Question I

Jackson Katz talks about how this society teaches us skewed versions of masculinity and femininity. To be a man is to be tough, physical and aggressive; to be a woman is usually the opposite. He says that men and boys also get taught what they are when they don't measure up to these rigid standards of masculinity; they are ridiculed and picked at until they are raw and hurt; this could ass to the perpetuation of the cycle of violence: like a patriarchal father acting out at his gender non-conforming son: or it can be related to how a person of color with very light skin may try and pass as white and something that helps him pass is to act more in line with dominant white masculinity. When woman don't measure up we are systemically demonized in all threads and violence is used against us. The smartest thing that the media has done is create narrow categories so that we fall into them and become socialized. The consumer culture we live in helps socialization flourish giving us materials to groom so that we have the chance to become the best dominant masculine white man or the best dominant feminine white woman.

The intersection with race and class is easy to see as white and wealthy are the standards we are all supposed to achieve in beauty and society, it i all we see and know of life: whiteness. This creates internalized hatred from young children of color with the lack of positive images one feels no comfort in the world with who they are.

The only recent media images that portray a more diverse or complex representation of gender is the girl scouts new images and poster campaigns, yet at a larger scale it is still gendered because the boy scouts exist and they do different activities and are offered more societal support. It will take more than progressive images of gender to deconstruct patriarchy, we have to create spaces that honor different types of masculinity and femininity and we have to work towards changing systems that put out images and the culture.