1) According to Kimmel, the rules of the “Guy Code” boil down to “don’t show any outward emotion” and that “the face you must show to the world insists that everything is going just fine…” (609). Along those same lines, the “Guy Code” demands that guys let everyone around them know that they are not gay, because, according to the code, being gay is “shorthand for ‘unmanliness'” (614). While I completely disagree with everything the “Guy Code” posits about the nature of manhood, the “Guy Code” itself is real. I personally was really affected by those who subscribe to the code in elementary and middle school. As an artist and not a great young athlete, I was subjected to a barrage of attacks on my manhood, especially once I started participating in the school play. I’ve had people tell me they sincerely believed I was gay when we were young (I am straight) simply because of my interest in the arts and my disinterest in sports like football and soccer, even though I still participated in other sports and “manly” activities. Even though there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, it is still used as that shorthand for unmanliness, and not just with other guys. This code is so ingrained into our society that we’re only now starting to examine the effects of it and trying to correct it. I think the acceptance of it in young boys comes from male figures in their lives, like Kimmel asserts on page 611, and before these kids can comprehend the real ethics behind it all. Honestly, for me, things got better in high school, maybe because these kids realized how wrong this code is and because our generation seems to be very tolerant and accepting of people of all different backgrounds. Perhaps our generation is realizing how this code only causes hurt and is moving forward from it. I completely agree with Kimmel that it “fits as comfortably as a straightjacket” (615). There is nothing natural about suppressing emotion and hiding one’s interests. We need to abandon this harmful way of thinking about the nature of manhood and embrace the many diverse ways in which men manifest their emotions, interests, and character.
