Being able to fly, to defeat all the villains of the world, and having supernatural power are just some of the supernatural characteristics of a superhero. However, these characteristics are the personification of what society would indicate to be the perfect man; or, depending on what superhero, a woman. I grew up admiring and idolizing Superman. From wearing his underwear to owning every one of his videos, I yearned to become Superman. This, however, was obviously impossible. Superman can fly, create a laser beam from his eyes, and he can lift the heaviest of objects. Thus, not being a totally clueless kid, it was the ideals of being a man, that superman possessed, that I tried to copy: having incredible strength, being flagrantly courageous, and being heroic. This, through my admiration of Superman, is what I thought a man should be.
Some would say that aggressive male behavior is innate; however, it also has to do with the glamorously powerful superheroes that act as role models to males as they are growing up. Superman?s incredible strength has led him to victory over even the biggest and strongest of enemies. Watching him, I thought I could prove my strength by defeating other kids. This did not mean that I went and tried to beat everyone up. Instead, I tried to be better than others at everything. I would try to hang on the monkey bars the longest, be the person who got picked first for any sport, and wrestle anyone to submission. Although my behavior sometimes got to aggressive, and got me in trouble, it always seemed to make me feel like more of a man.
Superhero?s also possessed that perfect body that went along with being powerful. They would have perfect biceps, gigantic pecks, and six-pack abs. Although body image is more of an issue with teenagers and adult, this does have an effect on kids. The role models, that kids are introduced to, almost always have a perfect body. Superman, undoubtedly, had a perfect male body: lots of muscle and no fat. In fact, I cannot remember a superhero, male or female, that did not have a perfect body when I was a kid. It is from these images that teach kids, from the beginning, that being fat and weak is ugly. This translated into the ?ugly? kids being made fun of. I, too, fell into the trap of mocking others, who were not perfect, when I was a kid.
1.. Introduction: Question #3 Katz argues that violence is about violent masculinity rather than about violent males, and that there is a significant difference between the two. Males are not innately violent. Instead, they are taught through the media and through their own interpersonal relationships what “real” masculinity is. Katz outlines video games, movies, pornography, and sports as a few of the platforms that masculinity is taught on.
This also leads into the fact that people interpret male violence and aggression as natural. They’ll pin it as something hardwired from ‘the hunter-gatherer days’. Often times they’ll also blame it on media violence, such as graphic video games, movies and TV shows. This is something much broader than that.
Men are looked at as brave, selfless people and are perceived as heroes all throughout society. Johnson addresses this point saying, “The idea of heroism, for example, has been appropriated almost entirely by patriarchal manhood. From movies and television to literature to the nightly news, our ideas of who and what is heroic focus almost entirely on men and what they do” (548). Since men have power in this world, they have generated a society that pleases them. Superhero movies are a huge money maker in today’s world. But, the most popular superheroes are exclusively men such as Batman, Superman, Captain America, The Flash and The Hulk. This media only feeds into the ideology that men are the heroes in the world and they are the ones making sacrifices for others. They see a world that appeals to them and do not see a reason to mess with the system. Kilbourne writes, “When power is unequal, when one group is oppressed and discriminated against as a group, when there is a context of systematic and historical oppression, stereotypes and prejudice have different weight and meaning” (499). Men now see patriarchy as natural and how life should be. They can look back at previous generations and see that they succeeded with patriarchy and feel they should do the same. Men see absolutely no reason as to why they should relinquish their position of
When comparing different societies in ancient history you may not think that Han China and Ancient Rome had a lot in common. These two great societies had many similarities and differences, especially in their social structures. These similarities and differences are all due to Han China’s and Ancient Rome’s governments, family structures and religions. Both of these wonderful empires lasted for approximately 400 years and had lasting effects on the lands they conquered.
Batman and Superman are superheroes whose qualities are exaggerated in a way that is reminiscent of the gods and heroes in The Odyssey. In Fact, the superheroes from comic books emerge from the epic tradition. Epics, as you know, celebrate the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes. This epic hero is generally involved with a quest to overcome hardship, and he (and it usually is a "he") succeeds. The hero performs superhuman exploits in battle, often saving or founding a nation or the human race itself. Sound familiar? And even in terms of the superhero's body, with his bulging muscles and larger‐than‐life qualities, such figures evoke the images of Baroque masculinity. What Becomes important in these retellings, then, is how the hero makes the journey, how he faces his obstacles, and what he learns in the process.
