Media Portrayals of Men pgs 538-542

The general point made by the Media Awareness Network in their work Media Portrayals of Men and Masculinity, is that the media portrays men in a certain ways that are not always accurate. More specifically the Media Awareness Network suggests that the media defines masculinity, whether it is by stereotypes, or simply just advertising what men should look and act like.  They write, “Families, friends, teachers, and community leaders all play a role in helping boys define what it means to be a man (538).”  In this passage the Media Awareness Network is only suggesting that the media plays a vital role as to how some men define themselves and their masculinity.  In conclusion, it is the Media Awareness Networks belief that they can use the internet to see how men are portrayed.

In my view, I think that they are right because when reading the works and the stereotypes, you can think of men who have at least once in their lifetime said something about that stereotype.  For example one stereotype is that it’s rare to see men or boys crying otherwise showing vulnerability.  I know that many boys don’t like to cry because of this reason, but really I when boys cry it shows that they can be sensitive to whatever it may be and they too have feelings.  Although some people agree with many of these stereotypes and choose to base if they are valuable or not be what the media says, I think that there is more importance in life rather than what the media has to say about how people should look and act like.  Therefore, in conclude that people should not define who they are by the media, people should be themselves and not have to worry about what others think about them.