Film Review: Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity

The main thesis of the film Tough Guise is that masculinity is a socially constructed notion which can be directly linked to violence. Jackson Katz explains, “There’s nothing natural or inherent about masculinity”. The film explores several issues surrounding masculinity and violence; how our culture amplifies masculine stereotypes through media, how it’s then reinforced through various institutions, the racial constructions of masculinity and the negative consequences that these distorted concepts have on our society.

Katz argues that men will use a masculine front as a survival mechanism; by elaborating their tough-guy persona, they ensure their status as a “real” man, thus dodging any possible scrutiny for not adhering to the standards set by our culture of how a man should look and behave. If they maintain this status quo, they earn the assumption of dominance by others, which Katz explains functions by being un-examined.

The role that the media plays in falsely portraying an idealized form of masculinity is supported in this film by examining how criminality is reported in the media. Katz explains that even though men account for approximately 90% of the violence committed in the U.S., the focus in media reports of violence tends to be on female victims or survivors. If the male perpetrator is focused on, it’s presented in a gender neutral way. Headlines referring to young male offenders are indicated as kids, youth, or children, not specifically boys or men. When female criminals are reported in the news media, her gender is often used as a focal point; a shocking indication of some perverse incident or a trend that women are resorting to unnecessary violence. As opposed to male-involvement in crime which is simply an assumed characterization of criminality.

This film relates to the course in that it explores the concept discussed in class; that our society is highly hegemonic. A primary, ideal form of masculinity is expected of men, is reinforced in our various institutions, and is clearly related to sexism (lecture 2-23-12). Becker explains that “behavior is a consequence of the public reaction to the deviance rather than a consequence of the inherent qualities of the deviant act” (Readings in Deviant Behavior, Becker, p.41). This theory is illustrated in the film with the description of behaviors associated with masculinity (aggressiveness, superiority, athletic agility, slight narcissism, etc.) and the fact that these behaviors are rewarded with dominance, power, and control and then reinforced through institutional means. So, while violent behavior isn’t inherently masculine, acting as such becomes an acceptable expression of masculinity because society deems it so.

One point depicted in the film that I highly agree with is that attacks on feminism by people arguing against the negative consequences of a hegemonic society is simply a means to deflect the issue at hand. Media icons like Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh use a seemingly desperate strategy to depreciate the argument by killing the messenger with personal insults.

An argument brought up in the film that I would find interesting to study further is how women encourage masculine stereotypes through validating their behaviors. I would study this point by designing an experiment that would examine the types of men that women classify as ideal. I would first ask women to rate the level of attractiveness of several different men with different body types. My theory is that women would initially rate men higher based on the ideal appearance (strong jaw lines, broad shoulders, athletic build, etc.). I would then have them listen to a series of question and answers where the more socially defined attractive men answer with arrogance and ignorance, and the less-than ideally attractive men’s answers are more respectable and knowledgeable. I would then ask the women to re-evaluate the men’s attractiveness. My hypothesis is that the second time around, the women would show more value towards intelligence and find the ideally attractive men less attractive after getting a better understanding of their superficial character. I feel this experiment would demonstrate that if media portrayed smart as sexy, more women (and men!) would resonate that value, and thus help re-define masculinity.