After watching the “Tough Guise” video I realized just how much masculinity and the “tough guy” appearance is pushed on boys and men of all ages. I have a teenage son and all around him are images, advertisements, and everyday situations that are encouraging him to strive to be tough, strong, and manly. I have no problem with my son being into hunting, fishing, and sports, I want him to be an athletic hard working man when he grows up but like with everything there has to be a balance.

 To me what sets apart “the bad guys” and the “good guys” is respect. Respect for themselves, respect for women, respect for your elders, ect. The problem is that most young men start out with lots of respect then see in the media or in a lot of music the blatant disrespect for women. A good man is going to love, care for, and respect a woman. He’s not going to be out “pimpin his hoes” or “getting money” but these are the type of images that the media is sending to children. And of course you can’t control every move your kid makes so you have to hope that you did your job raising them to respect others and to stay true to themselves. Unfortunately a lot of parents just assume that their kids are making the right choices when in reality their brains are absorbing this masculinity and naturally put on this “tough guy” front as a surviving mechanism just like what was said in the video. Ultimately to survive we have to find a mate and reproduce and men are getting it in their heads the more masculine and violent they are the more attractive they are and this is where we have to start educating and encourage them that violence is not only unattractive but can get them into a lot of trouble.

 To conclude I think the best way to break the cycle of violence and this “tough guy” image is to educate our kids when they are young and to have the confidence knowing that even if my son is watching these violent images on TV or hearing about them in a song it doesn’t mean he is going to be an aggressive, violent person because he knows better. It’s important for me to know that when he grows up he will instill the same characteristics into his son. It’s really just a matter of everyone addressing the issue because let’s be honest there’s nothing we can do to change media it’s been the same for years and it will continue to be the way it is.