Disturbing equation of masculinity with pathological control and violence;

WATCH (no need to watch, I posted the summary below) the documentary film Tough Guise 2 – Violence, Manhood & American Culture by
Jackson Katz.
READ the article “No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!: Parents’ Responses to
Children’s Gender Nonconformity” by Emily Kane.
POST in today’s forum a three-paragraph reading response (270 word minimum) where you
discuss mostly the film, but you should make a comparison to the article as well.
Summary: In Tough Guise 2, pioneering anti-violence educator and cultural theorist Jackson Katz argues
that the ongoing epidemic of men’s violence in America is rooted in our inability as a society to
move beyond outmoded ideals of manhood. Cutting across racial, ethnic, and class lines, Katz
examines mass shootings, day-to-day gun violence, violence against women, bullying, gay-
bashing, and American militarism against the backdrop of a culture that has normalized violent
masculinity – especially in the face of challenges to traditional male power and authority. Along
the way, the film looks at the violent, sexist, and homophobic messages boys and young men
receive from virtually every corner of the culture – from television, movies, video games, and
advertising, to pornography, the sports culture, and U.S. political culture.
At its core, Tough Guise 2 argues that men’s violence is overwhelmingly a gendered
phenomenon. And it suggests that any attempt to understand violence therefore requires critically
examining our cultural codes and ideals of manhood. The following points are central to the
film’s main line of argument:
• Masculinity is made, not a given;
• Media are the primary narrative and pedagogical forces of our time;
• Media images of manhood therefore play a pivotal role in making, shaping and
privileging certain cultural and personal attitudes about manhood;
• A critical examination of privileged media images of manhood reveals a widespread and
disturbing equation of masculinity with pathological control and violence;
• Looking critically at constructed ideals of manhood – at how, why and in whose interests
these ideals are constructed in different historical, social, and cultural contexts –
denaturalizes and diminishes the potential of these imagined ideals to shape perceptions
of ourselves, our world, and each other.