Social Learning and Masculinity

The textbook address the social learning theory from a violent and sexual point of view primarily aimed at the social reform of the 1960’s. During this time America experienced a rise in violence, political unrest, and a general “decline in public morality”. The masses were said to have learned this behavior through the media, be it that they were in fact the first “TV generation”. What was true then seems just as true now, but with social learning through media becoming the proprietors of the masculine guise embedded into our young men’s heads today.

We can only hope that media does not play the primary role in the exemplification of the “real” man. Ideally a young boy’s (or even girls, for they too have their own idea of what a man should be) first example of a man is his father. The danger lies in a situation where the father is either too preoccupied with work or other activities or simply not present at all in the child’s life. It is at this point the child is forced to seek out the male image, and in a day and age in which youth are more media savvy then ever, the media becomes the one to teach little Johnny what it means to be a man.

Unfortunately, the media often gets it wrong. Prosocial and antisocial behaviors are frequently intertwined and very subjective.  The power rangers exhibited bravery, teamwork, and even ingenuity; all of which can be considered prosocial qualities. However, the leader of the power rangers was always a white male that when faced with adversity used violence to settle ALL disputes. It would have been preposterous for power rangers to negotiate or solve their intergalactic issues diplomatically, because like the film Tough Guise points out, to deviate from the medias image of masculinity is to be considered a “wuss, wimp, fag, or sissy”. There are no homosexual crime fighters, no sensitive male super heros, and at least while I was growing up little to no portrayals of successful men of color. And because of this, we have an epidemic of skewed ideologies pertaining to masculinity.