Tough Guy Image

Jackson Katz’s Tough Guise video gave insight on how violence in the media feed into the reason as to why men are violent in their real lives. There is a constant pressure on men in our society to be manly and to not in any way shape or form appear weak or show their emotions. Jackson Katz talks about this pressure coming from images that we see everyday in the media. bell hooks also talks about the media playing a major role in how we as a society view reality. Katz states that “the media frames violent masculinity as a cultural norm.” Movies in which men are dominant and violent become the way in which we believe that that’s the way things work in reality and men feel a pressure to live up to the standards that we see on television and in movies. If they don’t live up to these standards then they are labeled as “fags” and “mommas boys” as stated in Katz’s video.

While watching the Katz video I started to think about all of the show Guy Code and how the men and women contributors on the show kind of reinforce the guise of men being tough and strong, not showing emotions and just being men. I think that this show and other shows are in a way contributing to the cycle of the “tough man” image.