Gender Violence: Males are Predominately More Aggressive than Females
Gender Violence In today’s society there is a stigma that males are predominately more aggressive than females. This stereotype is upheld when we take a look at nearly every prison in America, males are the dominant population. “Masculinity [is] usually characterized by dominance and aggression” (567). This assumption is also enforced in media, television, and especially in movies. In movies, most crimes, whether they are robbery, rape, murder, or drug related, are performed by a male or by groups of men. This stigma is especially present in the movie “Crash.” The movie displays multiple criminal acts including, but not limited to, murder, grand theft auto, and rape, all of these crimes are performed by men. Gender roles have been around for thousands of years; there is no arguing that men and women are usually complete opposites when it comes to certain characteristics. Men are supposed to be strong, intelligent, forceful, in-charge. Men aren’t supposed to wait around for what they want, they are supposed to take it. This quality can be good in some situations, but when getting what you want involves criminal activity, it’s not so good anymore. In the movie “Crash” a policeman, Officer John Ryan played by Matt Dillon, is extremely racist, especially against African Americans. In an act of power, he physically assaults a black woman, Christine played by Thandie Newton in front of her husband, Cameron played by Terrance Howard. Cameron is powerless against John Ryan, not only because the man touching his wife is a police officer, but also because he knows that the color of his skin will get him into big trouble if he tries to defend her. Christine is stunned by what the officer is doing to her and in such a state of shock that she cannot bring herself even to move in order to get away from him. Cameron is ‘smart’ enough to know that if he does anything to defend his wife from the police officer he will be the one who winds up in jail and not the other way