The film Tough Guise takes an in depth look at the social constructions of masculinity through media in the 1950s through the end of the century. The main concern of the film is that the representations of maleness in media are perpetuating a society where men are increasingly violent towards women and other men. In the film Jackson Katz states that the over representation of male characters as violent in television is clearly sending a message to viewers of the “real man.” He continues to state that this phenomenon is only multiplied when it comes to the representation of non-whites in media. He states that often men of color are shown in overly stereotypical roles such as the Asian martial arts hero or the African American gang leader yielding a big gun and a threatening stance.
While discussing reports of crime in the news Katz indicates that when men commit violent crimes gender is taken out of the equation. He illustrates this by showing head lines that say things like: So Many Women Were Raped, as opposed to This Many Men Rape, or reports of Kids Killing Kids, not Boys Killing Classmates. In their article What Triggers School Shootings, Kimmel and Mahler agree with this point. They say that society has completely “missed the mark” with regards to school violence and that “…desire to make sure that others know that you are a “real man” plays a pivotal role in these school shootings” (Kimmel & Mahler, 2010). The film Tough Guise illustrates the methods used to “train” these boys to be real men. It is possible that society is not seeing this violence in boys as a social problem because we do not see men as a deviant group therefore, society prefers to claim that violence is an individual problem not some inherent problem with today’s men as a whole (Fish, 2010).
The most convincing point made in the film is that men have over compensated to women’s’ challenges in business and politics and therefore, the depictions of men in media have gotten physically bigger and of women physically smaller. The film illustrates this point by looking at how much bigger and muscular heroes such as Batman, Superman, and GI Jo have gotten over the years. It would be interesting to do an experiment to see how boys today would react to the super heroes of a few decades ago to see if they thought they were “real men.”
This film is a good representation of how media continues to manipulate our ideas of normalcy and non-deviance. This film should be shown to high school children in an attempt to challenge their ideas of masculinity and to show them the preposterous ideal they are trying to achieve.
For as long as there has been a spoken language there have also been words used to dismiss, disparage, or otherwise hurt other people. Words in and of themselves are not powerful it is the powerful that use these words to stomp on others that make the words powerful. Where do these words come from and how do they become hurtful and once a word has the power to hurt large groups of people can it eventually lose its power through re-appropriation by the oppressed? In her blog, Trans Forming Media, Ashley Love discusses the negative connotations behind the word tra**y which goes to show that words are hurtful and powerful. One of these powerful words is bitch, which has a long history and is the subject of much debate today. Many believe this word has been re-appropriated and some wear it as a badge of honor. For a word to be re-appropriated means the negative connotation of a word is taken away from oppressors that are using it and begins to be used positively by the previously oppressed . Bitch is a word spoken by nearly everyone in American society but what are the underlying meanings and implications of this word?
Bitch literally means female dog however, around the 1400s it began to gain ground as a disparaging description of women “specifically “a lewd or sensual woman,” and then more generally “a malicious or unpleasant woman.” The word is first found used this way in the Chester Plays of the 1400's, which has the line “Who callest thou queine, skabde bitch?,” (Dictionary.com) In the 1600s bitch found its way into two Shakespeare plays but not as an insult to women but as an insult to men. First in the 1601 play Troilus and Cressida“…one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch;”and then again in 1605 in King Lier “Thou bitch-wolf's son, canst thou not hear?” (University, 2003-2012 ). The 1811 Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue defines bitch as “…the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of a whore…” (Grose, 1811).
Today not only is bitch used as an insult to women it is almost used as a synonym for woman, as in “She’s my bitch” as if women are something to be owned, like dogs. A woman that is labeled a bitch is said to be mean, moody, strong willed, and implies that she is somehow not upholding her duties as a “good woman”. One can be heard to say, “Look at that bitch who does she think she is?” More recently the term has been used to describe a submissive man often in a homosexual relationship as “make him your bitch” Even to ride on the back of a motorcycle, often referred to as “riding bitch” is seen as unmanly and somehow refers to the submissiveness of women whom usually ride on the back of motorcycles. To insult men people often call them a “Son of a bitch” which is to say that because they acted like an ass their mother’s femininity is in question. To use the word as a verb, to bitch, means to complain which is actually an insult to what is stereotypically contributed to women as complainers. In Bitch Power(or Not)from Clutch Magazine, Janelle Harris, recalls a time “…that one little five-letter word had the power to turn even mild-mannered, even-tempered ladies into, well, bitches. Raving mad ones at that” (Harris, 2011) She continues to say that this may not be the case anymore.
