Machismo

Just as in Miss Representation, Tough Guise 2 evaluates the effect of a toxic gender hierarchy portrayed in American media. However, this documentary focuses more on the male experience and how constructs and scripts of masculinity can affect them throughout their lives. While girls contend with images of Barbie Malibu as the standard of feminine appearance, boys are shown a GI Joe with biceps that measure even larger than Dwayne Johnson’s as the ideal standard of physical masculinity.…

The Bad Boy, the Troublemaker, the Rebel, the young delinquent with a heart of gold; all undoubtedly some of America’s favorite tropes. Americans have a soft spot for the Bad Boy who is really a Good Guy. Such characters are prevalent throughout America’s entertainment culture and history. From Johnny Depp’s Cry-baby Walker, to Judd Nelson as Bender in The Breakfast Club, and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, Americans swoon at the first sight of a brooding glare, and go weak in the knees at the…

The trigger for sympathy for the eponymous character Miss Julie The inevitability of fate as a motor for drama has been used through the ages and August Strindberg’s controversial play Miss Julie falls into this grouping of literary classics. The eponymous protagonist (daughter of a count and a commoner), is driven by a hereditary need to integrate with the lower class yet simultaneously lord over them. Using her sexuality but also tempted by lowering herself socially, she beds her servant,…

The literature on the topic of police brutality encompasses various areas ranging from police-suspect interactions to the bias attitudes developed by particular communities in response to police brutality. There are four areas of literature to be reviewed pertaining most to my topic. First, the literature proposes how the identities of an individual affect their opinions of law enforcement, which formulates their response to interactions with the police. Next, I will examine literature…

Cultural Hijacking: The Commercialization of the Hip Hop Genre Ever since the formative years of the recorded music industry, Africana artists have played a major role in shaping some of the most influential music genres of the 20th century. Jazz, blues, and hip hop, to name a few, would not exist in the current state that they do today had it not been for all of the great artists who overcame racial intolerance and segregation through their art. Unfortunately, the period of social…

Patriarchal societies, by definition, are dominated by the male presence and female subordination. Men decide on political, social, and religious policies while women are restricted to managing the household and taking care of children. In many past and present patriarchal societies, women are reduced to mere property. Masculinity symbolizes strength while femininity reflects weakness. Although the position of women has improved in most societies with feminist movements, most men and women still…

assault. According to the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, 10 percent of males experienced sexual assault during their college careers. Often, men do not report sexual assaults due to particular stereotypes, such as lack of vulnerability, machismo, and toughness (Colleges, 2016). Statistics also show that 90 percent of women know the person who sexually assaulted or raped them. Often, women let their guard down once they have known someone for a short amount of time, leading them to…

In a film directed by Chris Eyre, “Smoke Signals,” is the story of two Indian boys in a journey. At Idaho 's desolate Coeur d 'Alene Indian reservation, Victor and Thomas grew up together. They are not exactly friends, but they have a special connection that built up throughout the story. Victor Joseph is the stoic, athletic young man who is mostly ignored by others. On the other hand, Thomas Builds-the-Fire is the goofy, young man who is a true believer of spirits and he makes every effort to…

Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises, describes narrator Jake Barnes’ journey from Paris to Pamplona with the company of old friends and expatriates. Throughout the novel, Hemingway depicts an association of several thematic ideas, especially the connection between gender roles and its destructive effect on relationships. Hemingway suggests through the use of dialogue and characterization the reversal of gender roles creates superficial relationships between characters of the novel, using sex…

“La raza! / Méjicano! / Español! / Latino! / Chicano! / Or whatever I call myself / I look the same / I feel the same / I cry / And / Sing the same. / I am the masses of my people and / I refuse to be absorbed. / I am Joaquín” (Gonzales, 1969). These powerful words were taken from Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales’s, poem “I am Joaquin”, which revolutionized the definition of “Chicano” in the late 1900’s. Although many are challenging the traditional definition of Chicano social identity as it was seen…