Violence And Masculinity

The film “Tough Guise 2- Violence, Manhood & American Culture”, from the onset inundated my concepts, notions, and ideals concerning males and violence with a jolt of realism as well as reflection. This film made me observe more closely the relationship between media and violence when viewed under the lenses of proper sociological discourse. Ours is a patriarchal society. As such, this affords a greater understanding as to the portrayal of violence with and against males. Furthermore, the escalation of violence has a direct correlation between images in the popular media as well as ideological concepts on gender roles, violence, and masculinity perpetuated as mores of society. Jackson Katz film argues that the epidemic of male violence in America is ingrained in our incapacity in society to transcend patriarchy and the ideological misconceptions that this permeates.

As Americans, living in a egotistical and self centered society, we often think that we are the best, the top 1 percent in every aspect. However, When compared to other countries of the world, America is ranked 14th in education, 44th in health care efficiency, and 101th in peace. But it ranks first in incarceration, 2nd in ignorance, and 3rd in global competitiveness. One can see how the rankings that America is top in are those that promote violence in one way or another. In the book Violence and Culture: A Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Approach by Jack David Eller, the author discusses violence in American society in one of his chapters. In this chapter, he mentions some social characteristics that represents and plays a role in

For as long as humanity has existed, men have committed violence against one another. Assuredly, Nancy G. Guerra’s and Lyndee Knox’s entry on violence in the Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice affirms that, “As historical and cross-cultural records demonstrate, our evolutionary history is laced with examples of violence. Indeed, paleontological data reveal a rather continuous stream of human violence dating back thousands of years.” It is clear that violence is a part of human nature that has always existed and will likely never be eradicated. One of the aspects that all forms of violence seem to share is that, societally (in terms, at the very least, of Western societies), they are looked down upon. Consequentially, those who commit violent

In relation to gender, masculinity plays a crucial role in shaping ego and self-esteem. While answering the question “how does violence relate to masculinity?” it is important that we examine the pressures of both societal and cultural norms.

Many socio-historical studies on masculinity have often revealed how Machismo is embedded in the Latino culture within the United States. Machismo is defined as a strong sense of masculine pride, often exhibited by Latino men. In Latino culture in the United States, machismo is not only accepted, but always expected. In any study that investigates the Latino group, machismo is a subject that cannot be left behind.

“Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood & American Culture” is a bold documentary highlighting the role of masculinity as it implicates American culture. In the opening scene you are befuddled by historical and Hollywood images of violence, high tempo music, and male-driven aggression. As the narrator, Jackson Katz, details in his openings statement: whether you are recoiling from violence or celebrating it, you are doing it from the viewpoint of male-driven masculinity.

Being violent gives man respect and masculine credibility (Katz, 2013). The focus should be on addressing the issue of men feeling the need to be violent to be masculine. Men should not need to feel as if violence should be the answer to their problems. Much more reasonable alternate solutions can be used to mediate a situation rather than using violence. Men are raised to believe one needs to be tough to be successful and masculine. This problem will never be solved unless people become aware that masculinity is not defined by violence.

Every day I go on TV, there is at least one story or more relating to rape, assault towards woman, and of course violence. It is getting repetitive; as a result, more and more people are starting to brush it off their shoulders like a dust. Within rape culture, there is controversy on which it is to blame. The writers Walter Moseley and Rae Gomes write an article about the remedies for rape culture “Ten Things to End Rape Culture” and how it can create an atmosphere that enable both sexes to change for the better. In “Masculinity Is More Than a Mask”, Christina Hoff Sommers discusses the relationship between violence and masculinity when she critiques and analyzes a documentary based on the biological side of masculinity.

However, it is important to note that gender-based violence also effects men as well, specifically in the ways in which gender, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status perpetuate men’s violent acts. Society’s meaning of “being a man” or “being masculine” are harmful influences to the overarching problem.

Michael S. Kimmel argues that “Violence is often the single most evident marker of manhood,” (36) and continues to note that in order to be seen as “manly,” men are conditioned to “Always be prepared to demonstrate sexual interest in the women that [they] meet, so it is impossible for any woman to get the wrong idea about [them]. In this sense, homophobia, the fear of being perceived as gay, as not a real man, keeps men exaggerating all the traditional rules of masculinity, including sexual predation with women” (37). With these points in mind, we can read men who sexually harass women online as working to assert their power as men. They seem to mobilize Kimmel’s point about “men exaggerating all the traditional rules of masculinity.” Their use of gendered and misogynistic language, then, are attempts to verbally conquer women while rape threats are attempts to show that they can physically and sexually dominate women if they want to. Thus, as Kimmel concludes, “Gender inequality is reinforced by the ways we have come to assume that men are more sexual than women, that men will always try to escalate sexual encounters to prove their manhood” (5).

I have not had much experience with masculinity or gender-based violence. However, I have noticed that whenever someone says the work gender some may think that they are talking about women’s issues and that is the problem with today’s society. People assume things and they end up getting the wrong impression of people because of the assumptions they have already made. We are all guilty of this and that includes me.

The gender stereotypes, which are constructed by our society, formulate what is required to “be a man”. The desired stereotypical trait of masculinity is a well-established male characteristic, which is vital to fit with assigned gender norms. It is perceived as desirable attribute among society, when in actuality may be causing harm with how it is shaping younger generations. The gender characteristic of masculinity and the attributes required to make a man, have been causing various mental health issues among males. The mental heath issues caused by masculinity are discussed in the movie, The Masks You Live in. Through the ideas of The Mask You Live in, this paper will discuss toxic norms associated with masculinity, how they are

In this paper we are discussing violence and masculinity, while focusing our research on a movie. We are going to go into how violence and masculinity relate to crimes and violence in society and will be discussing research from various sources to prove our hypotheses. Our group also did some of our own research with a survey that will later be discussed in the essay. Our movie that we chose to focus on is Taken, starring Liam Neeson. Our essay is going to look into how males have dominance over females since we live in a patriarchal society and how men are more prone to violence and that society aids in pushing violence into young boys.

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the

The purpose of this paper is to explore patriarchal values that reinforce violence towards women in intimate partner relationships. This paper argues that patriarchy and the social construction of masculinity reproduce male violence against women. The following sub-issues that that will be discussed are patriarchy, capitalism, the religion of Islam, and the construction of masculinity and femininity. All the sub-issues encompass patriarchy values which allows inmate partner violence.