Tough Guise 2
Jackson Katzās Tough Guise 2 is a fantastic documentary that should be played at every high school, college and university in America. If there was a Tough Guise 2 film that uses simpler vocabulary for the purpose of being aimed at a younger audience, then it should be played for 7th and 8th graders as well. Katz tackles our ridiculous gender norms head on by showing with clear evidence how society is at fault and should take responsibility for our aggressive and/or violent view of masculinity. Multiple scenes from movies, TV shows, and commercials are played throughout the entire film in order to show the viewers that entertainment that we all know and love to watch are sending the wrong messages. The continuation of violent films only supports the violent image of males. When you watch movies, majority of the time there is violence present, violence between males. In society, we have this idea that males are supposed to prove their masculinity by being violent, aggressive and show no feelings or emotions that will be seen as weakness. Children are taught at a young age about masculinity and femininity. For example, little boys are taught that they need to be strong simply because they are boys and they cannot be weak like girls. Simple play fighting only teachers little boys even more how to age, by being violent and aggressive. Some parents may use the excuse that they are teaching their son to defend himself, but again, violence is not the answer. Little girls are taught that they are these precious, fragile beings that shouldnāt engage in any violent activity and wait for āprince charmingā to come. Of course, this does not go for every single family in America; it is just a general example.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā However, with just that example given above, it shows how society divides both sexes. āBoys will be boysā is a common excuse used in order to justify the violent actions of males. However, whenever females are shown in the media being violent, society has this āOH MY GODā attitude, that what these females did was beyond unacceptable. Meanwhile, males can do the exact same thing and there is an attitude that seems like āOh, of course. It happens.ā Katz proves this by showing clips from the news regarding videos posted of females fighting. These attitudes are the exact reason why I believe a showing of Tough Guise 2 along with talks from many creditable individuals should occur for those in 7th grade all the way up to oneās final year in College. We must teach children when they are young what is going on. It will be hard of course; by at the same time it might be easy getting the message through them. High school and college years are years where much change occurs and our eyes are opened to many issues and topics we never realized before. So with the viewing of Tough Guise 2 along with talks, we can be reminder that we do not need to follow societyās definition of male and female.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Violence sells. There is such a rush one feels when watching a movie or TV show with an insane amount of aggressive and violent behavior. And along with these types of movies, women that are in the film mostly need to be rescued. If the entertainment business started creating good movies with female lead characters and gave women a positive image, I believe there would be a shift in the world. I believe women would see these big movies and realize that women are strong, that they are powerful. And hopefully men would agree with the message from these movies that women are independent and should be treated as equals.
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