Jackson Katz Masculinity

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

Masculinity and Muscularity Across Western Countries” Calogero and Thompson state that “Young men of ten view the attainment of a muscular body is indicative of having reached the status of being a man,” however after achieving this goal they are unhappy and must set a new goal. Many body builders reach that point, they see someone who is bigger and want to become bigger and better than them. It’s like the Mr. Olympia competition, the winner is the most muscular guy there with the most rippling muscles while the losers go back to work-out bench, desiring to beat those other, next time. Mills & D’Alfonso, from “How Is Men’s Conformity…” state “Masculine stereotype is closely connected to men’s fear of appearing physically inadequate and their desire to muscularity, physical bulk, and

Response The documentaries Tough Guys and Killing us Softly, really brought to light the way masculinity and femininity are represented in our society. The characteristics and associations that are made when these words are thought of are bizarre and not natural. I strongly believe that both masculinity and femininity are learned characteristics from the human environment. I often wonder if people would even have these ideas and characteristics that are associated with gender in the beginning of time, or if people have slowly began to define and differentiate the genders throughout the evolution of time.

The Masculine Man is not Asian Mainstream media constantly through television and films reinforce ideas about what it means to be a masculine man in society. In film masculine men are depicted as aggressive, strong, physically desirable and white, deviation from these norms classifies men as not masculine (Garst & Bodenhausen 1997). Asian men are generally depicted in media as shy, nerdy, feminine, evil and angry or money hungry (Han et al., 2014). According to Victoria Do (2006), since the early 20th century Asian American men have been stereotyped as asexual and effeminate. These are both counterparts to masculinity where asexuality is where an individual does not have sexual feelings and being effeminate is where a man has or show characteristics

This documentary is described on the WGSS BlackBoard page as a documentary that “follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.” This struggle is shown in many different ways and there are many different reasons given for it. Throughout the course of the documentary, many different topics from this semester of this WGSS class are touched upon. For example, the effects of toxic masculinity and the way sexual/gendered language are shown in the everyday lives of these boys and men.

This portrays the unstable situation of masculinity in America. The population tends to expose American men as helpless and weak. The population

Although it is common to see how women are misrepresented, the male population is also victimized by improper portrayal in the media. One could see that the view of masculinity promoted by the media is erroneous and brings about negative feelings in men such as self-doubt and inferiority. False perceptions of how men should be are conveyed in the article, “Are Men the Latest Victims of Media Misrepresentation,” stating that “the media industry tend[s] to characterize men as macho guys, skirt chasers and inept at parenting and relationships. While this may have historically been true, what our results showed is that these characterizations aren’t reflecting the behavior and aspirations of today’s men” (Casserly 1). From this quote, one

Men and women in our culture are constantly forced to act a certain way. Humanity takes joy in dictating how each gender should behave. In “Jock Culture” by Robert Lipstye and “Strong Enough” by Wendy Shanker, we learn countless pressures and insecurities that both women and men face in today’s society. The tension placed on both men and women to meet a certain standard may often lead to catastrophic outcomes. Unfortunately, both men and women constantly feel the pressure of fitting into society’s norms, but fitting into these norms comes with many consequences.

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

In the documentary, Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity, the focus is on mass media and society’s influence and expectations of the male gender and how ‘real men’ are defined. “Boys and young men, learn early on that being a so-called, ‘real man,’ means you have to take on the tough-guise,” Jackson Katz, Ph. D. continues, “In other words, you only have to show the world certain parts of yourself that the dominant culture has defined as manly.” In the opening segment of the documentary, Dr. Katz, one of America’s leading anti-sexist activists, provides the audience of how the title was developed. Together with The Media Education Foundation, the documentary encourages the audience to think and analyze the influence mass media has, socially, politically as well as culturally in the development of young men. Tough Guise breaks down the correlation of pop-culture imagery and the social

Young men from lower socioeconomic status fall victim to hyper-masculinity in magazine advertisements to achieve the ideal image of a man. Magazines advertisements use male models that have exaggerated ideas of masculinity known as Hyper-masculinity. They are often depicted as violent, tough, emotionless, enjoying danger and insensitive towards woman. Because young men, especially those from the lower class with little power, aspire to fit into society’s normality of a man, they are more susceptible to not only purchasing products advertised by using hyper-masculine but behaving the part as well. This can be especially dangerous when it promotes a more violent society.

The documentary Tough Guise 2 sheds light on a hidden truth to how men respond to threats on their masculinity and how masculinity is continuously reinforced. Jackson Katz reports that men commit the most violent crimes including mass shootings, and rapes. Katz points out that the reason why this is, is due to the fact that men are expected to be tough and aggressive, and if they feel their masculinity is threatened they respond with violence. Mass media also contributes to the ideal masculinity by creating aggressive games, and films that portray men violently. Katz emphasizes that male violence has become so common it has basically became a norm among

There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.

Masculinity is a cultural standard and guise that boys and men often follow to fit into the social expectations and hide their vulnerability. Media is one of the most powerful influences on the way boys perceive and learn the social norms connected with manhood. Boys/men adopt the “tough guise” as a persona to portray themselves as powerful, tough, strong and in control because our society has linked masculinity with these characteristics. From a young age, boys learn about what it means to be a “real man” and the consequences that come with not qualifying as one. The media and pop culture often depict violence as a masculine cultural norm and has led to a growing increase in violence, especially across racial and class lines like African Americans

Masculinity (also called boyhood, manliness or manhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with boys and men. But the culture doesn’t end at the definition, it starts from there. The first thing to come to mind when the word masculinity is heard is usually a man flexing his gigantic muscles, as the word might sound to suggest, and that right there is the current culture of masculinity because sadly, in the world we live in, not everyone has a “muscular body”. So far we know the concept of masculinity, but the culture is what is truly hampering.