Depictions of "ideal" Men in Media-- Week of 9/24- 9/28/2012

     Over this past week, in contrast to last week's studies, we centralized our thoughts around men portrayed in the world of mass media.  Just like women, media portrays and inflicts these ideas of what it mean to be a "feminine" female or a "masculine" male in todays society.  However, this concept is nothing new, media has been trivializing these ideas of feminine or masculine traits for longer than many of us have been alive.  Media's imposed meaning of men and women, as they are shown in mass media, have become ideal norms of society.  These normative depictions of men and women do have consequences for our society's overall self-esteem.  Does that mean these stereotypes of gender, class, and race, will eventually change?  Probably not, because these images of sex in masculine and feminine forms, and these depictions of men and women in advertisements have for a long time now allowed advertisers to impose insecurities in people's self-esteem, which at the same time allows major companies to profit from consumers "attempting to 'FIX' themselves.  Although these norms may not change in mass media, it is still important to gain awareness to these ideas portrayed in media, through media literacy.  As I mentioned in my last post, women and girls are constantly reminded what it is to be the "ideal" woman, which is formed through media images and messages.  Although women's images through media can be more demeaning, and show more vulnerabilities of women, men are also victimized to these "ideal" masculine norms portrayed in media.
     Unlike women being shown to be seductive yet vulnerable and submissive, men are supposed to be tough, stoic, and not show feelings.  They are supposed to be muscular, dominant, and large in places they may only know of.  All of these stereotypes are imposed on men through media, but these are stereotypes victimizing all men.  Race and class can fold into these stereotypes for men easily when through media we see all Italian men are part of the mafia, Oriental men (of any descent) knowing Kung Fu, African American men being gangsters and street smart, Indian men being silent and stoic or emotionless, Mexican men being part of the drug cartel or an immigrant fighting for survival.  All of these stereotypes are heavily prominent and enforced in today's and past media.  Of course, these ideas and stereotypes do not hold up to the truth of our culture, but media does not capitalize on all aspects of viewpoints of the truth.  All of these normative stereotypes of men are historically and presently shown for all men in media, but above all media portrays men to be strong.
     This past week, our class openly discussed these issues of men's media depictions.  We watched a documentaty, Tough Guise by Jackson Katz, in which covered much of the issues I have already discussed, and much more.  Katz also discussed the consequences of society's intake on these media portrayals of men.  Some of the consequences involved media's lack of information in reporting stories of tragic shootings, despite the killers' feelings of inadequacy that were reported.  Another consequence discussed was the increase of men's violence in result to gain respect and overcome inadequate masculinities, otherwise, shown in the media.  The instilled ideas of what it is to be a desirable woman or men, is often taken from the ideas we form through the media in which we are exposed to.  It is sad.  Violence and eating disorder sky rocket, while companies gain profit, and its audience gains feelings of inadequacy and insecurities.  I bet you those CEO's of the companies producing these images could not contest to these societal norms of masculinity or femininity.  There are probably areas they have or still do fall short in, for those expectations of men or women imposed by media.  However, we don't see them, or their high school pictures; we see the faces of the people they pay to market their brand.  For all the money in the world, a person can look flawless, but that does not change who they are, or make them any better of a human being.
     These ideas of masculinity and femininity are instilled in us since we were born, as it was for are parents, and many generations prior; media just enforces these idealistic depictions and trivializes them, as Hugh Hephner would trivialize his 24-year-old wife as a trophy for his accomplishments.

This past week, we were asked to choose examples that enforce these societal norms of masculinity and ones that weaken them.  The ones I chose to represent enforcing these ideas, were easy to find, because they are everywhere.  To narrow it down, I chose a movie clip from one of my favorite movies, Blood in, Blood Out...

Vatos Locos and Tres Puntos Fight Scene

This scene was a retaliation of Vatos Locos Gang on the Tres Puntos Gang for hurting one of their cousins.

The other two videos I chose were going against the societal norms of masculinity.    These examples are much harder to find in media.  There are not many of these examples in media, but I could not decide on one, so I chose to share two.

The first on I chose is a thank you speech from Roger Waters at The Wall concert he performed at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Il.  For those who are unfamiliar with who he is,  he is one of the lead singers from Pink Floyd.  The crowd was so appreciative of his performance, it was hard for him to speak over their encore.  Pink Floyd had been around since the 1960's and Waters is up in age, so being close to one of his last performances ever, he became emotional with the gratitude of support from his fans.  I was actually at this concert and this part was very emotional for the entire crowd.  By the way, the show was sold out entirely, and the stadium was packed!

June 8, 2012- Roger Water's Encore to The Wall Performance

The last video I chose was of Derrick Rose's public speech at his Adidas Promotional Convention for the release of his new shoe.  Rose is the point guard for Chicago Bulls, and I am a huge Bulls fan.  As a fan, I already can appreciate Rose's accomplishments; however after this speech, the entire world has a new appreciation for him as a person.  This was a speech he gave at the promotional event for his new shoe release.  He gets pretty emotional in expressing his appreciation in this speech.  The speech left me in surprise and, even emotional to his words.  I think it was amazing for him to express his appreciation in sentiment and so emotional.

Derrick Rose's speech for new shoe release