In the classical period of world history, the Han Dynasty of China and the Republic of Rome both went through periods of massive growth and prosperity as well as devastating downturns, collapses, and eventually dissolution. These two sprawling entities, although similar in certain aspects, were also profoundly different and it is these differences and similarities that had a major impact on the development of their regions throughout history and even the modern world today. There were major similarities and differences between Han China and Rome in regards to aspects such as the civil service exams, political system of governance, and commerce. Overall, there are more differences between China under the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire than similarities.
When asking people about what characteristics they think of when they think of a hero the most common answers would be doing good deeds and not allowing evil to flourish. This is what we have been made to believe. One of the first images that come to mind when the word hero is mentioned is a superhero. An image of Batman or Superman is likely, one who is good natured and conquers evil as it appears. Just doing good deeds or not committing evil sins is not enough. First you would have to distinguish the difference between an evil and a good action. The line between good and evil is so thin that specific attributes and certain actions are constantly being exchanged back and forth. We cannot decide as a society what is good and what is evil. A modern day example would be when the United States made the decision to bomb Japan during World War II. For Americans celebration ensued as it was thought to be a decisive moment of victory. Those who were involved in t...
Later, the Shang Dynasty came around 1766-1122 BCE. The Shang Dynasty had 31 emperors in a time period of 600 years. During this time period social class divided the society. The lower class was kept from advancing and maintaining the power of the upper class. Stability within the dynasty existed largely because despite inequality the government protected the lower class. According to the website "Ancient Chinese Dynasties: Advancements and Achievements." China had many achievement that help shape the civilization of China such as ‘the developed a refined
Major changes in political structure, social and economic life define the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Each period laid the foundation for the next, with changes and improvements to create a new order.
Everyone dreams of being a hero however the path is narrow. The mantle of responsibility is important aspects and the presence of the heroic traits must be shown in some form. However, there will always be outliers and deemed delusional who attempt to be heroes. In Watchmen, Moore creates an omnipotent hero who lacks humanity in the portrayal of the Dr. Manhattan as a psychopathic anti-hero.
Much of what society dictates can affect children’s perceptions of the ideal gender standards, and can lead to abuse and violence. Media has a huge role in perpetuating these dangerous gender stereotypes. Numerous male images are used in advertising and television, representing themes such as "heroic masculinity" and "might is right". These portrayals of violent behavior associated with masculinity target young men and convince them that in order to live up to society’s standards, they must resort to aggressive and dominant behavior, the use of assertion, and physical violence. Males are saturated with images of glorified aggression through movies such as Lethal Weapon, sports programs, and "macho" celebrities, like Bruce Willis and Arnold Shwartzenager. Female stereotypes span the opposite extreme. Innumerable young women perceive "ladylike" expectations to be neatness, passivity, politeness, and struggle to meet them, hence they appear nurturing and feminine. Women in the media who challenge these stereotypical behaviors and display assertiveness tend to be slotted into the role of "tomboy" or "dyke". These impositions contribute to the breeding of young men who act in an abusive manner, and are terribly restricting towards boys who covet deep emotion. The antagonist of Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew, perceives himself to...
The Tang Dynasty (618 -907 A.D), also known as China’s glorious revelation, was a time of major change both politically and economically in the Chinese Empire. During this time period, trade became greater than ever. The military power strengthened. The population also increased during this time period from fifty million to eighty million in just two centuries with its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inter Asia. The Tang also has a strong influence on its neighboring states such as Korea (which was at the time made if of three kingdoms) and Japan. During this time period the Silk Road expanded and trade
The Tang and Song Dynasties are both pertinent to China’s development. During the Tang period, which is also considered the “Golden Age”, art and literature was embraced and thrived. During the Song Dynasties, many technical inventions allowed China to grow as a nation, and emerge as one of the greatest nations in the medieval world. Both dynasties played a key role in the history of China.
Nowadays, we can see so many hero type people in our society. Different culture and different countries will appear different types of hero. Hero gave us confident and we can trust them. I have chosen two heroes to compare and contrast based on cultural aspect and what they act. The two heroes are The Batman and Iron Man.
This essay will be identifying the key elements of an effective hero and villain. I will argue that all heroes are psychologically the same and how they haven't truly changed since the time of Greek heroes such as Hercules and Prometheus. In addition, I will be arguing that villains also have psychological similarities, even if they have some qualities typical of heroes. These ideas will be in relation to Joseph Campbell mainly but will also relate to theorists like Otto Rank, Jung and Freud. The essay will prove that heroes and villains are all the same even if they appear diverse towards stereotypes.