Concept Reflection #10
The main idea behind Tough Guise 2 was that men are taught at a young age to have a tendency towards violence and use it to solve disagreements and express their feelings. This has been the case throughout American History. They are taught that being anything but aggressive, angry, dominant or tough is “too feminine” or “gay”. There is a correlation between an increase of violence in society and the increasing display of masculinity among men. Jackson Katz stated that violent crimes are predominantly committed by men, most likely due to the fact that they are taught to be violent at a young age. The media also has a big role in teaching boys to be violent; video games, movies, books and even toys often highlight weapon usage and violence against others.
Gender socialization was one of the main points of the documentary. From birth boys are taught to be rough and tough and are taught how to fight to protect themselves by their fathers and male family figures. If they cry they are called a “sissy” or other names that are much harsher by their peers. Body consciousness was mentioned because toys such as G.I Joe have been shown to have increasingly large biceps as body trends have changed and boys are taught to follow that image. There was a lot of symbolism because there were many figures throughout history that are seen as the template for “a real man”, people such as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan were seen as the ideal man for much of the 20th Century.
There was a lot of mention of gun violence and gun control in the documentary, I did not expect to see that. But I was surprised by how much guns are advertised in the media and owning and using them is seen as a form of masculinity. Katz pointed out that each race/ethnicity adopts practices from other races and ethnicity about what being a man is. White and asian men sometimes adopt behaviors that are usually practiced by black men, black and hispanic men; especially in urban areas; often learn techniques from white, italian and cuban men in movies such as scarface. It is somewhat of a cycle. He also pointed out that in the past asian men were portrayed as feminine and weak in movies, but the stereotypes began to change once people like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li became popular. While watching this documentary I learned that there a very thin line that men can walk on without being ridiculed or outcasted, and if they take one step away from it, they are labeled as anything but a man. It is not as easy being a man as people assume.
The movie covered a lot of information in a short time. I agree with the perspective because Katz discussed how boys are socialized, the reasons behind it and how it has affected society. I think that male gender socialization in other cultures should have been included. I notice that the definition of masculinity is different in other cultures as compared to American culture. For example, in Spain people often greet each other by kissing on the cheeks; even the men kiss each other; if a man were to do that in American society they would be called names such as gay. Katz did a great job covering the definition of masculinity in our culture, but I think it would have been better to compare it to the definition of masculinity in other cultures. Possibly, to show that it is much different in other parts of the world.
