Tough Guise

During the entire film, I was intrigued at the amount of evidence it showed supporting the argument that basically, maculinity in American culture is emphasized by toughness and violence. Growing up and watching the media such as movies and television, I have always seen male characters as the murders and abusers but I never put this notion in retrospect with reality. This movie stated the "men are the leading causes of murder, assault and sexual abuse towards women and children", with this range being in the 90 percentile. So what is exactly going on within the gender construction of males/boys to make them the leading causes of death and violence (assault)? I found this fact above quite interesting because this fact is obviously due to the fact that it is culturally accepted and continually emphasized in the media that men need to be "tough", "strong", "muscular", "aggressive", and "athletic" to be seen as a "man". Violence has been so greatly gendered as masculine that when women are violent it is viewed as unusual, therefore when men are violent it is viewed normal and almost expected. Men excute violence amongst other men as a way of showing others that they are dominent etc. Men also execute violence amongst women as a means of feeling that they have an upper hand. Due to the fact of the cultural emphasis on masculinity as the dominant gender, and the rise of feminism, men commit acts of violence so they feel that they "still have it" or still remain the dominant gender. This can be tied back to the media and it's portrayal of men and women. For example, in music videos, it is apparent that men are more dominant. In fact, 90% of music videos are directed by men. They are basically their sexual dreamland. Women are merely sexual objects being dressed in barely nothing and attending to the singers every need. They are sometimes seen as nymphos or strippers who like taking their clothes off for the males pleasure. When men are absent nothing is left for the woman. They are sad, depressed and do not know what to do with themselves and must be replaced by an object sexually. I have been exposed to these types of demeaning images growing up. Even female artists, especially teen idols, portray a "racy" character such as Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilara. Images of women in the media have changed drastically from generation to generation becoming more vulgar and exposing of women and their bodies. With this in mind, I feel that the shape of a women's body is paid more attention to and having a body that is "sexually desired" is envied more and more. These new body images also probably have contributed to the rise in eating disorders in America.

Being that men are more likely to inhibit murder and assault, as a women I need to be aware of not only this, but also of the cultural influences and emphasism/pressure for men to be this way. I need to become more aware of the environment/people around me, as well as an understanding of the pressures media places over men. I also feel that these new, racy images of women have caused some backtracking in the rise of feminism and feminist rights. These images construe men's thoughts and create a sense of sexual power. It is so commonly seen today that it has become a "normal" way of seeing women.