Blog 10

I think men put on the “tough guise” because they think it gives them power and respect, especially with women. In movies, books, and television, women are portrayed as always falling for the strong, independent man (like Clint Eastwood), instead of a man who freely expresses vulnerability and emotion.

Men of color in particular, like the video said, use this guise because they feel like they have no other way to gain respect in our culture. They don’t have access to education, high-paying jobs, and political influence like white men do and so they resort to the tough guy image.

I think, honestly, that this image makes things worse for men of color. The tough guy persona carries with it a stereotype of danger and unpredictability (you never know if Clint Eastwood or, say, the Godfather, is going to kill you or save you). I think this makes it even more difficult for “tough” men of color to get jobs from white employers. It’s not fair and it’s not right, but white employers might assume that the “tough” colored man will be less reliable than another employer. They might assume he will start fights and just generally be less effective in the work force. They’ll probably never look past his front of dangerous behavior to who he is as a person.

And yet, as harmful as the media’s portrayal of colored men is to them, it hasn’t stopped. I would even suggest that it’s used by white culture as a way to separate and control men of color or to justify giving them unequal treatment. And men feed this discrimination by playing up to the image of the “tough guy” as the best form of masculinity, instead of presenting themselves to the world as the sensitive, emotionally well-rounded people they really are.