," Lauren Sides-Moore concluded "the negative self-talk and cognitive distortions associated with depression increase body image dissatisfaction and the likelihood of disordered eating and maladaptive thoughts about weight and body shape." This shows how being unsatisfied with your appearance affects other aspects of one's life, something not a lot of people consider. People judge others initially by their appearance, then by their personality. That is why appearance is important to people, whether it is for a romantic relationships or job offers, appearance is the first thing you are judged by, preventing those who have a different body type or appearance from easily attaining a job. However by getting rid of associations between appearance and titles we can work on making a more diverse accepting society.

Based on research conducted by Subhashini Ganesan, she has found that "Among the 1220 students who participated in the current study, 791 (64.8%) of them had undertaken at least one weight control measure in the past 1 year. Of which 157 (19.8%) were satisfied and 634 (80.2%) were dissatisfied with their body image.This study also showed that 64.8% of the college students had undertaken at least one weight control measure in the past 1 year. It also showed that girls who were dissatisfied with their appearance tend to do more weight control measures and the most common weight control measures were eating small meals, skipping meals, and avoiding certain foods. It also showed that the majority of students have cited improving the appearance and to look better in clothes as main reasons for going in for weight control measures. This was also found similar to other studies which showed that appearance was a major motivation for dieting practices."

In order to fall into these ideals, we go to extremes to do so. As long as our society continues to show diversity through the screens, we will be able to see there are other people who look similar to us.  From childhood to adulthood we are guided through advertisements and films on how to look, and act. Advertisements such as Project Body Hair by Billie shows a diverse cast who represents not only different ethnicities but different body shapes as well.

OUR EXPERIENCES AND THOUGHTS

Viviana Bautista

As a shorter, not skinny, brown skinned girl, I've

found myself  lost in thought for hours trying to

come up with ways to, in a way, fit into the

Eurocentric ideal for beauty. Whether it was

through buying products for skin correction, or

falling into negative eating habits. Growing up I

never felt beautiful in my city, it was prominently

a Caucasian neighborhood. However moving to

LA has exposed me to communities who are

more like me and I’ve learned to cherish that. I

find myself following pages with people who look

similar to me, or who don’t fit into the norms,

as a reminder that people with different characteristics

are out there the media is the one who prevents us from seeing them

Kari Flores

I was at my worst around three years ago.

Growing up I never had to deal with acne. I think

after moving out of my parents for college, it

put my through a lot of stress, so my face started

to break out. I would try creams promoted to clear it, but it just wouldn't go away. My self positivity differs day to day. On some days I feel very confident, whereas on other days I don’t want to leave home. I feel like Instagram has had a huge impact on my self-consciousness, everyone looks so perfect in their photos, but when I take some, I find myself being more critical. As bad as it may sound my standard of beauty is still skinny and clear skin, but only to me, those are my own goals. 

Kassandra Navarette

Due to society’s ideal image of what someone should

 look like, I feel overweight. I remember at the age of 

15 feeling ashamed of my body. Victoria secret 

models are skinny and perfect in my eyes, so it made

 me insecure to compare myself to them. However I

 do think we are all beautiful in our own way based

 on our personality.

\

Leslie Ramirez 

In this day and age, I feel like people are heavily criticized based on their looks. You would thing

our generation would be more aware of things

such as appearances. I believe everyone is

beautiful in their own way. I remember being

super self-conscious around the age of thirteen,

ever since I’ve been working hard on accepting

my body for what it is.

Abraham Albiso

Today’s society bases beauty off of mainly the body structure of a person. To fit into the body structure of an ideal man, I would have to be tall, skinny and strong. I personally don’t fit into the ideal characteristics. That bothered me growing up, but I’ve changed my view ever since. I think as I grew older I found that no matter what you look like, beauty and attraction do not always correlate.

Citations:

Ganesan, S., Ravishankar, S. L., & Ramalingam, S. (2018). Are Body Image Issues Affecting Our Adolescents? A Cross-sectional Study among College Going Adolescent Girls. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 43, S42–S46. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_62_18

SIDES-MOORE, L., & TOCHKOV, K. (2011). The Thinner the Better? Competitiveness, Depression and Body Image among College Student Women. College Student Journal, 45(2), 439–448. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=61863673&site=ehost-live

Toxic Masculinity Dylan Olivas

Toxic Masculinity

What is toxic masculinity?

Toxic masculinity is the attitude that males learn from society to act in a harmful and aggressive manner. This attitude often influences young boys to take a liking into a certain image. This image is to be the tough, no-need-for-help, stoic, and dominant. Now some people may see this as not a big issue, but many problems arises because of this attitude.

Problems with toxic masculinity

Two problems about toxic masculinity in young boys is that it blocks potential and causes bullying.

