The Paucity of Intimacy and Ubiquity of Violence in Masculinity

Verbotene Liebe

Tags: gender, lgbtq, sex/sexuality, violence, gender socialization, heteronormativity, masculinity, representation, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2009
Length: 4:02
Access: YouTube

Summary: This four-minute remix is composed of scenes cut from the Dutch film, De Vierde Man, the British television drama, Hollyoaks: In the City, the German soap opera, Verbotene Liebe, and at least four other sources. Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" plays in the background. The clip features scene after scene of gay men expressing love, affection, and genuine vulnerability. The fact that this queer affection lasts more than a scene and is not reduced to a token moment in an otherwise heteronormative media world will strike many as unusual. If one focuses on gender exclusively, it is also striking to see such nurturing and emotionally vulnerable depictions of men in cinema in such a sustained way. I would argue that representations of men as essentially violent so thoroughly saturate the media landscape that it becomes quite rare to find spaces which depict men as caregivers, attentive lovers, and nurturers. Jean Kilbourne makes a similar point in her documentary, Killing Us Softly 4, arguing that the media socialize through their capacity to divide up human qualities based on gender. Stoicism, confidence, compassion, and the capacity to nurture—to name just a few—become either feminine or masculine, and men are encouraged by the media to repress their so-called feminine qualities. Using the clip, students can be asked to consider how men are socialized differently than women, and in particular, how violence gets attached to masculinity.

Submitted By: Lester Andrist

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