Tough Guise 2 Documentary Analysis

The first reason why women commit so many less crimes is because of the chemical balance and hormones in their bodies. Men have much more testosterone then women and a high amount of testosterone can lead to more agitation and violent behaviors and tendencies. Women don 't have as much testosterone so they are usually more well behaved and don 't get angry and violent as much. This would definitely explain the reason why women commit so many less violent crime. “Women account for shockingly only less than 20% of all violent crime” (Schmalleger 115). Another major reason for the difference in crime rates between men and women is evolution and the the evolutionary Neuroandrogenic Theory. Which is basically a theory that “the propensity for crime commission evolved among humans beings as part of the male reproductive strategy” (Schmalleger 118). Evolution has just played such a big role in all of this because females seem to have more sense when it comes to the world and reacting around it which definitely has a correlation to their lower crime rates. They will think more than males and act more appropriately to any

Scientists have suggested that biological characteristics of males predispose them towards certain behavior and statistical evidence exists to support these ideas. Blum examined crime reports in the United States and Europe and noted that men commit ten to fifteen times as many robberies as women (459). She also noted that for those robberies men were twice as likely to use a gun while committing the crime. Daly and Wilson present homicide rates for men and women in their article “Darwinism and the Roots of Machismo.” They found that in the United States, Canada, and England over a time period spanning 15 to 20 years, men committed 10 to 30 times as many homicides as women. Based on these statistics it is clear

The scientific journal, Sex Role: A Journal of Research includes an article by Melissa Bell and Nichole Bayliss called The Tough Guise: Teaching Violent Masculinity as the Only Way to Be a Man, they note that in the documentary Tough Guise 2,

No matter what, we are almost always talking about violence masculinity in America. Whether we are talking about the horrifying, high-profile mass shooting we have seen over recent decades, the far greater rates of murder and gun violence we see on a day – to – day basis that barely register in the national news, or the epidemic of sexual violence and domestic violence, the vast majority of this violence is committed by men, young men, and boys (Jackson Katz, 2013). Throughout this essay the topics covered will be how culture defines masculinity, according to the film, violent masculinity as a cultural norm, agents of socialization that teach boys how to be men, the cool

     Many researchers point to the fact that men are “dispensable” creatures as the reason for their affinity to violence. The fact that one man has enough sperm to produce an entire population means that they have to compete for females. This competition drives them to commit violent acts against each other to better their chances of finding a mate. Of course, such behavior is not common today, but sociologists argue that this is how men developed their violent nature towards each other. Another related theory of why men are more violent than women is that historically separate populations have always been in competition. Competition for land, resources and women. To protect their genetic makeup and ensure that their genes will be passed on to future generations, the males of the population acted violently towards the males of any population threatening their own. One example of this is the holocaust, in which the Nazis attempted to exterminate the Jewish population in order for the Aryan race to prosper. The fact that men are more inclined to commit violent acts against one another more than towards women and children reinforces the argument that they act violently in order to ensure their genes will be passed on to future generations.

People who do not act masculine get called names like “sissy’s” and “Faggots”. The name calling box in boys which pressure them into becoming a “Man”.

The arrest rate for men is approximately 80 percent of all violent crimes. There are a few theories as to why this happens these include men have more behavioral freedom than women. Police officers are less like to view women as criminals because they are weaker and lesser threatening than men.

A one-hour long film produced by Media Education Foundation and directed by Sut Jhally, Tough Guise is a documentary released in 1999. The film features Jackson Katz - an anti-violence educator, filmmaker and author – who, as the title of the film itself implies, speaks about representations of violence and hypermasculinity prevalent in our social media, and how this affects our society as a whole.

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

According to our textbook major studies on dating violence found that women are both the victims and perpetrators of physical dating violence at similar rate or higher rate then men. However, whoever starts the violence the women are injured more often and severely when they are victimized by violence (Kindschi,2013).I found this surprising because of the readings, the research, and combined with some of the arrest data I have read for this class the overwhelming support and belief is that domestic violence incidents disproportionately involve male offenders who batter female victims. After all, men are the primary perpetrators of violent crime, and this should also reflect in physical dating violence.

Women tend to commit different crimes than men do, the crimes women that are most linked to are theft, fraud, production, supply and possession with intent. Men often commit violent crimes, robbery, burglary and sexual offences. In 2014/15 there were 534 homicides recorded in the United

Tough Guise did a remarkable job of addressing the problems society faces unconsciously by trying to attain dominance and gain acceptance in the social hierarchy of present times. The narrator of the film, Jackson Katz, touches upon various ways masculinity is perceived and gained. In one section of the movie, the topic of how culture influences young men is analyzed thoroughly and gives insight on what we unconsciously process. For example, hypermasculinity shows how many men strive for dominance such as a having a cool pose or behavior. Katz uses multiple sources as examples for his arguments, some of which are how minorities play a role in the media, how sexual abuse is normalized in the younger generations, and how violent crimes feed some people’s hunger for masculine acceptance and dominance.

The normative understanding of masculinity ceases to change in part due to its impervious representation in films. The entertainment industry conveys normative ideas on masculinity to the public through films in often obvious and sometimes subtle ways that creates a singular mainstream view on what the ideal man is. Films such as Fight Club (1999), directed by David Fincher, portray masculinity in a seemingly unique artistic way, but in the end the cultural philosophies on gender remain the same. Through the constructs of violence, power and apathy toward women the film encourages the conservation of the already established understandings of masculinity. Fight Club being filmed in 1999 demonstrates how long conventional views on masculinity

Almost every person has heard the quote “the first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club”, a line from a film that’s widely known for its mind-bending plot that’s a blend of dark comedy, psychological thriller, and drama (Linson & Fincher, 1999). Despite its entertainment value, many fail to see the films in-depth social commentary on life in post-modern America. I saw that the film subtly skewers many aspects of life today such as consumerism, morality, organized religion, pop culture; and the focus of this essay; the portrayal of masculinity. In Fight Club, masculinity is portrayed as an essential merit of identity, absent in the average postmodern American male due to the consumerist nature of society. Consequently, the

John Woo and his “heroic bloodshed” have revolutionized and rejuvenated the action genre, combining melodrama with action to create the male melodrama, in which he explores the codes of masculinity while redefining them. Robert Hanke says that “explosive pyrotechnics seem to be privileged over plot, narrative or character” (Hanke 41) and yet notes that Jillian Sandell maintains the opinion that Woo does not “celebrate this violence, but rather uses it to represent a nostalgia for a lost code of honor and chivalry” (Hanke 1999: 45). While characterized by violence, Woo’s films define masculinity within a changing world. He does not set out to make violent films, defending A