Masculinity Violence and Masculinity in Essay

The documentary film Tough Guise provides many more striking and direct examples of the manner in which aggression in all three forms discussed by Kauffmann have become a seamless part of male identity in our society. From the association of aggression and physical prowess with sexuality and performance capabilities to the extreme pressure in minority communities to conform to specific masculine identities as a way of asserting independence, male violence against women and against other men through both direct physical violence and through general domination and intimidation is seen as a natural part of society by many. The violence against oneself that this sense of masculinity leads to is seen in examples like the school shootings that typically end in suicides, but every act of violence that leads to a deterioration of an individual's actual standing in society -- or the standing of that society itself -- is truly an act of violence against oneself.The fact that the twentieth century was the bloodiest on human record should be taken as a sign that this society is committing violence upon itself, and that a change must be made.

Masculinity is essentially constructed through the system of values and expectations that have become the lens through which society views men. One's ability to conform to these values and expectations constructs their view of their own "masculinity," in many instances, and social pressures to conform to this view of masculinity are both intense and violent. This violence is also acted out upon women in forms of domination and direct physical violence, perpetuating the problem still further......