Part one of the 1999 film “Tough Guise” aims to prove that masculinity is male trait highly associated with media perceptions. This masculinity is projected to hide vulnerability, retain male power, and emphasize toughness, which then leads to violence.
To prove that violence is primarily a male problem, narrator Jackson Katz first provides statistics on aggressive crimes in America. For instance, 95% of domestic violence is committed by men. One out four men will abuse a spouse at some point in their lives. Furthermore, 85% of murders are done by men, and most murders committed by women are done in defense. Katz presents these statistics to demonstrate that within American society, violent crimes are highly a male issue.
Katz finds issue with the way media talks about this violence, because the discourse does not echo the fact that violence is male-driven. When the news talks about school shootings, for example, they call it “kids killing kids,” instead of mentioning that school shootings are typically committed by males. Of the 28 school shootings in America from 1982-2001, all but two were committed by white boys (Kimmel and Mahler 78). The news continues to address school shootings generally though, instead of as a gendered problem. When females commit violence, however, the focus is on their gender because it is unusual. Thus, male and female violence is talked about differently is because male violence is expected due to media portrayals of men; violence is not addressed as a gender issue until women are the offenders, because it is unexpected of them.
Another convincing argument about male violence relating to media comes from media personalities. Men who degrade and/or make jokes about women are particularly popular in American society. When men like Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern get attention for their misogyny, it is because they are relating to something that is already present in the male-dominated society. These jokes moreover reinforce the contrasting “weakness” of women and justify why they should have less power than men.
Katz’s strongest argument is that as rights and awareness come to women and gay communities, the masculine discourse heightens in response to retain their societal control. He claims that men appear more muscular and women are skinnier over time in movies and TV as a response to women’s rights increasing; men are dominating the screen (physically and metaphorically) while women are literally taking up less space on the same screen. When women take up less space, they are perceived as less important and therefore it is justifiable to not take them seriously. Katz says that this increase in male physicality began in response to the feminist, anti-war, civil rights, and student social movements of the 1960s. Increasing male masculinity in media was a backlash by the heterosexual, white, adult male population in order to reassert their dominance.
There were no points in particular that I found unconvincing in “Tough Guise”. I would have liked, however, more analysis regarding his argument about men of color being portrayed as “hyperviolent” in comparison to white males. Katz claimed that this projection occurs because the American structure systematically denies people of color the opportunity to get a good education or job, so all they have left is their masculinity. James Gilligan makes a similar point in his article, “Shame, Guilt, and Violence”. Gilligan writes that “racial discrimination” and “economic inequality” can alienate a colored man and make him think that owning a gun is “like a bank card – an equalizer” (Gilligan 12). I felt Katz could have expanded this point with further explanation and examples to get his point across.
“Tough Guise” relates to Sociology 360 because it focuses on social constructions and ideals in American society. According to the film, the ideal male is socially constructed by media to appear strong and violent to hide vulnerability and retain authority. This is similar to the “tough” ideal male that we have discussed in class. It also relates to our class discussions on male dominance over women and people within the gay community, because of their supposed “threat” to male power.
One point that stood out to me was the idea that violence is a learned behavior that is not necessarily natural to males. If I were to plan a research study around this point, I would ask boys between the ages of four and ten to use one word to define a man. I would then ask them where they learned that a man should be whatever word they said. This would determine if young boys really do learn ideas about violence from the media, like Katz suggests.
Word Count: 755
Works Cited
Gilligan, James. "Shame, Guilt, Violence." Social Research Winter (2003): 1149-180. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Matthew Mahler. "What Triggers School Shootings?" Readings in Deviant Behavior. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2010. 76-82. Print.
Tough Guise. Dir. Sut Jhally. Perf. Jackson Katz. Media Education Foundation, 1999. DVD.
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