THE MASK YOU LIVE IN is a U.S.-centric film, delving into the concept of masculinity from a North American perspective. Do you have any experience of gender roles in other countries? Are there any stereotypes/concepts that can be applied to the global community? Any specific examples of how the U.S. differs from other societies when it comes to masculinity and how males are treated?

I’ve spent about 14 years of my life in Japan and 3 years in Singapore. I feel like the masculinity shown in The Mask You Live In which is the US case, is very similar to what I have been experienced so far in my life. Both of my countries are in Asia but still, there are a lot of similarities compared to the US. For example, boys always have to be strong than girls, can’t cry in front of others, can’t show weakness, etc. In fact, I’ve been living with the stereotypical masculinity for since I remember. I haven’t cried in front of people since grade 3. I haven’t questioned masculinity, I just think it is normal. Maybe because no one questions or casts a doubt on such matters in Japan. But some examples shown in the documentary don’t apply to what I’ve experienced. For example, in the documentary, it talks about how teens tend to try drugs/drinking to look cool. I don’t think it doesn’t apply to most of the kids in Japan. I think this drug/drinking culture exists in the US because they have a very popular party culture and Japan doesn’t really have that, there’s no opportunity for that as it is very difficult to get those stuff as teens in Japan. Probably this is the only difference between my experience and the US’s that I could spot throughout the whole documentary. This shows the definition of masculinity is very similar in many countries. I think it’s because of American media. American media is everywhere. especially in the entertainment industries. People worldwide see those and interprets the image of men from it and constructs the definition of masculinity. Therefore, I think that is exactly why it becomes very similar as it is referring to the same thing.