media studies12/11/2010

Right so in the last few weeks I've been learning about sexuality in media, how genders are positioned and dressed to give a certain appeal, and as always, it's all about sex.



Today, i learnt about Tough Guise.

Tough guise is often brought up in media, several TV shows and films, even music videos, have a strong image of men.

For example, if you are a fan of Walt Disney (I know I am) you will see a recurring pattern in his films...Big, strong men, rescuing a damsel in destress. Snow white, Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, The little mermaid, Hurcules, Beauty andf the beast...etc

I am literally just watching Gok Wans "How to look good naked" They're talking about how 60% of people use hand cream, they used woman who work in a hotel using chemicals to clean and men building, and one of the men actually turned round and said that he doesn't wear hand cream cause it isn't very "manly".



So define manly?



Tough, strong, dominant, independant, hairy, smelly, dirty...This steriotype seems to be making a pattern, often in the news.

85% of murder is committed by men

1 in 4 men will use violence against their partner

95% of sexual child abuse is committed by men



So this is what you aspire to be? Think there's a screw loose if this is the case.

This brings me to my next point of tough guise, several White males tend to act "black", a term which means they are tough and strong and not to be messed with, the posture of the body gives an uncomfortable feel to people who witness it, body language which threatens other citizens.



Here's the culture bit, many black families (not neccesserily in this time period) are working class, from the ghetto, gangsters, and several don't have fathers for role models, looking up to how the celebs act in their videos and how they position themselves in pictures screams "MAN" and as a form of survival, they would be tough so people wouldn't disrespect them.



White people put on this front too, without the somewhat steriotyped background, to be respected by others, after all, fear means respect.