Roz B. Katz. "Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity." (349-357).

Rosalyn Bocker
10/7/2007
WGS 220-05
Katz. "Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity."
(349-357).

Description:
• Mainstream media fails to take into account gender when discussing
violence, overlooking a class-conscious gender construction of masculinity
(349-350).
Analysis:
• Media discusses racial representation, but "white" doesn't appear to be
cultural/historical category (350).
• White male archetypes "commodity image system"/pandemic violence
normalized/mainstream (350).
• White males increasingly economically instable/dislocated by
women/minorities, assert "manhood", focus on physical
size/strength/violence (531).
• Stress gender differences by defining masculinity (aggressive) in
opposition to femininity (passive) (352).
• "Angry white working class rebel"=defy middle-class/embrace
violence/misogyny/homophobia (353)
• "Violence is genetic"= linked to success, sexuality, history (354)
• "Military/Sports masculine"=uniforms masculine, cool, sexy/real men do
it/aggressive is good (355)
• "Muscles make the man"=defend home/family from "other" emphasis
strength/violence potential(356)
• "Hero is violent"= guns symbolize virility/larger than life/immortalized
in film (police/gunslingers/etc.) (357)
Vision:
• Need to develop more sophisticated understanding of cultural
construction of masculinity (357)
Strategy:
• Examine representation of men (esp. in regards to violence) (357)
• Examine production/legitimization of violent masculinities
(sports/comics/movies/etc) (357)