Blog #8

One of the benefits of men putting "tough guise" is that men are seen as the caretaker of their wives and women can feel protected and safe. Putting on this "tough guise" allows men and boys to be ready for a society that puts pressure on men to be strong and masculine. It can be dangerous though because it leads to a negative image of violence for men unfortunately. Gender issues can actually run synonymously with women's issues to an extent. When dealing with gender issues, gender roles also need to be mentioned. Men are expected to be the provider and the strong one and women are supposed to be the child bearers and women need to be soft and gentle. When looking at women's issues, our specific gender role causes gender issues because you run into women who are masculine like Ellen Degeneres and it blurs the line of gender roles and issues and the same goes for men who are more feminine like Elton John. It's a big circle when dealing with gender issues and women's issues as well as men's issues. Since men are supposed to be tough and strong, you don't take a second to think that men are affected by body image and eating disorders. When we watched the film Thin, there wasn't a male patient and majority of the male models are beefed up and muscular. I honestly have never thought about how the media can scrutinize men as well and give them this pressure to have the perfect body image. Just like with women, men can suffer from eating disorders like anorexia. Men spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on pills to beef up. It can also tear men apart and pressure them to fit the ideal body image. Men can suffer just as much as women do. Men sometimes feel pressured to use steroids and it can lead to steroid abuse and it has even cost some athletes their careers. I believe the media inspires change because you're beginning to see male actors who have some meat on them and they aren't very muscular. There are male actors stepping onto the scene who are overweight, but they are still wonderful actors. The media has complete control over the ads that are put out there and they have the control to use men and women who are real and not skinny. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwZUsZWMjwE

This is a video just raising awareness for eating disorders with men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIFAoRU1veo&feature=related

This is a video that follows a male model who suffers from anorexia