TOUGH GUISE

“Tough Guise” really explained why and how guys are the way there are today. In our society, there is a lot of violence and that violence is portrayed vividly in the media. As the movie starts, a scene from the Wizard of Oz begins playing. It’s the scene when Toto pulls back the curtain and the crew finds this nervous and weak man pretending to be a strong wizard. From there, the talk starts about how guys put up a front and wear a mask to gain respect through violence. They like to hide their vulnerability because if they don’t, they are not men. A couple of teenage guys were asked what a real man is. Some of the answers were physical, hard, muscular, tough, athletic, powerful, respected, and many others along that form. These are the qualities that make up a real man according to these guys.
Jackson Katz, who is the man who spoke throughout the documentary and is the one who examines this relationship, said this is the box that defines manhood for many young men. They are restricted to this box and if they are not what a “real man” should be, they are outcasts and called queers, sissy, etc. Where do boys learn about this? Their family and community sure do have a role in this, but media also has an immense effect. Throughout the years, media has depicted violent masculinity as a culture norm. Years ago, the bodies of Superman, Batman, and other male figures in movies were not as rippled and muscular as they are in almost all films today. Even the action figures have gotten bigger. When they compared the toys such as those of G.I. Joe to the action figures of today, I was shocked at the masterminds behind the manufacturing of these things.
A part that seemed really interesting to me in the documentary was how the “dominant” group goes unexamined in society. When we watch the news and hear about a rape or a sexual assault that has occurred, it is said ‘how many girls were raped or assaulted’ or ‘where they were raped’. I did not realize that most of the time we say ‘she was physically assaulted’, not ‘he assaulted’ or ‘he raped‘. This is what Katz means when he says that the dominant group in our community is not examined. But when a female commits a crime, it is talked about as a gender issue. When the movie, “Thelma and Louise” came out decades ago, there was a bit of controversy. Thelma and Louise were two females who were violent characters in this film and soon after, the trend was questioned by many people. Men don’t want to feel threatened and they don’t their manhood questioned. How can a weak, fragile female be a violent woman who carries around a gun? That’s what a “real man” is supposed to, is it not?
This documentary really examined the social roles and gender expectations of men and young boys in society today. Some statistics were a bit surprising but it was very interesting to see the comparisons of men today and men decades ago. I wish young boys were not expected to grow to be so violent and to learn these attributes. If we can somehow control the content of certain video games, that will be a start. But I don’t think it’s that easy. Thanks to the media, masculine violence has unfortunately become a culture norm.