“Boys will be boys,” a commonplace phrase that constitutes a diffusion of responsibility away from the male perpetrators of aggressive attitudes and behaviors, supports a dangerous rhetoric that a young male transitioning into adulthood will perform acts of aggression, display a detached and uncaring disposition, and develop attitudes of intense homophobia and sexism as part of a biological norm of that stage of adolescence, a stage of life comprising a larger and larger part of young man’s life, ages 16-29. Kimmel challenges this rhetoric, arguing that there is an underlying culture of entitlement (as the gaining of equality by other groups such as women and minorities are perceived as a threat to privileges that the white man “deserves,” a zero-sum game of status) that is supported by a culture of silence (of refusing to bear witness to other men’s transgressions, which is perceived as support) and a culture of protection (in which communities shield “their” guys from the harsh implications and accountability) which allows these behaviors and attitudes to persist. Kimmel argues that…
Kingdom Come portrays the social theme of a culture of violence through its depiction of widespread anarchy. A culture of violence refers to a society that accepts violence as a normal occurrence, commits violent acts for pointless or illogical reasons, or is numb to its catastrophic effects. Neal Gabler’s article “Killings on Campus” depicts a culture of violence when he reveals, “With the internet to connect them, teenagers are no longer silent sufferers. They can martial their sufferings in cyberspace to realize it in real space” (88). Gabler refers to teenagers as “silent sufferers” to show that there are many people who experience a desire for violence. In order to channel this sick craving, they resort to the Internet, where others make…
In Russell Banks’s “Lobster Night,” violence wrongly interpreted as masculinity drives the cowardly and weak-minded into a state of delusion. People associate unrelenting strength, fearlessness, and boldness with the idea of manliness, fabricating an inaccurate representation of the male figure - as if all men ever want to do revolves around displaying their masculine nature. While this truthfully may be the case at times, it easily misconstrues the notion of an honorable man, influencing the naïve to believe the only way to portray real manhood involves excessive acts of bravery and determination, occasionally even using unnecessary force to verbally wound and/or inflict physical pain. Growing up with such an idea causes the mind to create excuses and false justifications, fooling itself into a warped version of reality.…
Culture in urban communities, also referred to as inner-cities, are growing increasingly violent. In the article, The Code of the Streets by Elijah Anderson, he begins to take an in-depth look at the root of the evil. He deduces that economic factors, parenting and the troublesome environments largely influence the violent norms within this culture.…
Jack the Ripper and the myth of male violence From my point of view, the Ripper murders are extremely suspicious, for everything points out that it may have been something provoked on purpose in order to put women under control. According to this article, between 1870 and 1880, feminists were organizing political mobilizations against state regulation of prostitution in London. What resulted from those mobilizations was having respectable women talking in public about sexuality, proceeding to uncover men’s double lives, and their sexual diseases. By living in a patriarchal society, which for centuries has always been afraid of losing control over women, having these women talking about sexuality, and feeling free to transgress the narrow…
Through watching this short documentary I have learned and acknowledged how we are so easily influenced and shaped through a variety of things: family, community and media. Numerous kids around the world learn at an early age to put on a so called "front" or "guise" to show only the certain parts and qualities that a tough guy possesses. At the beginning there was a clip where young boys defined being manly as: being tough, powerful, athletic, muscular, and stud. If you did not fit into this category then the names that you were associated with were: wimp, fag, and sissy. The family and community have a huge part in shaping kids this way, but the biggest influence in the media/ television. For example, kids view Latinos or Mexicans as boxers and Asians as martial artists or even as criminals. This gives them an image of male dominance, power, and also control.…
The immediate and alarmist tone of Mike Oppenheim’s inductive essay, “T.V isn’t Violent Enough” is a flawless example of the ineffective strategy that Oppenheim has taken in conveying his rational and completely biased argument. The described imagery of cinema action scenes are unrealistic and not violent enough; Oppenheim’s essay falls victim to the fallacy of authority and Oppenheim confusion of television not being violent enough with television violence being nonsensical.…
Throughout American literature, many writers have used the subject of horror and violence within the many styles of writing during this time. The topics of Horror and Violence have been seen during slavery where it was expressed through story and autobiography about the brutal punishments of slave ship, kidnapping and beatings from the slave owners to slaves. We have also seen the use of Horror and Violence in more storytelling styles of writing where the writer writes about unrealistic topics to in a sense to scare or bring the feeling of fear to the reader. Horror and Violence has been see many times throughout the span of American Literature in writing such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, The Devil and Tom Walker,…
Throughout the essay, Jones discusses his past with violent media. He begins with discussing his professional career as a comic book writer. Later, Jones mentions his three-year long project with Dr. Melanie Moore, a psychologist who works with urban teens. This project produced Jones’s most useful tool in using violent media for good. According to Jones, his program, Power Play, “helps young people improve their self-knowledge and sense of potency through heroic, combative storytelling” (Jones). Discussing his past with the realm of violent media makes the audience feel like Jones is a competent and trustworthy source on the matter.…
The article written by Linda M. Hasselstrom, “A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun” has shown the reader how tough life was for that woman. The issues she went through were just her personal bad luck. Now this writing is seen as feminist, portraying a sense of insecurity for women, causing them to be hostile against men everywhere. Now men cannot be blamed for something a group may have done. It generalizes the male gender, and also…
Undeniably, time and change share a critical synergy. Two nonfiction articles concerned with American society address this time and change relationship. Distinctly, each author cares about the future for land of the brave due to the upcoming generations lack of devotion towards greatness. Thomas Friedman, in We’re No. 1(1), differentiates the loyalty of the Greatest generation to the arrogance of Baby Boomers. Similarly, in Violence is Who We Are, Steven Crichley compares the mainstream culture of a few decades ago to what teenagers are interested in now. Taking a slightly different approach, Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur contrasts the differences in the way of life between his home country and the new country.…
Citations: Doom, Ryan. THE BROTHERS COEN: Unique characters of violence. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009. 163-174. eBook.…
Masculinity and femininity are two categories which demand such attention, and the work of feminists and gender theorists have formed increasingly strong cases which reveal these distinctions as having been made through particular decisions, by specific people.2 By this understanding, the involvement of women in state militaries is never random.3 Robert W. Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity refers to a particular set of masculine norms and practices that have become dominant in specific institutions of social control. To become hegemonic, cultural norms must be supported by institutional power. Hence, hegemonic masculinity is a set of norms and practices associated with men in powerful social institutions.4 Once a particular set of behaviours has been established as the norm for appropriate conduct within any institution, it becomes difficult to critique, partly because normativity makes certain practices appear ‘natural’. As Annica Kronsell argues in her study of the Swedish Military, in the history of most military institutions, “masculinity has been normalized and…
Poor youth use violence and toughness to express their masculinity. C. Masculine conformity D. Institutions ideals of reform 1. “hardworking men” 2. Double blind 3.…
Throughout the history of the world, patriarchy has been rooted into the very essence of our lives, shaping our thoughts and actions. Patriarchy is present in virtually every society and unfortunately is the underlying problem to most violence in the world, particularly violence towards women. Patriarchy exemplifies the misogyny that has been ever-present since probably the beginning of every society. Whether it is discrimination towards women, lack of equal rights, or violence towards women, violence that stems almost entirely from patriarchal dominance is seen throughout most human societies past and present. Violence and fear have been used in many instances as forms of guidance, intimidation, and, most importantly, outright control.…