In our
culture masculinity is often portrayed as the same as toughness. It almost seems
to be as though you just are not considered a man if you can't stand tall and
hold your own in a situation where your mental and\or physical strengths are
tested. More often than not, movies\television shows, etc. give these men the
opportunity to prove their masculinity (toughness) by placing them in physical
altercations in which violence is always the answer. For instance, many
superhero men in the movies or comics are shown as buff, handsome, athletic,
etc., as opposed to their usually scrawny looking enemies. Automatically, kids
who watch cartoons or read comics will assume the good guy is going to win
because he looks tougher and therefore manlier than the bad guy. What better
way to prove this theory than to place them in some sort of physical battle with
each other in which there are lots of "POW's" and
"KA-BLAM's", usually coming from the superhero’s fists. Then, the
superhero (the good guy) generally triumphs over the bad guy, giving off the
impression that he must have been tougher and therefore a superior man compared
to the opponent. Seeing things like this could make boys in our culture believe
that in order to prove their manliness, they must not only look the part of a
strong\buff man, but act the part too…when the time comes. I would have to side
with the APA in saying that the media could be influencing violence in kids. I
wouldn’t go to the extreme in saying that young men would go watch these
cartoons and immediately go beat someone up to show that they are tougher than
someone else, but if someone were to question their manhood; that is: challenge
them to a fight, they would probably be more likely to agree in order to prove
a point. Superheroes would never walk away from a fight with
their enemy. If they choose to walk away, then they send a message that the
other is superior and they are the weaker man. As boys seem to always be
looking forward to that day they can be recognized as a man, it is likely
that they will take the opportunity as often as they can to prove themselves
worthy. If the media is showing fighting and violence as an easy way to get
this recognition, then why wouldn’t they “knuckle-up” at first chance?Thursday, October 3, 2013
Masculinity and Violence
In our
culture masculinity is often portrayed as the same as toughness. It almost seems
to be as though you just are not considered a man if you can't stand tall and
hold your own in a situation where your mental and\or physical strengths are
tested. More often than not, movies\television shows, etc. give these men the
opportunity to prove their masculinity (toughness) by placing them in physical
altercations in which violence is always the answer. For instance, many
superhero men in the movies or comics are shown as buff, handsome, athletic,
etc., as opposed to their usually scrawny looking enemies. Automatically, kids
who watch cartoons or read comics will assume the good guy is going to win
because he looks tougher and therefore manlier than the bad guy. What better
way to prove this theory than to place them in some sort of physical battle with
each other in which there are lots of "POW's" and
"KA-BLAM's", usually coming from the superhero’s fists. Then, the
superhero (the good guy) generally triumphs over the bad guy, giving off the
impression that he must have been tougher and therefore a superior man compared
to the opponent. Seeing things like this could make boys in our culture believe
that in order to prove their manliness, they must not only look the part of a
strong\buff man, but act the part too…when the time comes. I would have to side
with the APA in saying that the media could be influencing violence in kids. I
wouldn’t go to the extreme in saying that young men would go watch these
cartoons and immediately go beat someone up to show that they are tougher than
someone else, but if someone were to question their manhood; that is: challenge
them to a fight, they would probably be more likely to agree in order to prove
a point. Superheroes would never walk away from a fight with
their enemy. If they choose to walk away, then they send a message that the
other is superior and they are the weaker man. As boys seem to always be
looking forward to that day they can be recognized as a man, it is likely
that they will take the opportunity as often as they can to prove themselves
worthy. If the media is showing fighting and violence as an easy way to get
this recognition, then why wouldn’t they “knuckle-up” at first chance?
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When I saw your picture with this writing, it reminding me of something I read about the size of superhero action figures. Apparently their muscles have been getting bigger and bigger in relation to body size as the decades have gone on. When you look at Batman of the 1970s, he's a lot thinner and leaner than the Batman of today, who is muscled.
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