Gender Norm Media And Culture

Violence is a mechanism of coercive control that is used to maintain and reinforce gender difference and hierarchy. Building on Lynch 's (2009) claim that hegemonic masculinity is "toxic to both the men and women left in its wake" this essay aims to explore the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and violence. Placing a specific focus on acts of intimate partner violence and mass shootings, and exploring the works of Lynch (2009), Keith (2011), Baugher, & Gazmararian (2015), Kimmel, Hearn, & Connell (2004), Reidy, Berke, Gentile, & Zeichner (2014) and, Katz, Young, Earp, & Jhally (1999 & 2013), this essay seeks to argue that the strict regulation of masculinity as well as a history of encouraging male violence in our society has created a dangerous and hostile climate for both men and women to exist in.

Each day, violence is pushed on children, teenagers, and adults. Yet we as a society continue to overlook the issue. We fail to ask ourselves the important questions. Why are there so many mass shootings, why are there so many unjustified murders, or why are men using masculinity as an excuse to become more aggressive towards woman sexually, and also towards men who don’t display what our modern cultures and movies tell us is manly? I believe that we don’t ask these questions not because we don’t want to hear the answers, instead because glorified ferocity has become a normal part of our everyday lives. So much so, that we think it’s just the way life is. After watching Tough Guise 2 it becomes clear that although violent action is the end result, our true problem lies within the horrible messages our movies present to us.

Society has a way of creating standards and expectations for the roles of men and women. The two videos Killing Us Softly and Tough Guise showed how society truly portrays men and women. The overall media system defines men. It is where they learn it what it means to be a “man”. In the video, Tough Guise, dominance, power, and control were the most commonly used adjectives to describe men. (1) Media not only gives men a certain role but it stereotypes certain races of men. Latinos are seen as boxers or criminals, Asian’s are seen as martial artists of sneaky criminals, and African Americans are seen as thugs or murderers. (1) Media directly associates violence with men. Violence has become an acepted part of masculinity. Young boys learn that if they don't want be be a “wimp” then they have to act out in violent ways. On the contrary, in the

The leading point central on the difference between opinions of Tough Guise are that forcefulness in America is overpoweringly a gendered occurrence and that any effort to comprehend violence consequently involves that we realize its link to traditional codes and beliefs of courage and manhood (Kataz, 5). Over the year’s media images has played a major role in many individuals’ behavior changed established on his or her beliefs, also on how someone thinks and acts found off on what individuals see (Kataz, 5). One the foremost point of this documentary is that regardless of widespread change of violence in American culture, it’s very encouraging that violence can be stopped. Violent masculinity is no more “natural” than media imagery. Together depend on organized routines. The assumption of this documentary amount to this: By identifying, and categorizing, masculinity which is a process, a painful repetitive built on elimination and watching, we may be able to begin to learn how to break free with the narrowing problems of masculinity.

Media portrays femininity on a daily, in our lives. Femininity are the qualities that traditionally associate with females. In movies femininity are strongly showed. People of all ages are exposed to the expectations of femininity which affects our views on female. In the media such as movies like “Cinderella” the portrayal reinforces gender stereotypes to their audience.

In America’s daily consumption of media a strange trend has developed in the last couple years. It seems that whenever a real life tragedy occurs many news outlets and politicians tend to place the blame, not in the instigator of these violent acts, but instead in the media they consume which they believed made them this way. "I think there's a question as to whether he would have driven in his mother's car in the first place if he didn't have access to a weapon that he saw in video games that gave him a false sense of courage about what he could do that day." (Murphy) This quote taken from an 2013 debate on a bill to ban assault weapons gives us all the information we need. Violence in media and how it affects violence in real life is misrepresented

Advertisements, movies, TV shows, and other such things that consumers and viewers look at set a certain standard for society. They tell society to look a certain way and act a certain way. People don’t see a problem with messages that the media puts out, but it is a problem, especially when it affects people's self-esteems, labels people, and creates stereotypes about class and gender. Jean Kilbourne talks about one of these standards in her text “Two ways a woman can get hurt”: Advertising and Violence. Kilbourne focuses on gender norms in society, and how advertisements portray them. bell hooks a cultural critic, scholar, and prolific writer, author of Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor has similar views but she focuses on class, and how society represents the different classes in media, such as in movies and tv shows. These points can be seen in many tv shows and movies. Gossip Girl, for example, is a tv drama that attracts young adults, that shows the division between classes. Gossip Girl is about a group of teenagers who live in the upper East side of Manhattan, New York. The main characters Serena, Blair, Nate, and Chuck are all very rich. Then there is Dan who is also a main character and Jenny his little sister, that are considered to be poor. It is very obvious from the beginning how different they are from their classmates from the beginning of the show. It is seen in the way they dress, do their hair, their hobbies, where they live, and how they

