Research Paper Outline Thesis: Media (video games, television) have changed young mens view of masculinity.

. o Instead of being polite, strong of character, and honest they are driven to be aggressive, sexually active, and ruled by material acquisition. P1 o Discus evolution of view of masculinity Chivalry, and other such social fads. What brought them about and what ushered in new concepts P2 o Video games Negative aspects of the effects of video games on concepts of masculinity These video games and such steer men back towards more primal and instinctive form of masculinity Devolution of culturally implemented social structures

Thomas Bixby Dr. E Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric 4 April 2014 Playing a Man Stereotypes of masculinity and femininity have been rooted in human culture for ages, and like most stereotypes these are based on some measure of fact. Gender roles dictated by physical ability were prevalent in ancient people. Men were physically stronger and more aggressive so the duties of hunting and fighting fell to them. Women were smaller but were granted the equally important task of carrying and nurturing the next generation. As humanity moved forward practice grew on practice and formed culture which then dictated the roles of the sexes. These were ages where the physically strong dominated the weak and mans blood was hot. As progression has continued, however, humanity has entered an age where the mind is the best tool and the value of brawn has plummeted. In an age where tools such as guns and cars minimize the advantage of physical superiority the previously established norms for masculinity and femininity are called into question. If these roles are not drawn from a physically dictated struggle for survival then they must have another source. This new source is the popular media that is so readily available today. Television and video games craft personas derived from the culturally established ideas of gender. This essay will focus on masculinity and how it is marketed to young boys. This media which glamorizes violence, sexuality, and material acquisition speaks to the most primal nature of man. In this modern age, however, instinct has given way to reason and the nature of man is changing. Out of fear the content of these forms of

media has become bloodier, more sexual, and more material. This is creating a perception in young boys who are exposed to this media that hyper masculinity, a step back to before culture and manners took hold, is what it means to be a man. Honor, integrity, trust and other such aspects of contemporary masculinity have nearly ceased to be discussed. Instead

PI) In her book Television and Child Development, Judith Van Evra discusses the relationship between television content and child behavior. One important relationship she notes is a causal one between viewing violence on TV or playing with violent video games and real-life aggression (83). The correlation or causality debate in regards to media exposure and behavior has gone on for some time. The majority of researches agree that there is some association between viewing violent media and violent behavior. Evidence, however, remained inconclusive for some time due to a lack of sound studies and a firm belief by some that this association could be disproven if certain variables were controlled (83). Numerous researches for the last three decades set out to lay the debate to rest. One such pair, Comstock and Scharrer, conducted numerous studies in the late nineties to measure exposure to TV violence, aggressive or antisocial behavior, and other variables (82). What they found was incontestable empirical documentation of a positive relation between exposure to violence and aggressive and antisocial behavior which was consistent in surveys, laboratory experiments, field studies, and simulated aggression models (82).

The clear causal relationship between exposures to violent media and aggressive behavior is troubling. To make matters worse, media glamorizes the violence in these fictional depictions and rarely do those enacting the violence get taken to justice. P2) Video games add an entirely new element with which to influence young minds. By allowing one to be involved in events rather than merely viewing them creates a level of connection that is lacking in television. Psychology expert Valerie Walkerdine discusses how video games allow the embodiment of fantasies of omnipotent masculinity (Walkerdine 46). She goes on to discuss how the effects of this simulated omnipotence even in non-violent games creates a desire within young boys for independence. This gives these children the sense that to be a man they must handle things on their own without the aid or counsel of others. If the game is violent then the effects are more pronounced. Not only does the boy wish to handle problems on his own but learns to use aggression as a primary means of solving problems. In these violent video games the avatar of the player is often destroyed if the player fails to correctly navigate the animated situation. These games also display little portrayal of any realistic consequences of violence (Van Evra 78). In 2001 89% of video games were shown to have violence in them, while 79% of games rated E for everyone had some form of animated violence in which killing was rewarded and justified (78).

Violence in E rated childrens may be of the slapstick comical type but this does not diminish its impact. The same can be said about cartoons. Cartoons were found to have the most violent scenes, and they are geared to entertain children. The issue arises in the young minds difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality. This well documented difficulty makes the risk of effect higher for children (Van Evra 79). The fact that these cartoons and childrens video games do not show blood and gore does little to minimize their impact; it may in fact make it more potent. Because this media does not show lethal violence the acts depicted in them tend to be ones which use natural means and were less lethal, making them easier for children to duplicate or emulate, (Van Evra 79). For the most part boys show more interest in video games so most of the characters in them are boys, with whom young boys would be more likely to identify, (Van Evra 79). Cartoons are less skewed towards a single sex but featuring characters of similar age to the child increased the characters likeability, and creates a greater likelihood of the child thinking of the character as a role model and channel the aggression displayed by the character. Using a meta-analysis, which uses statistical techniques to combine the outcomes from a large number of empirical studies of a hypothesis to analyze data, studies were done to measure aggression caused by exposure to the aforementioned forms of media. -relational aggression -verbal aggression -physical aggression/violence (gentile 14) An act of aggression must meet certain stipulations. It must be directed at an individual with the intent to cause harm. The perpetrator of the aggressive act must expect said act to have a

chance of harming the other individual who is motivated to avoid harm (Gentile 14). An act meeting the aforementioned standards then falls into separate subsets for more clarity of study. Physical aggression and violence which involves harm caused by direct physical means is the most commonly pictured form of aggression. Causing harm by verbal means or through print is labeled verbal aggression. The third type is called relational aggression which brings harm through the damage or of or threat towards relationships or feeling of acceptance. Rumor spreading, exclusion, and other forms of relational aggression have psychological impacts just as serious as the physical hurts brought on my violence (Gentile 15).

Despite the indisputable effects of these forms of media in encouraging hyper masculine characteristics, namely aggression, there are measures that can be taken to reduce the effects. One obvious solution noted by Katherine Buckley and Douglas Gentile is merely to reduce as much as possible childrens and adolescents exposure to such violent games, (Buckley, Gentile 160). In their book Violent Video Games Effects on Children and Adolescents, Buckley and Gentile offer other less effective yet still viable options. An explicit talk with the child about the negative effects of media violence and an explanation that the aggressive solutions to interpersonal conflicts shown on the screen do not translate to the physical world. Other talks to help the child distinguish between fantasy and reality will also be helpful but no solution offers an equally effective alternative to reduced exposure. Some parents will try to play the violent game with their children and forgo the discussion. This, however, can cause more harm than good because such coplay without explicit discussions of harmful effects, inappropriateness of

violent solutions in real life, and promotion of nonviolent alternatives is likely to be seen by child as endorsement of violent attitude and behaviors, (Buckley, Gentile 161).

The effects of cutting back on media exposure Reducing exposure is the best viable option for minimizing the negative impact of violent media on young boys. Studies have linked individual-level exposures with individual-level behaviors, and upon reduction of exposure the corresponding attributes appear to slowly fade (Robinson 194). Using peer ratings of aggression a study was done