Many women, especially self-proclaimed feminists wear the title of bitch as a badge of honor. Popular feminist of the 70s, Jo Freeman wrote The Bitch Manifesto in which she says, “A woman should be proud to declare she is a Bitch, because Bitch is Beautiful. It should be an act of affirmation by self and not negation by others” (Freeman, 1968). Many women call themselves or other women Bitches. Many other women have claimed they have successfully re-appropriated the word. Writer Rebecca West, from Bitch Magazine, while defending the title of their magazine, claims that if women take back the word bitch it loses the power to hurt. She also says that if being seen as other than a doormat is being a bitch than she takes it as a compliment. The following clip shows a comedic attempt by SNL’s Tina Fey to re-appropriate the word bitch after it has been used as an insult to describe current Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, during her 2008 presidential nomination race.
Not everyone feels that words can be effectively re-appropriated. In her 2011 blog post,Toronto activists take back the slut, Jill says, “When you’re standing up against your own oppression as a member of the sex class, it is problematic and of questionable revolutionary efficacy to stamp yourself and your comrades-in-arms with the mark of the oppressor.” (Jill, 2011) In the article, What is Ableist Language and Why Should We Care?, Abbyjean describes the use of the word bitch as being sexist and says ”… this invokes the implicit assumption that women should be warm, caring, likely have a family and prioritize that family, always kind and supportive” (abbyjean, 2009). Ironically, the article was published in Bitch Magazine. Also, the blog post by Ashley Love explains that trans people who describe themselves as a tra**y have low self esteem and are taking the word as a false term of endearment.(Love, 2010). This is defiantly the case with the word bitch. For example, in the motorcycle community women may be referred to as a "Biker Bitch" which is also a false term of endearment.
The word bitch is a much bigger topic than can be completely addressed here. However, this is some insight into how the use of the word can be demeaning to certain groups of people. There are still many negative connotations to the word bitch used to describe women or men. It does seem that is it more acceptable for women to use the word to describe themselves and other women, than it is for men to use it. However, everyone in America uses this word freely, in television, in songs, in school, and in politics. In fact, listen to the song made popular by Meredith Brooks (below). She is clearly speaking to the thought that if a woman is not “innocent and sweet” she is naturally a bitch but has she re-appropriated it? Unfortunately, I think “bitch” is here to stay.
Word Count: 1,105
Work Cited:
1. abbyjean. (2009, November 11). Bitch magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Bitch Media: http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-transcontinental-disability-choir-what-is-ableist-language-and-why-should-you-care
2. Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bitch
3, Grose, F. (1811). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from fromoldbooks.org: http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Grose-VulgarTongue/b/bitch.html
4. Harris, J. (2011, November 11). Clutch. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from clutchmagonline: http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/11/bitch-power-or-not/
5. Jill. (2011, March 31). Toronto activists take back the slut. Retrieved February 21, 2012, from I Blame The Patriarchy: http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2011/03/31/toronto-activists-take-back-the-slut/
6. Love, A. (2010, December 16). Trans Forming Media. Retrieved February 22, 2012, from OK, I give up, you're right, I'm just a "tra**y", sorry for thinking I was a human being: http://transformingmedia.blogspot.com/2010/12/ok-i-give-up-youre-right-im-just-tray.html
7. University, G. M. (2003-2012 ). Open Source Shakespeare. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Open Source Shakespeare: http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/
Murder Ball is a film following some of the men on the United States and Canada Paralympics quad rugby team. This film is an in depths look at how many people with “disabilities” are just as capable as able-bodied people are. This film is not the typical depiction of disabled people described in the blog Good Cripple. Good Cripple describes the archetype-disabled person as being cheerful, upbeat, and having an obstacle to overcome. This film shows disabled people as any other athlete, with different personalities, relationships, struggles, and triumphs.
In “You’re Not a Retard, You’re Just Wise,” Steven Taylor writes that disability is a social construct that turns into a stigma. He continues to say, “A stigma is not merely a difference but a characteristic that deeply discredits a person’s moral character.” (Taylor, 2000) Therefore, disability is definitely seen in society as deviant. The film Murder Ball is an attempt to remove the stigma from people with mobile impairments.
