Researching the Issue of "Toxic Masculinity" in SUPA WRT 105

    SUPA Writing 105 is a course that really makes you think deeply and can sometimes even challenge your opinions or morals.  A lot of the time, it can open your eyes.  I would even make the argument that it can make you a better person, if you open yourself up to allow it to.  This relates to every topic that we have talked about, whether it is the dangers of believing in a single story, racism, and now toxic masculinity.  I always seem to leave this class asking myself how what we talk about impacts my every day life.  Am I guilty of projecting a single story on somebody?  Am I not as compassionate about a subject as I should be?  I always find myself wanting to be the best person that I can be after each class.  I just wanted to give a little bit of background on what this class is at the core.

Analysis:

Tough Guise 2, "The Boys are Not All Right", "Not Your Father's Masculinity"

    

The documentary, Tough Guise 2, was eye opening, to say the least.  It all made a lot of sense.  I actually took a step further and continued my research on the topic of the shooting at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.  Virginia Tech is one of my top schools of interest that I have applied to for next fall, and I have learned how much that event impacted the University, and how the events are still a major part of their culture within Blacksburg and on campus today.  The main argument within Tough Guise 2 , was that the blatantly unmentioned fact of truth is that men are responsible for the majority of heinous crimes, and it is not even close.  Numbers like 99% of rape cases are against men.  All but one of the last chunk of mass shootings, committed by men.  The deeper question was why.  The documentary explored many different reasons, but the biggest focus was the image of masculinity within our culture.  This went as deep as analyzing the muscle size on G.I. Joe action figures from the original set in the 1940s, to now, with the image of a real man being represented by someone with muscles the size of "The Rock's".  It went further, analyzing how the violence within cinema, media, and video games is also contributing to this serious issue. There was one subject that I do wish that they explored a little bit further. From what I gathered, the documentary accused the only reason for these mass shooting crimes to be the corruptness of toxic masculinity, which yes, in a way relates to the issues of bullying and discrimination as well, but I wish that this went more in depth.  I felt like it was more focused on that mass shootings happen as a result of violent games and movies, when the true trend seems to be the problem of bullying.  Every example that they gave, dealt with a person who has experienced real struggle and faces so much negativity from their peers.  After that, they are depicted as monsters.  Are their crimes horrific? Absolutely.  Am I making excuses for them? No.  But, there needs to be more focus on rehabilitating mental stability, anti-bullying in both the student and the adult world, and overall help.  Another subject that really blew my mind was the advertisements for firearms.  In fact, exact fire arms used in a mass shooting.  Those represented an eerie promotion of masculinity.

The two articles really contrasted each other, which was not something that I picked up on the firs time reading through, and I do not thin our class did either.  I remember you telling us that we missed the point and to read it again, without giving us any "spoils" so to speak.  "Not Your Father's Masculinity" actually begs to differ with the messages relayed on Tough Guise 2 and "The Boys Are Not All Right".  This is evident with quotes such as, "Having to listen to people who aren't men, or who are ashamed of manhood, constantly telling me how to be one, would be my short answer." and "Maybe our opposites attracting, which the furtherance of our species has depended on, isn't a design flaw, but its very essence".  It actually took a conversation with a friend, who is in the other section of this class, comparing our experiences with two different teachers and what material we cover.  Turns out, it is all the same material, just my teacher is way better.  And for "The Boys Are Not All Right", the messages in the article are definitely on the same track as the messages within the documentary.  It takes a look at the history leading up to the problems that we have now.

Nonetheless, this course truly does open your eyes to a lot of real world problems that are important to explore.  it makes you think.  It makes you more aware of the world around you when you're outside of class.  Most of all, it makes me want to be the best person that I can be!