Hunter College

Jessie Daniels, PhD SOC101

Worksheet for VIDEO: “Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood & American Culture”

(available via Kanopy Streaming, Hunter College library)

SYNOPSIS. Jackson Katz’s film, “Tough Guise 2” (2013), examines masculinity. In this film, Katz looks at mass shootings, day-to-day gun violence, violence against women, bullying, gay-bashing, and American militarism to make the argument that American culture has normalized violent and regressive forms of masculinity because of challenges to traditional male power and authority.

1.  In your text, the authors write: “The phrase ‘boys will be boys’ is often used to justify behavior such as pushing, shoving, or other forms of aggression from young boys.“ Jackson Katz opens up the film with a series of rather staggering statistics, including: 99% of rapes are committed by men, 90% of murders are committed by men, and 61 of the 62 recent mass shootings have been committed by men. How are these facts related to the text’s explanation of gender?

2.  In the film, Katz contends that when we talk about “violence against women” we’re using language that is “part of how dominant ideologies work linguistically to conceal the power of dominant groups.” How would a conflict theorist explain this choice of language?

3.  In the film, Katz makes the claim that part of the appeal of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is because he appeals to white men as victims of the feminist movement, gay people and people of color. Drawing on readings and the film, what is a common strategy for restoring this threatened sense of masculinity?

4.  In a sentence or two, what connection would you draw between the reading by Kimmel, the film and lecture material?


Media Literacy Questions:

Everything you see in a film (or any form of media) represents an intentional choice by the director, editor or cinematographer. Since we get most of our information about the world from media, it’s important to understand how to make sense of media images. Use these questions to help you make sense of these images.

5. What are the physical qualities of the documentary (check where applicable):

____ Music
____ Narration
____ Special effects
____ Color
____ Live action
____ Background noise / ____ Animation
____ Dramatizations
____ “Talking Heads”
____ Historic Footage
____ Subject Interviews
____ Newspaper Headlines

6. What is the central message(s) of this documentary? How do you think the filmmakers wanted the audience to respond?

7. What information do you gain about this event that would not be conveyed by a written source? Be specific.

8. Documentaries are often criticized for using too many “talking heads,” that is experts on the subject of the film who shown talking. Different filmmakers have come up with a variety of ways to solve the problem of “talking heads.” How does the filmmaker address that problem in this film?