Tough Guise

The media plays a major part in the portrayal of masculinity and gender norms and roles in general. Violence is depicted as a major aspect of masculinity and is essential for one to be a “true man”. But in reality this is just a guise made in order to shield a man’s vulnerability. Men see masculinity as a form of toughness in order to gain respect from others; a real man puts on a tough guise. But there is a lot of pressure for young boys and men to conform into this narrow box that defines manhood in our society. They learn from the powerful media that being a man is all about control, power, and dominance. The media in fact constructs violence in masculinity. Unfortunately, there is a consequence in our society between being a man and being violent. Over 85 percent of committed murders are done by men and over 90 percent of assaults are also done by men. This shows how the devastating the effect of the media on the men in our society can be. Men put on this tough guise as a survival mechanism, but this comes with the cost at the damage of their psyches and human being. Understanding violent masculinity is an important way to help prevent or reduce these consequences in society.
Men account for 90 percent of violence; kids nowadays are killing other kids, or more precisely boys are killing boys. But because men are the dominant group they are unexamined so the media doesn’t depict all this violence done by men. The power of the dominant group is not mentioned because it is left invisible by the media who is in fact controlled by this dominant group so in turn they leave such violence unexamined. The media depicts a crime by mentioning how many women got raped for example, instead of saying that the men raped the women; kids killing kids instead of boys killing boys. Therefore, the media de-genders such issues to the people and by not telling the story exactly as it should be then the key element is left out- boys/men. The media portrays issues using the words American or “women”, instead of men. When girls commit violence that is always the subject, but everyday men are committing murders and that doesn’t cause a national outcry. Violence is gendered as masculine so it is seen as unusual when women do it. Making masculinity visible in culture is the first step to understanding its dominance and control. Masculinity is measured by a man’s muscular body; symbolic space. There’s a dramatic difference in movies and shows from the past and present. Now toys are made with a tougher guise for boys so that they get the idea that a man is supposed to be muscular just like the action figures they play with. The projection of a, mans power is now more menacing and hyper-masculine. These images are made by the men on our culture and this reflects what goes on in the psyches of men. For example, Howard Stern creates a world for his male audience by belittling women ad showing contempt for them, playing on men’s insecurities. Limbaugh discredited women, insulting them because feminist ideas are threatening to some men. The rise on antigay violence is an indication of the insecurities of men and their identities as the culture opens up. Gays then feel self loading and pain and so kill themselves. The loss of the Vietnam War was said to be due to the loss of masculine will, pride, and ruggedness. Because the socio-economic structure denied men of color respect they had to adapt to hypo-masculinity to gain respect. Then the white kids learn from the colored kids who learn from pop culture that they must use their bodies and posing of toughness to gain respect. The effect on society of training boys to become “men” is the violent masculinity in action, such as school shootings in which boys act out of their own twisted psyches-in guns they had the great equalizer. This only becomes a concern in media when it happens in the “normal” white community. We need to take the focus off pathological males and onto the average “normal” looking guys. Violence is not just part of video games and movies but its part of normal culture and the masculine world. The link between guns and manhood is made clear to young boys because of the interactive violence that technology is having on boys’ psyches hour after hour. Even the sports culture is aggressive such as in football. Men gain respect by disrespecting others, boys are taught that real manhood is connected to this tough guise of masculinity. Reducing this violence in our society will help boys turn away from imitating violence as a cultural norm. Men’s violence against women is seen as normal and is made invisible by turning it into a joke. Degradation of women, control by men defines masculinity through power and dominance.
Boys are taught by pop culture that they must be emotionally strong so that they won’t seem vulnerable. Media is not acknowledging weaknesses of men. Interdependence is a weakness for women only, while men don’t need others, such as the Marlboro man who is stoic, rugged. Men are taught to suck it up, instead of reveling emotions. In fact the male population is suffering from depression because the notion of invulnerability gets boys/men killed because they have the idea of acting manly (road rage, alcoholism, drugs). We need to see the more hones t portrayal of male vulnerability such as Mark McGwire who shows his emotions in sports, such as with Sammy Sosa his rival on the field(yet they still hug each other and are friendly) and outside of it too and wasn’t afraid to say that therapy is important for humans. Our culture needs to make changes to the portrayal of men so that the violence in our society can decrease and end once and for all.

How does media and propaganda manipulate culture?

