Entry#10: Tough Guise 2

 


   Hello my fierce warriors, I am back again with some fun blogging. I want to talk about a documentary I saw the other day, call Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood and American Culture, by Jackson Katz. The documentary talked about how men are portrayed as violent in media. I think how people view different gender's is based on what they were taught as children. Growing up, I was taught that women need to stay home with the kids and take care of them. I was told women were supposed to depend upon men to take care of them and provide for them. The whole traditional story that when your man comes home from work that he needs to have a hot meal waiting for him and a hot bath waiting on him as well. I chose not to listen to them though.
My aunt told that women need to be independent and make their own money because one day your man may die or loss his job and then you guys will be homeless. She encouraged my independence and taught me to take control of my own life, and she told me that is okay to have a hot meal ready for my man and a hot bath if I want to, but I do not have to be his slave if I choose not to be. I loved her version of women, so I followed her advice.
I was taught that men are supposed to take care of his family and provide for them, he is supposed to show minimal to no emotion because he needs to be strong for his family. I was taught men should not be gay because “Gay men are little pussies that liked to be fucked in the ass and they all have HIV/AIDS” sorry it is so graphic, but that is what I was told about the opposite sex. I was told if a man hits you then you need to leave him immediately. I was also taught that all men are pigs and they all cheat, so just get over it and forgive them because they can’t help it. That is bull shit all men do not cheat and all men are not pigs!
I observed the women letting the men rule their lives and make them stay home, and I witnessed the men try to portray how tough they are, rather than show compassion. So, based upon what I learned as a child about men, I would say they are aggressive because they were breed and taught to grow up that way. I agreed with all of the material in this video, because men are naturally seen as more violent in the news, but the news tries to generalize it as simply a testosterone issues rather than a real global issue. Men hide their true emotions because they fear being labeled as gay, pussy, sissy, punk, soft, and etc because that hurts their pride.
I found the white supremacists opinions portrayed in this documentary disturbing because I am a firm believer that this world has no room for racism. Some argue that we should remove sexualized violence displayed on media. I do not think we should take sexualized violence from the media because I think it is informative for those out there who do not know anything about it. However, I do believe we should suppress some of the things we show in regards to this in media. For Example, I do not believe showing live footage or leaked tapes of a sexual assaults is a good idea because it is sometimes too gruesome for some to see, and they need to think about the parents of the victims that might be watching it, they should not have to watch what happened to their child.
If I were a parent I would teach my kids not to believe anything they hear unless it can be proven without a shadow of a doubt. I would also teach them that just because men are portrayed as aggressive and violent, does not mean they as men will be violent as well. I would teach my daughter that not all men are bad. I would also try and limit the amount of bad media my kids watch or see on the internet. I think as a society we are purposeful of what we put on the news because we know who is watching and we know that the message we are trying to get out will be heard and there will be a reaction to it, and that is what we as a society hope for. We also purposefully put messages out there to try and cover the real issue. We as a society need to stop giving so much of our energy to media because it can corrupt our minds and make us view a certain group of people differently. Just like how the men in media are segregated and labeled as violent and aggressive. Well that's my time for today guys. I hope everyone has a great day! Stay Beautiful!