Tough Guise

Tough Guise

Today we watched a video about how our society socializes boys in a narrow 

and limited way. That video is called "Tough Guise". In other words, the disguise

 to seem tough that guys put on. Watch Tough Guise 2 on mediacast by clicking here. 

 Please read the article I assigned by Kimmel and Mahler related to this.
The documentary has a few important parts.  First, is the idea that men are at risk 

because masculinity is a social construction that says violence, anger and toughness

 are the only okay emotions or reactions for males.  When violence occurs in society, 

the media and society ignore the masculine element.  They just assume that it is natural.
However, the connection between masculinity and violence  has only been around 

since society changed from an agricultural patriarchy to a modern more egalitarian society. 

 As our society changed to be more urban and more equal, men have been taught to

 fear women and fear the changes.  These changes helped to popularize the Western 

movies and shows that have only been around the last 75 years or so.
Along with the change of society came changes in acceptance of women as equal and 

changes in gay rights.  Fear of the changes in society is filtered throughout society 

via politics and media.  Guns are a symptom of the fear of the changes. There is a

 siege mentality that promotes rugged individualism and gun ownership as a way

 of fighting back both literally and figuratively.  Guys today are taught that violence

 is the only way to be really considered a man and to hold onto their manhood.
This includes denigrating anything that is female or gay.  This creates a dangerous 

anti-woman attitude.
He ends with the idea that we can all make little changes in how we talk and act and 

think. We can support movies that show honest portrayals of guys and movies that help 

broaden the box that guys fit into.