Part 1.
Question 1
According to Banksy's, graffiti should be perceived positively owing its affirmative expression of an individual’s feelings. In his argument, the artist attests that graffiti sanctifies our surrounding rather than vandalize it as perceived by some people. He offers the reader with insightful example where he makes the reader imagine of a colourful city with a few phrases and billboard advertisements, a city where standing and waiting for a bus could not be boring but rather interesting to watch the beautiful and colourful graffiti. In Graffiti: Art or Vandalism by Jessica Barahona, Barahona expresses her positive perception of graffiti similar to the of Banksy, apart from being eye catching, graffiti according to Barahona is a way of life, culture framework under which one can effectively express his or her imagination. Based on this, graffiti ought not to be considered as a criminal act, but rather a way of expressing ones opinions and feelings. The two artist in their arguments fully supports graffiti though from differing perspectives.
Question 2
Evident from the movie La Mission, Che Rivera, the father of Jes Rivera is a man who is tough enough to survive the odds of life. He has masculine qualities and a man enough to live by his fists; he is highly esteemed man in Mission district of San Francisco, additionally, despite being a recuperated alcoholic and living without a wife, he struggles to offer his son all he wants. According to Rudolfo Anaya, the author of "I'm the King", a family man from his definition of macho ought to be an honourable man, in this he means that a man ought to provide to the family, work with other men to assure law and order in the village among many other highly esteemed qualities. Rudolfo Anaya could, therefore, say that Che Rivera best suits the definition of a macho.
Part II
“But the game has taken on a manipulative aspect. The assertion of one over another is part of our conditioning. The game has turned ugly in many ways; we are numbed by the outcome of the conditioning factors .” This statement implies that the expectations of the macho behaviour have turned from the traditional context which machismo was designed to meet. It has taken on a selfish turn to encourage culturally unhealthy competition where males are involved. The tradition of Hispanic masculinity was not violence or manipulation and it has been misunderstood and practiced wrongly in the modern day. The role of sex in the community was intended to shape a better Hispanic society and not to destroy it through oppressing women and exercising chauvinism. This cultural misconception is evident by observation in the modern day culture where men take macho behaviour for a completely different act of having women for objects instead of partners as a show of authority.
“Talking about being macho also means the role of women in our lives. In a traditional setting, the Mexican mother raises the male child and has a greater influence on the learned macho behaviour of the child .” While there is truth in this statement, it is puzzling by the expectation it puts on women to impact a male child’s masculinity. Inasmuch as women play the role of influencing male behaviour in their children, men also are very important at the same. Fathers are a good back up for women at defining a male child’s behaviour and it’s a heartfelt concern that men ought to play a greater role in inspiring their son’s machismo from a very tender age.
“Therein lies new hope. We can constantly recreate the child; raise a child in a new way so that the macho man of yesterday needs not be a prison for us today especially its dysfunctional aspects .” The key points in these articles revolve around redefining male roles in the society. Of course this is necessary as the society is ever evolving and in need of upgrades every now and then. Furthermore such redefining of male roles will enable the society get rid of unwanted chauvinistic behaviour. It will help maintain the role of males in the society that has lost touch with its sense of sexual roles. More importantly is the rate at which men have taken on misguided paths of violence and drunkenness. These may be addressed by redefining male behaviour every now and then.
Works Cited
Anaya, Rudolfo. I Am The King: The Macho Image. Los Angeles: Warner Books, 1996. Print.
