“Tough Guise” aimed to prove
through various media sources that today's young men are being
corrupted by images of violence, and this violence has been gendered
male. Men are constantly held to hold the highest standard in
masculinity; if they choose not to, then they choose to be subject to
ridicule and constant doubt of their masculinity. The “box of
masculinity” that we place our young men in only causes anguished
and destructively violent behavior. What “Tough Guise” hopes to
point out is the extremely toxic environment that young men are
subject to growing up and how it affects their outward behavior
toward their peers.
One fascinating, yet horrific, example
of how toxic masculinity affects young men has been school shootings.
Every case that they specifically pointed out has been due to the
fact that the young shooters were tormented by other boys daily about
their lack of masculinity. They were constantly called out for it,
and after a while they felt that they had to do something drastic in
order to vindicate themselves, which came in the form of killing many
innocent students, sometimes teachers, within their school. If only
we could get into their heads, I would like to ask them why the felt
like this was the last resort. Guns are “the great equalizer” for
these boys, because they feel that they must inflict an act of
extreme violence on their community. Women, on the other hand, are
less subject to acting violently, and when they do, it is more
noticeable because violence is an action that is very gendered in
men. What would happen if a girl committed murder by shooting up her
high school? Would this attract more attention from the media because
it was a woman? I suppose we will never know these questions unless
something tragic like this happens, but why is it that males are the
only perpetrators of these violent acts?
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