Jackson Katz Masculinity In Tough Guise

1. The main issue that Jackson Katz explores in the video Tough Guise is the crisis in masculinity. Jackson Katz defines the crisis in masculinity as how guys are now characterizing the modern day “tough guy.” To be tough many men in the video used adjectives such as; respected, tough, and muscular as words to describe what they think being a “tough guy” in today’s society means. 2. One specific example of this issue can be shown through men and violence. In today’s society from a very young age boys/men are taught that to be tough you have to be rough, rugged, muscular, or strong to survive in our culture. If you fail to meet these criteria you are cast out and disregarded as a wimp, weak, wuss, or girly among many other things. Boys/men
Two specific explanations for this problem can be shown through the media, Hollywood, video games, sports, the community, and family among many others. Sports, I believe are one of the biggest contributors to violence from boys/men. Sports portray the “average” as overall irregularly proportioned compared to the actual man. Sports teach young boys/men that to earn respect you have to disrespect others. Another high contributor is the media. The media portrays men as being abusive and violent, stating that to maintain their manhood they need to be tough and violent. The medias image of a tough man has become so skewed, where will the media head
The concept of socialization, agent and target can be easily applied to tough guys. Starting first with agent, I think that the agent can be the media and how they influence how men perceive themselves and what it takes to become a “tough guy.” Secondly, I believe that the target can be perceived as the men. The agent (the media) aims video games and such towards men thus making them the target in this situation. Lastly, I feel that socialization affects both men and women alike. It affects women in the way in which men treat, or act towards them due to the many influences of media, sports, video games, and Hollywood. I also feel that it affects men in the way in which they try to change their body and personality to fit what is the social norm for men. 5. To protect our boys from this barrage Katz suggests that we have boys/men exposed to positive influences. Have men look inside for individuality and courage. One main key factor is having men express their range of emotions to express the different representations of males. Males should be encouraged to express feelings, reveal vulnerability, and most of all courage and character to admit that they need other