Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity is a documentary film directed by Sut Jhally and narrated by Jason Katz chronicling the gradual intensification of depictions of masculinity in popular culture. The film uses file footage from WWE wrestling matches, action films such as Rambo and Terminator and other media sources to illustrate what masculinity means in the late 20th century. This image is then compared to depictions of masculinity from the early and mid 20th centuries to convey the films thesis. Tough Guise argues that increased violence in the depictions of masculinity leads to increases in male violence, and to an identity crisis in those males who do not meet society’s definition of “masculine”.
mediaed.org
The film uses contemporary depictions of masculinity to argue in favor of its thesis, showing the gradual progression in size, violence, and chauvinism present in male ideals of masculinity. The film argues these media depictions encourage young men to adopt this style of masculinity, and to strive to behave similarly to the characters on film and in radio. This process leads to increased violence because young men idolize society’s depictions of masculinity and seek to deal with common life issues in the way the media determines they should. Common representations of masculinity in the examples provided in the film are violence, chauvinism, and bigotry. Additionally, racist rhetoric is often present in the media surrounding masculinity, and in the mainstream news coverage of the aftermath of a violent act. As Fish explains in "We've Seen This Movie Before", the societal reaction to violence perpetrated by individuals depends on their race (Fish, 2). Fish states:
"The formula is simple and foolproof (although those who deploy it so facilely seem to think we are all fools): If the bad act is committed by a member of a group you wish to demonize, attribute it to a community or a religion and not to the individual. But if the bad act is committed by someone whose profile, interests and agendas are uncomfortably close to your own, detach the malefactor from everything that is going on or is in the air (he came from nowhere) and characterize him as a one-off, non-generalizable, sui generis phenomenon" (Fish, 2).
This can be extrapolated to nearly all instances of belittling those who fall outside the masculine ideal. Perhaps those who are insecure in their sexuality call others "fags", or perhaps men who had a hard time dating before they were rich feel the need to degrade all women:
This can be extrapolated to nearly all instances of belittling those who fall outside the masculine ideal. Perhaps those who are insecure in their sexuality call others "fags", or perhaps men who had a hard time dating before they were rich feel the need to degrade all women:
"All women are whores." - Howard Stern
The thesis of Tough Guise is applicable to this course in many ways. Primarily, as society constructs a definition of masculinity, those who do not meet this definition are often labeled deviant using terms questioning their gender, sex, and sexual orientation. These deviant individuals can be identified using terms such as “fag”, “queer”, or “pussy”. Additionally, the inherent chauvinism present in societal constructions of masculinity may lead to increased violence against women according to film, including rape and physical assault. The pressure faced by those labeled deviant forces these individuals into a masculine identity crisis, which can result in violence such as the Columbine Massacre. Kimmel and Mahler state, "For some boys, high school is a constant homophobic gauntlet and they may respond by becoming withdrawn and sullen, using drugs or alcohol, becoming depressed or suicidal, or acting out in a blaze of overcompensating violent 'glory'" (What Triggers School Shootings, 79).
I found the comparisons between action figures of the mid twentieth century, to action figures of the late twentieth century an especially effective supporting argument to the film’s thesis. Tough Guise shows that over time, the action figures have become more muscular, have a taller stature, and have more deadly equipment than in each generational predecessor. In addition, Tough Guise compares the size of protagonist weaponry in film, and shows that in film too, weapon size increases over time. This process eventually leads to what Jason Katz calls, “the culmination with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s terminator character” (Tough Guise).
generalsjoes.com
Despite the strong evidence in support of the film’s thesis, I did find the use of some examples to be repetitive, and I found the development of the impact of violent masculine ideals on women to be underdeveloped. This leads me to what I would propose to study in greater depth. I would propose to research the prevalence of assaults on women in conjunction with the increased violence in media portrayals of masculinity. I feel as though there would be a strong positive correlation between these two phenomenons, and that further publicity of this particular issue could possibly lead to greater political and humanitarian action.
abetterwaydomesticviolence.org
In conclusion, I feel the evidence in favor of Tough Guise argument is convincing and the evidence is damning to mainstream ideas of masculinity. The film highlights the some of the worst examples of men from Howard Stern to the one-dimensional portrayals of Rambo. Though, this problem continues, twelve years after Tough Guise was made. Today, the NRA is still an overly powerful lobby, and Rush Limbaugh feels as though he can call women’s rights activists “sluts” and “prostitutes”. The male character has transformed little in mainstream media, though loveable loser types such as Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill are becoming more popular, they still conform to many chauvinist ideals, in addition to being anti-intellectual and pro-substance abuse. I feel an update of Tough Guise is needed, in addition to further publicity of the negative repercussions of the unrealistic, contemporary depiction of masculinity.
politicalhumor.about.com
- Steve
Works Cited
Fish, Stanley. "We've Seen This Movie Before". New York Times. August 30 2010.
Katz, Jason. Tough Guise. 2000
Kimmel, M. and Mahler, M. "What Triggers School Shootings" (2003). Readings in Deviant Behavior Sixth Edition. Pages 76-82. Pearson Education Inc.
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