The most profound statement in the film was by Mark Zupan, USA team spokesperson. He said, “The mind is a bigger disability than all the physical stuff.” When he said this, he was explaining that once one accepts that they are not going to walk again and get over it than one can flourish in their wheelchair and accomplish what they set their mind to. I found this most convincing because it really shows that the ideas society has about disabled people wishing they were able-bodied all the time are not necessarily true. Keith, a young man recently released from rehab after an accident, comes home and says, “This sucks, I’m in a wheel chair.” Although reality, I thought this could have been edited from the film because it was somewhat reaffirming to societies ideas.
In the film, Keith really seemed to enjoy the prospect of athletics in a wheelchair. Therefore, a good research study would be to introduce sports into rehab for people newly disabled. It would be interesting to see if groups of people that engaged in sports in rehab would have lower levels of depression, after returning home, than those who did not.
Over all this is a very good film that shows many aspects of life after an altering accident or disease. This film should be shown to people in rehab facilities across the county in an effort to show there is life after impairment.
Taylor, S. (2000). You're Not a Retard, You're Just Wise. In A. Thio, T. Calhoun, & A. Conyers, Readings in Deviant Behavior sixth edition (pp. 173-179). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
The United States and most western cultures have a strong belief that someone is either male or female. The film Middle Sexes Redefining He and She shows how incomplete this belief is and examines how varied gender really is. The film reveals the beliefs of different cultures such as, Africa, India, and Thailand. In these cultures, homosexuality and transgender are not thought of in the same way they are in western predominantly Christian cultures. For example in the United States, transgendered individuals are diagnosed with the psychological disorder of Gender Identity Disorder, this is explained in the following video segment by In the Life.
This is not the case in many of the cultures examined in the film Middle Sexes. In Thailand the Katoy are the accepted third gender of people that are transitioning or have transitioned from male to female. The Katoy and India’s Hijras are very convincing argument for more than two genders. However, it was not necessary to discuss the homosexual behaviors of the animal kingdom as a valid argument, because animals do many things humans do not do and vise versa.
Unfortunately, transgendered people are still considered some of the most deviant members of society and many times subject to violence, as shown in the film.
In the blog post, Why does the media show transgender children more sympathetically? Emily Manuel explains that children are not seen as sexual beings and that allows society to see transgender in children as not a sexual choice. The film depicts this idea with Noah a biological boy wishing to live as a girl. This idea of sympathy for transgendered children could be investigated further by selecting individuals, which claim to not approve of transgendered people and show them videos of both transgendered adults and children while monitoring their heart rate and blood pressure. I suspect they would have somewhat of an anger reaction to the adults and not so much the children. This may help to give people a better understanding of transgendered people and how to get us closer to more than one gender in western cultures as suggested in the film Middle Sexes.
The opposite of deviance is conformity; it is both to accept the mainstream societal goals and to use legal ways to achieve those goals (Merton, 1957). Many sociological theories exist in an attempt to explain why someone would become a deviant or a conformist. Any behavior can be considered deviant depending on the circumstance (Simmons article, as cited in Ferrante, 1995). Therefore, to assume that someone can be completely non-deviant would be counterintuitive. I however, for the most part, am a conformist. Deviance is not a behavior that I am familiar with and in most circumstances try to avoid.
This can be best explained by the Differential Association Theory, which states that deviant or criminal behavior is learned through peoples’ close associations with other deviant people (Sutherland & Cressey, 1977). For example if someone were going to steal a car, they would have to be taught how to break into it without being caught and how to hot-wire it. They would also have to learn the rationale or motivation for stealing the car. People are not born knowing how to steal cars. Although, this theory helps to explain deviant behavior it equally explains non-deviant behavior (Sutherland & Cressey, 1977). For example, I was raised by two middleclass Midwestern Catholic parents. I was taught the value of a good education, hard work, and family. I was never exposed to any type of illegal activity nor was I exposed to anyone that would be considered deviant in society today. My father owned his own construction business and my mother worked for a semiconductor plant, making microchips. Not only was I rarely shown deviant behavior but I was taught to be a “good catholic” girl. Although Differential Association Theory begins to explain why I was not a deviant child or teenager, it does not fully explain why I maintain my conformity as an adult, for this I look to Control Theory.
Control Theory is the idea that one’s connections to society can predict the likelihood of them being deviant or criminal (Hirschi, 1969). Travis Hirschi describes the commitment component of the control theory. He says that those who are committed to conformity are in fear of losing the things they have worked for and therefore do not act upon criminal or deviant ideas (Hirschi, 1969). As a wife and mother of two, I am definitely committed to conformity. It is important for me to be seen as a good role model for my children. Because I am very involved with my children’s’ schools and my husband’s business it is important that my community views me as responsible and trustworthy as well. The Control Theory also states that both the deviant and the non-deviant believe the rules of society, they only differ in what extent they believe they should obey those rules (Hirschi, 1969). Maybe that is where Differential Association comes in, to the extent that if someone is taught that the rules do not apply to them then they will choose when to believe them and when not to.
