Though the feminine social construct has widely been examined in the past, the masculinity construct has largely been ignored. The Tough Guise shows Katz’s enthusiasm for encouraging media literacy with regard to violence and what he refers to as the masculinity crisis. The film provides a clear insight about the role of media in promoting the societal perspectives of masculinity and the crisis that this construct provides to the society. In the film, Katz focuses on the high school and college students and focuses on the relationship between the imagery of pop culture and the social perception with regard to male identities in the United States in the 21st century. Through the film Katz tries to enlighten the viewer that some of the happenings in the American society such as the shootings that occur in schools are as a consequence of the existing masculinity crisis. He therefore shows just how popular male heroes and hyper-violence in 1980s through to 1990s developed. Ultimately, Katz shows that violence in America is essentially a gendered phenomenon.
Some of the main ideas of Katz in the film are that the construct of masculinity within the American society postulates that violence is a natural occurrence in manhood and that violence is a usual philosophy of being masculine. All through the course of the film, violence is portrayed as part of the usual training, conditioning, and socialization among men and boys. Katz examines the social economic class, ethnic, and racial in relation to gun violence, mass shootings, bullying, regular violence against women, gay-criticism, and the militarization of the American of Americans against a background that presumes violence to be a normal occurrence and regressive traditional notions of manly supremacy and authority. Across ethnic and racial boundary, boys learn that being a real man means being strong and tough and fitting into the actual realm that describes an ideal man. Katz uses the examples of John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and Rocky as he conveys the growth of a ‘tough guy’ role.
In the course of the film, Katz examines the violent, chauvinist, and homophobic messages that young men and boys obtain from almost every aspect of the American culture from the pornography advertisements, video games, television, movies, the American political as well as sports cultures. Katz engages students in an insightful criticism of the existing masculine aspects that youths have stumbled upon. As such, the film insights the viewers to rethink their stereotypes regarding manhood in a bid to fashion a better future that is free from violence. Through the message, Katz also shows that media participation in the subject of masculinity is not that of reflecting upon of who people are but rather tells people who they are. Therefore interpretation of media imagery has the ability to change the way people perceive their roles and other people’s roles in the society. An example of media influence on masculinity is the contemporary rap music which often shows thugs with huge muscles carrying guns moving around and commanding respect from the people around them.
The mythical ‘real man’ man is closely linked with the sensation of the Tough Guise where young boys and men learn to display only those characters that the American culture consider to be dominant male characters. A person is even able to note what dominant manly characters entail from paying attention to what boys and young men talk about. According to the film it is notable that even at a tender age, boys are fully aware of the rules relating to the manly game. It is also noteworthy that young males are not only aware of things such as a ‘real man’ but they are also well aware of the fact that there are severe consequences for not qualifying as a ‘real’ man.
In the film Tough Guise, men seem to go as far as they possibly can in order to acquire the ‘respect’. In the film, Katz’s main themes include that society is responsible for: making men believe that they must be dominant, that men struggle to be tough, and that the world inspires violence. Toughness has therefore become a necessity in the lives of men nowadays and is only gotten through bodily strength. Katz also enlightens that there exists a connection between manliness and being violent hence the massive racial of violent males are compared to violent women. He however, states that in order to solve the crisis of masculinity people must endeavor to change their cultural environment and further that girls and women should show more appreciation for the boys and men who reject the tough guise phenomenon.
Conclusion
Tough Guise is an exciting film that that makes use of the subject of racial diversity that seeks to educate and incite both the male and female students to assess their respective roles and involvement in the elevation of modern-day masculinity. The questions that then arise from the film are why too much violence is usually committed by the males and why boys and men behave the way they do. According to Katz, violence in America is ingrained in the societal construct of masculinity and that the ability of the society to deviate from the continuing male instigated violence depends on the ability of the society to move beyond the old-fashioned concepts of manhood. Tough Guise aims at influencing a new generation of youths -men and women- capable of challenging the myth that manhood can only be achieved through participating in violence and self-destructive activities.
Work Cited
Earp, Jeremy and Katz, Jackson. "Violence, Media & The Crisis In Masculinity Study Guide".
Media Education Foundation, 1999, p. 5.
Katz, Jackson. "Men, Media and Masculinities: Some Introductory Notes". Wellesley Centers for
Women research report, 1999, p. 16.
Top Documentary Films. Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity. Web. 6 Nov. 2013 http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tough-guise/
