Masculinity

For this project I continued to explore the topic of wanting to remove a part of one's self. During the process of the Bloodletting project, and while thinking about the concept more deeply, I realized that these parts of myself that I wanted to remove were affecting the way I present myself to the world around me. I believe it’s fair to say that these parts I want to remove are parts of myself that I hate, and in turn, affect my self perception and identity. I thought about the ways in which the patriarchal norms surrounding masculinity change the ways men present themselves to society, and how these changes can affect mental health and self perception.

In these images, I play into this idea of self expression being a difficult and sometimes even painful thing to do. Changing how you present yourself to society comes with many challenges; In my case, those challenges mostly present themselves in my relationship with family. I have been told from a young age that I must act a certain way in order to fit in and live a life modeled by the patriarchy. The more and more I go throughout my life, the more I see how I have been suppressing my true self to prevent conflict with those around me. With these photos I want to show that a man should be able to present himself as feminine without being looked down upon or perceived as weaker; to familiarize myself and others with the idea of being a man on your own terms.

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