Although men around the world get a bad reputation, they have been repressed as well. Especially men of colour. There were a couple of things that really surprised me from the documentary, however the main surprising aspect was the statistics shown. I pride myself on being very knowledgeable of discrimination, whether that be racial, gender, religion, or disability discrimination. The third lead cause of death in men is suicide. This statistic made me very upset, society does not allow men to be vulnerable with other people. Thus, if a person is not allowed to be vulnerable with anybody other than themselves, their mental health could be severely impacted. Mental health is not longer a taboo topic, yet it is when a man is involved.
Another thing that surprised me was that not many people in the documentary knew the difference between sex and gender. Sex is what biological genitalia you have and gender is what you feel inside. If you feel like your gender is male then you are male and that is the end of if. Not many people really can understand this. Even to this day not many people grasp the concept of gender.
One thing from Carlos Andres Gomez’s story that really caught my attention was the different type of culture north america has compared to Zambia. In Zambia friends (no matter what gender) could walk around holding hands or with their pinkies intertwined. I think this is very sweet and wholesome. But here in america, especially in the late 1980’s, this would be very taboo. People would not hold hands if they were the same gender, and if they did people would stare and judge. The documentary made me understand why Carlos felt a little uncomfortable at the start. Our society also makes men afraid to show affection because men are supposed to be “strong and stoic”, but in Zambia’s society friendship is cherished. And I think that is beautiful and this is why Andreas was so comfortable while Carlos was a little weary.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 