On Wednesday, students got the opportunity to listen to well-known actor, filmmaker and author Justin Baldoni talk about masculinity and what role that can play in all facets of life as well as his own journey in personal growth.
Baldoni used his time to explain the complex and intricate way society has “coded” men from a very young age and how important it is to start to work through that and move to a more accepting and supportive society.
From the start, Baldoni called into question the phrase “man up.” More specifically, how that phrase is usually used in a way to emphasize not being a girl and leaning into more stereotypically masculine traits in turn disliking the traits that are different from that.
“We are training our young boys to hate that gender and dislike the part of themselves that appear as that gender, in this case being women. Which then gets tricky if you are in a heterosexual relationship when you are expected to love that gender,” Baldoni said.
Baldoni offered a replacement phrase – “man enough”, which is the title of his book that came out in 2021.
“Being man enough is embracing the part of yourself that is stereotypically the other gender because, at the end of the day, these are just human qualities that we have just labeled as such,” Baldoni said.
When asked about the phrase “toxic masculinity” Baldoni challenged the notion saying that while he believes it does exist anything taken to an extreme can be toxic. He highlighted that the words people use to describe men can oftentimes leave men feeling hurt and attacked. Baldoni draws attention to how current-day society uses the method of calling out more than calling in and that can be counterproductive to change in certain situations.
“Calling people in is letting someone know that they are not bad but maybe their behavior or something that they said could be hurtful or isn’t acceptable,” Baldoni said.
“The thing I am going to take with me the most is that you don’t have to confront someone. It is important to invite them in and see what you are feeling and how to work through that,” sophomore Ella Uehling said.
Baldoni did spend time at the end of the event answering student questions that spanned from dating advice to sibling relationships. Though, none of the questions got the attention like the one about his newest project that being the highly anticipated screen adaptation of the bestselling book by Colleen Hoover “It Ends With Us.”
While Baldoni who is directing and starring in the film couldn’t give too much away he did say that he wanted to age up the character in order to provide a different depiction of an abusive relationship that he hasn’t seen before.
During the closing of the event, Baldoni advised the audience to find what brings them joy as well as how they can make themselves feel as if they were enough.
“The world is going to tell you that you are not enough, but it is your job to make yourself feel enough. If you can find a way to do that it will be your superpower in your life. It won’t solve all your problems, but it will make life more enjoyable,” Baldoni said.
