Documentaries Tough Guys Summary

Gender rules the world in mainstream America whether we like it or not. As we look through our gender glasses we see gender on an individual level that we also categorize. In the movie “Tough Guise 2- Violence, Manhood & American culture” we see some of the oldest perspectives know in gender; femininity and masculinity. When we talk about masculinity in America today we theorize that violence that happens more often than we like, from mass shootings or crime in general, including rape and murders in the real world and in the virtual thrill world of videogames and movies we find a parallel connection of masculinity as violent. Even though an overwhelming majority of violence is committed by men and boys we as americans rarely connect gender as a major key in violence. But when we lay out the plane lines about culture of violence were almost always hinting that it is a masculine trait that is a taught behavior. The modern society has conjured up the idea of the ideal man, that showing emotions is wrong but one must be charming, seeming smartish but more of an attitude of control showing that manhood has a hierarchy. Weakening the not so tough guy, society giving them labels to show they are outside of the gender binary. Giving american men the natural behavior to want to produce a manhood that is harsh but welcomed We see this want cultivated in today's pop culture from movies to tv shows that have hypermasculinized the idea of the ideal man being a womanizer on sexual conquest leading men in the real world to feel lonely because they can't meet the ideals men's quota.

For decades women have been put under the pressure of looking a certain way. This pressure, primarily begins in the adolescence- teenage years of a girl’s life. Teenage girls are expected to have perfect bodies.Thin- but curvy, tan- but

In my opinion the false masculinity concepts from 2003 stated in Season of Life are still alive and even worse. From a very young age, children have the wrong idea what it means to be a man and chances are they never will. There is so much pressure on young kids to compete and be better than others. Often, you are only compared to someone else and because of this, young men come to false conclusions about manhood. Over time, they believe that masculinity is about athletic ability, sexual conquest, and economic success. Now with the evolution of technology the false masculinity has gotten even worse.

Women who aspire to possess a quintessential figure, an hourglass body shape or appear like a gorgeous celebrity may be in constant search for products or programs that supposedly will enable them to achieve their dreams. Beyonce, Scarlett Johannson and Kim Kardashian are perfect examples of celebrities with gorgeous figures. The masses aspire to mimic them. Large busts, small waists and curvy hips are an attraction for men and women all over the world. Achieving such a figure takes extreme effort, this may involve diets and exercise that are time consuming and in some cases ineffective.

Using the analysis from the film we can then explore and define the ideas behind masculinity to get better insight on this. Americas idea of masculinity is defined within the film as being assertive and constantly showing your strength. I say this because one part of the film the researchers begin to show us a video of a military man and showing us the strength that this man has. They also describe how super heroes are usually packed with muscles and are trying to save the world. So, masculinity could be defined as being strong on the outside and being able to defend yourself as well as defending the people around you while sacrificing your

Jackson Katz’s film Tough Guise 2 seeks to expose how the media promotes a toxic ideology behind what makes a man masculine and show that it is a social construct. For decades print, television, videogames, and film have presented masculinity in a way that makes men think the only way to be manly is to be emotionally unavailable, sexually aggressive, and violent. This ideology has been a curse on culture in America and many other countries around the world. “We're not living in the Wild West. We're not a Third World nation” (Katz). The days of warrior culture, where a man had to protect his family from being pillaged in the dead of night, are long past us. However, the media promotes an ideology that men must still be prepared to answer the

In Robert Jensen’s article “The High Cost of Manliness”, he states that the idea of masculinity is a bad thing and they should get rid of it. This article debates on the common stereotypes of men, as he states:

Aaron Devor discusses the patriarchally-expected gender roles of today’s society. He delves into the discussion of femininity versus masculinity. Society associates femininity with weakness, whilst associating masculinity with greatness.

Currently in the United States less than one percent of domestic abuse is reported to police. Nevertheless, about thirty five percent of the American population will endure such cruelties. There is often a separation between public and private matters pertaining to relationships for fear of judgment. Gender stereotypes have the ability to inflict tremendous pressure upon a person’s reaction to mistreatment for there is emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse. Currently in the media a relevant discussion about sexual abuse in the workplace has surged a mass discussion. Various influential figures in Hollywood such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and Matt Lauer are faced with sexual harassment and or rape accusations. The significant

History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be

Each day, millions of individuals around the world are exposed to media messages. Whether these messages are broadcasted through television, print media, or the Internet, the dominant culture has an undeniable influence on the minds of the general public. With the tactical use of both apparent and subliminal messages, the thought patterns of many individuals have been moulded to believe only one perception of what is morally acceptable. The ideology of masculinity, and the guidelines surrounding its validity, is one of the many societal norms constructed by the media. Over the past fifty years, men’s physiques, weapons, and vehicles, among other things, have undergone a massive transformation in published works.

Concrete and tangible as the trait for masculine words represent males are more reliable, important, and capable. Therefore, males become the leader and center of the society. Females tend to be marginalized like those abstract feminine words, which we barely able to touch. However, abstract things are as important as concrete things. Could it be said that history is less valuable than diamond? It is the same for males and females. Sometimes, we are lost in stereotypes when we concern masculinity and felinity. Women are not as strong as men; women should be submissive and obey their husbands; men should be tough and never cry; men are always the center and top. But as we known, there are women who are more capable than men, and there are men are emotional and cry. Who defines "masculinity" and "feminity"? People aren 't words, which we can categorize into feminine or masculine lists. We are more than just male or female. We are first individuals and then men or women. Gender should never become stereotypes and obstacles on the way to pursuing equality for every

The Essay "Size 6: The Western Women's Harem" by Fatema Mernissi really hit home with me out of the essay's that were assigned this week. It is an essay about her realization of western civilizations obsession with being a certain size in order to be beautiful or considered normal. Growing up my family referred to their outward appearance as stocky or big boned. I have always been larger than the other girls in my age group; it has been a constant struggle the majority of my life to be a “normal” size. There is such a stigma on beauty, a perfection that sets us up to be attractive or not. Unfortunately that comes with a set of impossible guidelines all of which are fickle and seem to change with the times. We see images of models whose photos

According to Judith Butler, masculinity comes from sports (football) and other culturally influenced activities. She states that biologically a man is a man, however a man is taught how to act through activities. For example, Butler used football saying “teaches men, both young and old, how to act like men, and women, both young and old, what to expect from them” (McBride 130).

Whether it’s magazine covers, instagram, twitter, on television or just on the world wide web in general, everywhere we look we see stunning models. Models that are incredibly thin and can look good in anything. Our society is obsessed with how perfect they look, yet at the end of the day women everywhere looks in the mirror and doesn’t see the body of the girl she sees on social media. Even though women come in all shapes and sizes in nature, the expectation to have a skinny, perfect body just seems to be the expectation for our society nowadays. Society puts too much pressure on females to have the perfect body. The emphasis for a girls ideal body to be perfect, thin, but curvy at the same time affects women emotionally and causes them feelings of, body dissatisfaction, can cause eating disorders, and major psychological issues.