One of the most interesting documentaries I’ve watched while at school is called Hip-Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes. This is an in-depth look at the hip-hop culture and the gender roles created by it. Some of the most interesting parts of the film were the interviews with Jackson Katz describing the ways, in which gender roles affect males, especially in pop culture and the media. These themes are discussed to a greater extent in Katz’ film Tough Guise. By discussing the ways in which gender roles are even more restricting for males than they are for females Katz is able to draw a conclusion about the ways men are negatively socialized.
I thought this gave an interesting perspective toward gender. Usually in a Women’s Studies class we spend very little time studying how males are socialized, unless it is directly in comparison to women. In reality the variety of ways that men are portrayed in the media is very slim and results in a need for men to maintain a tough and violent personality to be considered masculine in this society. With the ways that men are told to act it can often times result in incidences of violence and will continue to until there is a movement to address the negative affects. As Jackson Katz points out when violence is committed the gender of the perpetrator is very seldom addressed when boys are involved but when a female is involved the reasons for her to do so are analyzed in terms of her gender very often. It is important for us as a society to realize that until the social issue of the ways that boys are being told they have to act there will continue to be a perpetual cycle of a narrow set of character traits expectable for men.
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I agree, we don't spend a lot of time talking about men. We definitely should though because like you said: "With the ways that men are told to act it can often times result in incidences of violence and will continue to until there is a movement to address the negative affects." That movement needs to start by addressing the fact that there is a problem to begin with and the best way to do that is simply by talking.
ReplyDeleteThe more they are the invisible majority, the less there can be done about fixing problems for both genders. We often forget that women are not the only ones affected by negative social expectations and in some ways those expectations for males are more troublesome than those for females because they can cause violent repercussions (sorry if I spelled that wrong, I always do!) and perpetuates the female stereotypes--men are aggressive so they force women to be submissive by threat or by the fact they control the industry.
Although maybe that's unfair. Perhaps they perpetuate each other. Either way, what I'm trying to say is men are not solely the aggressors nor are they solely a source of problems. Sometimes they're as victimized and boxed in as we are and sometimes it's no more their fault than our gender-typical faults are ours.
I agree, I think Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is one of the most interesting and informative documentaries or films I've seen since I've been a t Wheaton. I saw it last semester when the creator was actually on campus (Byron Hurt) and it was great to see him discuss his motives and feelings about it, especially because one of his main points is how he loves hip hop. (I wrote a paper on this actually not too long ago).
ReplyDeleteI noticed Jackson Katz in Tough Guise from Hurt's documentary and I was excited to see that it was his film, because he made some great contributions that really got me to think in the Hip Hop documentary. I enjoyed Tough Guise a lot, especially when it came to facts about how crimes and violence when committed by boys (or men) are different then that of girls (or women). I think the most difficult thing about talking about men is that they are at the head of our culture and society and have developed a stigma I believe so that it will be uncomfortable and almost unheard of to consider brining them up as the problem or part of the bigger issues in the America.