Throughout our lives the media and its propaganda have had a huge impact on our culture. It has been controlling us ever since it was made through deceiving and manipulating us. Through the use of language and the presentation of words and images, the media manipulates and controls us every day. About 98 percent of our thoughts are actually unconscious, therefore most of our thoughts and actions that arise from them and made not from our conscious. Reason requires emotions which are also not always conscious. It is not universal because people have different views. People always think by using frames for words or phrases. This is a major aspect of manipulation in our culture form the media. The use of words is a strong power of deceit and control. The example that George gave was through a sentence, “Do not think about elephant.” However, people will still think about elephant even though they tried to negate it because the frame of elephant is already in the brain and so people end up thinking about it anyways unconsciously. This is the same way that propaganda and the media manipulate their audience. For example, the democratic arguments activate republican frames through their use of words. This is what happens to us often. The media brings up a topic or issue of interest to the people and through the use of frames it gets more of the people’s attention because it makes them think about it whether consciously or unconsciously. This happens during advertisements of new products or news about world events such as war. The media tries to persuade us through vivid words and phrases that make the people agree or support them. For example when the media mentions to the audience what they think about on the issue of the war on terror. The frame here is war on terror and so that frame is already in the people’s minds and cannot be removed; so they just start to think about it. Not only do words manipulate the people but also the presentations manipulate the people. John Edwards used to communicate with his people through the use of eye contact with each individual person. In the media, Hillary talks to her audience with the use of great emotion in order to get to them and n some sense control their emotions to be like hers, or more precisely to manipulate them to be on her side. When she talks about universal healthcare she uses the words American values, decency and respect. These are the perfect set or frame of communication. When Obama uses the word trust he is also communicating with the people. Through the use of such words and a strong presentation of them such as by getting to the people’s emotions, the media can manipulate us on issues such as healthcare or war, by making us take the side of that certain type of media. The network of association is the use of the property of how the brain works. It’s an interconnected set of thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Through knowing how the brain responds to certain words, the media is able to utilize this mechanism by choosing certain words to manipulate the audience’s thoughts. For example the word liberal became associated with many other aspects through its constant use and application. That’s how the media knows how to activate and shape the networks in voters and people in general regarding other issues too. The media activates the networks in our mind to persuade us by using images and multisensors that persuade us how to make our lives better or improve our positions. Our culture and personal identity is the packaging of information in us. Through the power of words and phrase, and their proper presentations the media knows how to manipulate the people by knowing their values and using subliminal messages to get to their emotions and thoughts. The media knows what the people want, how they think and what makes them happy (such as material objects) and therefore, presents them through the use of powerful words and images. These techniques allow the media to deceive, control, and manipulate our culture in a way that persuades the people to support it.

How Does Media Shape Reality?

The media is a massive part of our lives and the reality around us. Without television, radio, newspapers, and the internet there are many things that we probably would have never known about. We get most of our source of information about the world around us from the media. Whether all the information is considered a hundred percent true or not is difficult to figure out due to the many differing views in our society. But overall, it is the media that transfers a great deal of knowledge to us. The media shapes our reality by providing us with a variety of information that we eventually believe because of the fact that it came from the media, such as the news on television or in newspapers. The manner in which the news is portrayed influences our opinions of the news and events around us. By displaying information in certain ways the media makes us believe what we see and hear to be true and perceive it as the reality. By doing so, the media shapes “reality” in the way that it wants to and we might not know if all the “facts” are real. But since it is our major source of information we just end up believing it because it delivers everything we are not fully aware of in the world around us. The media also shapes reality by stimulating the people’s desire for goods and causing them to consume more because the media knows what the people want and how they think. We live in a very materialistic world stimulated by the constant production of goods and ongoing advancements in technology. The media displays this reality and knows that when the people see these new items they will want to buy it. The media benefits from peoples approval and gain more audience and the consumer world benefits. The media in a sense controls the people and their actions through its propaganda. It and propaganda influences us to think in a certain way by forming opinions. The media can get us to do what it wants by knowing what we want and satisfying our desires. In turn people support certain views depicted by the media and that eventually leads the media and those in charge of it to receive what they want whether it be power, money, recognition or support. People usually follow what the media says. For example, during the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the media displayed that the cause of this was the Muslim terrorists in Afghanistan. But there isn’t even sufficient proof for that, however, the people believe what the media says and regard it as rue because it supposedly reveals the reality in our world. But there are many facts that are true that the media presents to us, for example during natural disasters. The media is the people’s ultimate source of knowledge and information about the daily life and events around us. Without it we would be isolated from the world; it is the essence if the reality around us.

The Media Made Me Do It-Media and Consumerism

Everyday we are controlled by media and consumerism without even realizing. The media manipulates and deceives many if not all people and it distracts us with new forms of entertainment day by day. We may not even realize what we are spending our money on-if it’s worth it or not. In this nation, people want whatever they see even if they don’t need it. Whether on television, in the newspaper, or in magazines, the media attracts us to things that we then want to buy. For example, clothes in magazines-when there are new styles of clothes or something new that is out, the media catches my attention to want to but it. When I see new clothes in magazines and stores that makes me more eager to want to buy it especially when discounts or new magazines are sent in the mail. Media controls our wants by making us more eager to buy from certain companies or stores; for example when they say that if you buy something you can get the other free or at half price, etc. By doing so they trick us into buying more. Propaganda is also a huge aspect of the media. For example, these days many technologies are emerging and the media makes the people aware about them. Some media makes people choose certain technologies over others by portraying them in better or worse ways depending on which side the media belongs to. This propaganda controls our wants and desires. Therefore, when I see a new laptop or cell phone being advertised everywhere and see more and more people buying it I begin to think that I also want to buy it but I rethink it over and know that if it’s not needed then I won’t buy it. Sometimes seeing too many new things and being affected by those around me, makes me want to buy these things. But I know that I don’t need to buy all that because not only is it a waste of money but it is also a waste of resources and materials, and it’s not necessary to but whatever is new to be like others. Many people constantly buy everything and anything so that they could fit in with the rest of society and are a part of the new style or fashion. The same goes for electronics, when I see everyone around me with the latest and most advanced items that are all over the news and internet that just makes me think about buying it too. But sometimes there’s no need to buy the latest thing because there’s only a minimal difference between it and the previous item. Now I don’t shop that often and don’t buy too many things that I may not use. I only buy what I may need or something that I really want that I don’t have like it so it won’t go to waste. I am not as easily affected by the advertising of the media because now I am older and know that it is just a way to keep customers to continuously buy more items. This goes to show how much the media controls consumerism and that consumers are usually deceived by the media’s propaganda so that companies and businesses can profit.