1)Blocks potential

Some people are afraid of stepping out of the “norm”. This stops potential in young boys. They can turn out to do great things if they pursue what they have a passion for. There can be more and better ice skaters, singers, volleyball players, and hair stylists if men felt they can freely pursue their passion. This also causes boys to go out of their way to do "manly things" such as not displaying their emotions. Being open about your emotions is seen to be feminine so many boys tend to close off their feelings. Journalist, Jules Suzdaltsev, on August 2, 2016 on the Seeker mentions that New York University has found out that "adolescent boys form friendships as deep and meaningful as adolescent girls, but by age 16 they begin to distance themselves emotionally from other men." Age 16 is also the age when male suicide rates begin to rise, and psychologists believe the correlation with emotional repression is significant.

2)Social outcast

If boys do end up deciding to “act out” they often get bullied and punished for it. Kids are brutal, even for the smallest actions they will be picked on. Author Claire Broling on July 31 2017, published by the Odyssey, writes a true story about an 11 year old boy named Michael Morones. Michael is a fan of the show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. In school he was being named called and his show was being labeled as gay. He had enough of it so he took his belt and tried to hang himself in his room. He survived but the point is he was bullied into that state. He was bullied because of his taste in shows. This is one example of many young boys becoming outcasts for taking an interest in something that is not seen as masculine. This does not only go for TV shows but with any other interests such as food, toys, colors, and music.

Causes of toxic masculinity

The causes are fairly simple, men were always seen this way throughout history and today we still enforce it.

1)Men was always taught to lead the family

Since the beginning of humanity men were always seen as powerful in the family. Men were always expected to hunt and to provide for the family since the stone ages. Men were the majority of military throughout time. In ancient Greek, military performance was an important way in which society assessed the value of a man. Actually, the ancient Greek had a word called Andreia which means manliness and courage. Most historical leaders were male and this includes America's previous presidents.

2)Taught to conform

Boys feel obligated to conform. Boys always have the idea to conform because they see most of their peers doing it like a hive mind. Boys see characters in media enforcing it. Author Caroline Knorr on June 19 2017 published by commonsense.org mentions "a lifetime of viewing stereotypical media becomes so ingrained it can ultimately affect kids career choices, self-worth, relationships, and ability to achieve their full potential." This also explains the high expectations kids have on themselves. Parents also expect their children to grow up manly. Boys are often taught to do manly things like killing bugs, not asking for help, and showing no pain. Axe released a video called “Is it okay if guys…”. It highlights the insecurities of guys. Society makes some boys feel self-conscious to the point where they have to google if doing certain activities is okay to do, as seen in the video. 

Solutions

1)Do not teach kids about expectations of men.

Giving kids a template of what a man is gives them a goal to reach which itself is not bad but when they feel forced to grow up a certain way that will really hurt them in the future. Alli Gulman on April 5 2017 published by study breaks mentions that masculinity is thought to translate to power and the only way to break this cycle is to bring awareness to the youth. Also, when teaching kids how to be a man they will also expect it from other kids which in turn reinforces the idea of growing up to be a man. 

2)Let the kids express themselves

Let the boys express themselves so they can get be more in tune with their emotions. Doctor Ruth White on December 22 2017 published by Psychologytoday mentions that allowing boys to express themselves freely without worrying about masculinity will decrease cognitive dissonance and emotional stress. Next time your son gets hurt let them know it is okay to get hurt. Next time your son is confused let them know it’s okay to not know everything. Next time your son has an unconventional “girl” passion or hobby support them. Be careful when you do this though because there is a difference between informing and enforcing.

Interviews

"Growing up, everyone always asked why I hang around girls and not guys... mostly at school people are saying that I needed to be playing sports. They wanted to rough house and I am like I am good. It creates a whole lot emotions that are bottled up, and eventually something bad can happen like punch a wall or something." (Bernardo Carrillo, Koreatown)

"I have seen people who has been affected by toxic masculinity. I have a friend, he is very competitive. When he sees any one of us do something that might be considered excellent, he will go out of his way to try and surpass what we have done. Thats totally not cool." (Alex Gonzales, East Los Angeles)

Personel

 Personally, I have been affected by toxic masculinity throughout my childhood. I was raised to be the manliest man I can be. I remember asking my dad if I could bring an umbrella outside but was reject the request on the basis that I am a man. I had a bad habit of always being self conscious if what I was doing was considered appropriate for being a male. I worked on this issue by becoming very comfortable around my friends and from there I was more free to be expressive with my emotions in public. I have personally seen many people, including friends, taking actions to demonstrate their "manlyhood" in ways that are not very appropriate. This issue has affected my life by so much that it has shaped my personality.

Reference

https://www.seeker.com/should-men-cry-more-1956119603.html

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/society-hates-feminine-men

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/gender-stereotypes-are-messing-with-your-kid

https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/hypermasculinity/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-in-mind/201712/toxic-masculinity-mask-anxiety