This leads to lack of sympathy for victims of violence, notably in children. The surgeon general, National Health Institute and other professional medical organizations such as the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association have linked exposure to media violence to societal violence. The author argues that these studies may not be of considerable importance to claim that media violence is a public health risk. There other factors that are of more concern for societal violence such as being male or female, socioeconomic status, and intelligence. More research needs to be done before arguing media violence has a role in societal violence. I chose this article because it associates societal violence with the film industry. We see how different members of the film industry respond after a violent school shooting committed by an adolescent male. It shows opposing views of whether or not media violence affects behaviour, stating that the general public doesn’t believe it plays a role in

Conventionally, American society the notion of ‘masculinity’ is built upon violence and aggression. For example; mainstream Hollywood movies, video games and music promote hyper-masculine and hyper-aggressive culture

This annotated bibliography focuses on topics related to gender roles and media, specifically how female portrayal within media affect life concerns of women. A major theme discussed in many referenced sources is the emphasis on appearance and beauty in female audiences. Traditional female gender roles have an underlying focus on what is considered the ideal image, and it is apparent those concerns are still a major topic of discussion. Conducted surveys and online media exposure studies indicate that not only is media heavily saturated with emphasis on female appearance, but that the content exposure is affecting certain female demographics. My literature review will focus on how the exposure to appearance ideals affects women success in other

In the United States, there has been an increasing amount of mass shootings and similar violent crimes every year. Within the last decade, the rate of violent crimes has spiralled too far out of control for the people to understand why. This sudden increase in violent crimes has left everyone stumbling for a cause or a reason for the spike in the trend. As of late, many have turned the blame to guns, to education, and lastly to violent media. Since the early 2000’s violent media has become far more popular than before. In fact, many say that now is the epoch of violent video games, and that the violent movie industry is just growing. Because of the correlation between the increased popularity

As much as I hate to admit it, I do think media has an affect on how I interact with others. Media influences me to have a lot of presumptions regarding both males and females, but I found that I have more presumptions of males. The thought that all men should be strong is one example I have. Growing up, I watched a lot of Disney movies and in those movies there was always a Prince that would come and rescue the Princess. Those Disney movies made me believe that all men should be strong. Therefore, whenever I used to see a friend, who was a guy, look kind of weak, I would tell him that he should start working out, even though I should have realized and accepted that every man is different. Like the video “Codes of Gender” said, men are portrayed as emotionless in the media. The media also made me assume that it was weird if a man showed sadness. When I did see a guy show that he was sad, to the point where he might have even cried, I became slightly uncomfortable. I have only recently accepted that it is okay for a man to cry. Media, especially in movies, tend to portray men as dominant over women, and

Gender inequality is the idea or situation that men and women are not equal, and is a problem in countries around the world. I will be focusing my research on this type of inequality in Canada. It is an issue for both men and women that they are exposed to at birth, is fed by the media as a teen, and continues in their everyday life as an adult. My approach to this issue is examining three topics that are related to my assignment: childhood, everyday life, and the media. Acts of gender inequality can be found within these broad points that negatively or positively affect males and females. For childhood, there will be toys, clothing, and child advertising. In everyday life, I will cover the workplace, travel, and costs. Media will include celebrities, television/movies, and social media. My thesis statement is: gender inequality is evident in many stages of human development through childhood, teenage years, and adulthood. Gender inequality is a real thing and it is proven in childhood, as a teenager, and adult.

Stereotypes have become a prevalent issue in our media. They, without our knowledge, prevent us from moving forward as human. In this essay, I will discuss the effects of stereotypes in media on gender roles, religion, and race.

As a Communication major, I spend a lot of time studying the human communication process, which is the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between a receiver and sender. This communication process does not only apply to face-to-face interactions but also includes mass media, rhetorical, and technological communication. Through these various forms of communication, the sender not only expresses his/her message but also expresses power hierarchies about race, gender, and sexuality that are present in society. Mass media has a significant impact on socializing gender roles and perpetuating gender stereotypes, and to prove that, I am analyzing mass media messages, such as television shows, movies, and advertisements.