Together Differential Association Theory and Control Theory explain why I am not deviant. My close associations with people taught me to conform to societies written and unwritten laws and my close bonds to society continue to reaffirm my decision to conform. Of course, this only applies to deviant behavior that one chooses and not to any societal deviance, which one is born with.
While choosing to act deviant for a day I conducted an informal experiment in personal space. American society has an unwritten rule about individual space that we all seem to learn sometime in early childhood. Most people in public seem to stay at least four feet away from each other. To sit or stand closer to strangers is considered deviant. This video from Seinfeld illustrates the awkwardness that people feel when this personal space is invaded. In this video
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character Elaine has a new boyfriend that Jerry has coined as “a bit of a close talker” notice the reaction of Kramer as he meets the close talker for the first time. The reactions of Kramer, although extream,clearly show the inappropriateness of this behavior.
To conduct this experiment I went to various public places, stood as close as I could to complete strangers, and observed their responses. As the conformist, that I previously mentioned, I was nervous to begin this experiment. Therefore, I decided to start with my 11-year-old son. Immediately upon him coming home from school, I began getting closer and closer to him and asked how his day was. As soon as I got within about a foot from his face, he stopped what he was saying and with a confused look said, “What are you doing mom?” I then began the experiment in public.
It was surprisingly difficult to get close to many of the people in the grocery store. I found that as soon as I would get within about three feet of them they would quickly move. I soon realized that the only people I was going to be able to get close to, were the people trapped in the checkout line. I approached the checkout line and stood behind a woman about 40 years old. She had already placed her groceries on the conveyer belt so I knew she could not move. I walked up behind her and stood as close as I could to her without touching her. She immediately turned around and asked if I wanted to go ahead of her. After I politely declined, she turned back around, my presence clearly making her uncomfortable. I myself was getting uncomfortable and was nervous about what she might say to me. With great relief, she said nothing more. The woman continued facing forward, shifted her weight from foot to foot and began to sigh loudly seeming very nervous. After what seemed like an eternity, she stepped to the side and pretended to look at the candy bars until it was her turn to check out. I then went to a local coffee shop where there was another woman standing at the counter waiting for her drinks. I ordered my drink and walked over to the appropriate waiting area. I again got as close to the women as I could. She quickly stepped to the side putting a comfortable distance between us. I again stepped close to her and without looking at me, she quickly moved across the room, as if I had the plague, until her drinks were done. It was all I could do to contain my laughter.
I then went to a sandwich shop and proceeded to perform the same actions to the 20 or so young man standing in line. To my surprise, he completely ignored me. After he paid for his sandwich he turned to walk away and I smiled at him, he did not smile back and quickly looked the other way.
This experiment gave me a small look at what it is like to be seen as a deviant. Having people feel uncomfortable around me was something I had not experienced before. I was very nervous about what the reactions of people would be. While I was standing with the woman in the grocery store, my heart was pounding fast and I felt very anxious. The fact is that because I am a white, middle class, woman of somewhat appropriate size I was not seen as much of a threat in these situations. It is possible that if I had been a man, the woman in the grocery store would have thought I was being a pervert or maybe a pickpocket. Of course, I could not know what the reactions would have been if I were a person of color or someone that is morbidly obese, but I can only expect that they would have been more overt. This is not to say that I now know what it is like to be known as a deviant however, maybe now I am a little more empathetic.
Word Count- 1,344
References:
Ferrante, J. (1995). Sociology A Global Perspective. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Hirschi, T. (1969). Control Theory. In A. Thio, T. C. Calhoun, & A. Conyers, Readings In Deviant Behavior sixth edition (pp. 30-32). Pearson Education Inc.
Merton, R. K. (1957). Strain Theory. In A. Thio, T. Calhoun, & A. Conyers, Readings In Deviant Behavior sixth edition (pp. 21-26). Pearson Education Inc.
Sutherland, E. H., & Cressey, D. R. (1977). Differential Association Theory. In A. Thio, T. C. Calhoun, & A. Conyers, Readings In Deviant Behavior sixth edition (pp. 27-29). Pearson Education Inc.
