One of the aspects of the recently viewed movie "Tough Guise" was how the media portrays how a man should be. We saw examples of the transformation of the classic G.I. Joe action figure, who recently if it were put in real size would have bigger arms than Mark McGuire. The media has a major affect on why guys act the way they do and why they put on this tough guise. This movie is very accurate in its portrayal of this. We can see this in schools as well. The big strong guy is always more respected and feared. In high school it is more easily seen than in college, especially mine which was very small. The big tough senior was always treated with respect by those who were younger and smaller, and if someone was trained in boxing or another martial art they were also respected and feared in a way. This is because the way the media shows us how strong men always beat the weak or how boxers and fighters are so tough and thats how we should be. In high school the guys who were in the choir rather than on the football team were often refered to as a homo or a bitch. Even people who played soccer rather than a contact sport were considered soft and not respected around the school as much as lacrosse or football players were.

On of the short stories from Code of the street invovled an eighth grade boy named Curtis and his conflict with another boy. In this story Curtis was being picked on by another boy at school and became frightened. He then called his mom and asked what he should do, because he knew if he went to the teacher or left school he would be picked on even more. His mother told him she would drive to the school and wait outside, she then instructed Curtis to talk as tough as he could and what ever he did to not act afraid. She would wait outside so if a fight broke out she would break it up since the other kids dont know she is his mother. The instructions she gave Curtis worked and the other boy left him alone. This story reminded me of an instance ver very similar to this that occurred last year with my eighth grade brother. Last year he was being picked on repeatedly by the same boy and his friend almost everyday. My brother Sean did not want to tell on the boys in fear that they would beat him up for being a snitch or have that type of a reputation for being one. He came to me and my other brother Thomas for guidance. We told him to call the kid out and see how tough he really is and told him what is the worst that could happen. If the kid tries to fight you he would get kicked out of school and the fight would be broken up. The next day in school the kid followed my brother into the bathroom and started calling him names so my brother shoved him and said to fight him if he is so tough. The kid backed down and never talked to my brohter again. Although in the book this is the code of the street to act this way, it also applies t other suburban areas as well. Some parts of the code can be seen everywhere.

Amazing Racist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ZgndfzZiw

This is the link to a video found under the search "Amazing Racist." There are numerous video's under this search all made by the same man. In these videos the man goes around and does things to all different religions and ethnicities which would be considered very wrong and racisit to these people. In the video which I have posted the man dresses a a member of the Ku Klux Klan and drives into a predominantly black neighborhood and goes into a mosque and tries to sell inapropriate merchandise to the people and disturbs their prayers intentionally. In both segments the man committs numerous acts of deviance for his own pleasure and amusment. It makes you think if he is the only devient one in all of this. What about the person filming it? Do we even question ourselves. Maybe we are being devient by watching these videos and exploiting them to our friends, because we think they are funny.

Brothel

Brothel


There were many things in Brothel which grabbed my attention immediately, but others that I did not pick up on until later in the book. As I read I saw that these women were in such high competition with each other and would do anything to win. Some of these women would even sabotage the other women, such as putting nair in the shampoo and putting holes in another girls condoms. Although they would go to great lengths and do some very cruel and deviant things, when it cam e down to it these women were like a family and had would do anything for each other. One topic in the book which truly made me think, but was not realized until later was how these women and men who work at these brothels want to be seen as equal in society and not be judged. All of these women saw what they did as a profession and wanted to be viewed as equals, but even they, when out in public would not tell others of what they did. They say they are not embarrassed of what they do, but then they say how they try to hide it from friends and neighbors.