Friday, April 18, 2008

Tough Guise

The film "Tough Guise" uncovers how mass media can impact social norms and expectations. The aspect highlighted in this film is the pressure for young males to be "hyper-masculine." Click here to watch the whole movie or read a summary.

Here's a short clip of the film:






Men in the Media: Tough Guise
In today’s society many people learn social norms and expectations from media portrayals. This is extremely true, especially in the new phenomena of hyper-masculinity in movies and television. Men in movies are becoming increasingly violent, physically larger, and overly sexual.
First, men are often portrayed in many crime, law, and reality shows. These men usually have guns, break into fights, and are overly aggressive. These men also tend to be white, heterosexual, and completely independent. On the other hand, they never display characteristics such as empathy, sensitivity, and most importantly femininity. Depictions such as these, define a new type of masculinity and many young teens are taking notice.
Second, teens are also taking notice in how these new, masculine characters appear. For instance, male actors are becoming larger and larger. Many of the males are often shirtless to display their muscles. Also, men who lack this appearance usually play comedic roles, where they can’t get girlfriends. This supports the notion that you have to be large and strong to get a partner.
Last, men in film and television are overly sexual. From James Bond, to MTV rappers, men are constantly surrounded by women. Additionally, other male characters are shown having sex with many women. This representation teaches young viewers that objectifying women is a trait of masculinity.
These new depictions of men in the media are transforming the way we think of masculinity. Men are now expected to be aggressive, unsympathetic, and sometimes even violent. This new personality must be contained by a large, muscular body. Finally, these masculine men have to be surrounded by many scantily clad women. All of these new portrayals are redefining masculinity.

2 comments:

Brooke Boeser said...

nice post! i agree, both genders are being shoved into this corner where its only ok to act a certain way. this hyper-masculinity thing is a big problem...

Katrina Michelle said...

some of the stats on that are really alarming...nothing new I guess as far as the concept goes but seeing the numbers makes it seem more extreme...It'd be interesting to take a look at how this tough guy thing is effecting women, I think its almost creating a tough girl persona as well....