I want to discuss one of the topics we are currently studying in class. What does it mean to be a "real man" and how exactly does the media affect our belief about this? The portrayals of men and masculinity are represented by the media in ways that I believe our possibly detrimental to our society. The ideas and story themes that are chosen can be very fictional, fantasy like and just plain ridiculous. Men are shown as aggressive, controlling and abusive to women and others that may not be as "tough" or "macho" as they are. What are we teaching young viewers about what is right or wrong? Are we proud that men are the ones arrested for violent crimes, domestic violence and assault charges? If you are a parent is this the image that you want your child to follow or idolize? This article explains that young boys are reinforced by the media that power and aggression are what it means to be a "real man". They believe that the behavior on shows and movies produced by the media represent normal behavior. What do you think the parents would say if a violent crime was committed against their son or daughter? How would a brother, sister or friend feel if someone close to them was assaulted or killed by a so called "real man"? Is this an image that you would want your children to be like?
Click on the link below and you can read the article that has given me a better understanding of how young viewers may interpret the representations that the media creates for our
"entertainment".
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/masculinity_defining.cfm
This subject does really upset me as well. Kids everyday so much more than we can see are exposed to violence. They are growing up seeing it all around them as if it’s ‘normal!’ What then will they become with that idea in their heads? Will beating somebody up, girls or boys, murder, stealing, aggression all be just part of the day? I think with this continually image of what men are supposed to be is going to cause a complete crazy idea that you need to be violent to be a man, you have to be mean and aggressive to be real? It’s always been a part of society but now kids are sing it more than they sleep! And as this has happened over the last say 50 years the crime and violence rates HAVE increased dramatically. This is another article of what even men are saying what a real man needs to be like: http://community.livejournal.com/mock_the_media/353.html
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