The primary idea of Tough Guise is that many men are forced to portray an image of masculinity in popular culture. The film illustrates the meaning of masculinity in the 20th century by using file footage of WWE wrestling matches as well as action films. Tough Guise suggests that there is an increase in male violence since men relate violence with masculinity as a result leading to an identity crisis to the men who do not meet the meaning of “masculine” as defined by the society. The society expects all men to be strong. In turn, boys or men are insulted when they deviate from this point of view (Consalvo 27). For instance, they are referred to as “fag” or “wimp” amongst other names which are meant to debase the masculinity of a man. Further, some men defend their masculinity at any cost for example, through violence to adapt to the societal pressure of “tough guise.” In some cases, high school boys respond by engaging themselves in drug activities or suicides. The strain theory suggests that the overwhelming participation of men in violent crimes can be due to the constant pressure provided by the society. Through the conformity adaptation, men engage in a violent behavior because of the pressure exerted by the structure of hegemonic masculinity.
Jackson Katz argues that the media perpetuates this concept of masculinity and violence. Further, most movies consistently escalate what it takes to be manly. The film points out at various characters to support this claim. For instance, Sylvester Stallone as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger as some of the characters who intensify the perception of masculinity and being tough. Although some of the movies are outdated and some of the characters are no longer in the limelight to portray the modern epitome masculinity in the media today, some films such as Jason Bourne still shows a significant connection of violent to masculinity (Katz and Jeremy 6).
This concept is supported by statistical data on violent crimes which suggests that men have caused 95 percent of the violent crimes. The evidence illustrates that violence is correlated to men. Furthermore, interviews conducted among young men to demonstrate how different cultures, race, as well as socioeconomic groups masculinity suggest that the concept of masculinity has permeated all society levels. The statistical data is evidence that violence is gendered towards men although the evidence is staggering. It is evident that the concept of masculinity and violence cannot be viewed as a social construct. The relationship between masculinity and violence is not necessarily gendered to men although it is produced by the society. Preferably, the concept is learned from other men. The film is relevant in the world today since in real life toughness is not necessarily related to masculinity although the American culture views the two words as synonyms. Additionally, “Tough Guise” is essential especially in the genre of gender studies. For instance, men always want to see themselves as masculine as a result end up committing violence against women including rape. The media’s point of view concerning masculinity, violence, as well as how men aspire to become could provide significant insight into sociological studies.
The research is to prove that the issue of violence, as well as gun violence in schools can be solved if the United States’ lawmakers take action. Students in schools are suffering because lawmakers are failing on their part. One of the ways to tackle the issue of gun violence is not to name the shooter. According to a research conducted by Dr Sherry Towers, a statistician from Arizona State University, the school shootings as well as mass killings had a 13 day’ average contagious period. This implies that another shooting is likely to happen when one school shooting or mass killing happens. Dr Sherry goes further to suggest that it is better not to name perpetrator unless there is a specific reason although that does not mean the media should ignore the killings. Alerrt, a team at Texas State University used the research of Dr Towers. According to Dr Pete Blair from Alerrt, although not all of them but most of the shooters do it out of notoriety. It is evident that shooters should not be given the reward if it is evident that is the motivation. Instead of focusing on the shooters it is better to focus on the heroes, the community, as well as the appropriate victims (Leary et al 202).
We can reduce the number of cases of gun violence if the government can remove guns from the people “in crisis”. In most of the shootings, lawmakers claim that the perpetrators are “severely mentally disturbed”. Gun Violence restraining orders have been approved by the state of California. Members of family, housemates, or police are allowed to ask judges to remove guns from individuals in crisis. This can also happen in other states. Although people with histories of mental health are not allowed to buy guns by the federal law, the bar is lower. A purchaser has to pass a background check to buy a gun from a licensed dealer in the United States. Such people fail when they are deemed mentally defective. When California’s scheme is introduced nationwide, the number of school shootings can be reduced. So far, the states of Oregon, as well as Washington, have approved a similar scheme (Kimmel and Matthew 1439).
Cases of gun violence can be reduced through early interventions. According to Florida International University’s director of the school psychology training program, Philip Lazarus, interventions are focused on identifying troubled youth and not a form of punishment. Threat assessment can go hand in hand with mental health services. To prevent mass shootings, the police recommended this tool in 2000. The tool can be used to identify individuals that have threatened violence, assess the violence’ seriousness, as well as taking the necessary action. The state of Virginia has passed legislation allowing schools to come up with policies for threat assessment teams an idea that can be adopted by the other states too (Borum et al 27).
According to Jason Katz, most of the perpetrators of violence in schools are men, why is this the case?
Works Cited
Borum, Randy, et al. "What can be done about school shootings? A review of the evidence." Educational Researcher39.1 (2010): 27-37.
Consalvo, Mia. "The monsters next door: Media constructions of boys and masculinity." Feminist Media Studies 3.1 (2003): 27-45.
Katz, Jackson, and Jeremy Earp. Tough guise: Violence, media, and the crisis in masculinity. Media Education Foundation, 2002.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Matthew Mahler. "Adolescent masculinity, homophobia, and violence: Random school shootings, 1982-2001." American behavioral scientist 46.10 (2003): 1439- 1458.
Leary, Mark R., et al. "Teasing, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings." Aggressive behavior 29.3 (2003): 202-214.
