STOP THE VIOLENCE

Based from our social norms, violence is prohibited. Self-preservation is one of the reasons for the creation of our modern society and this makes violence prohibited. Based from our common perceptions, violence is inherently wrong and should be avoided.  With that in mind, I think the only people who will have a high probability of being directly affected by the glamorization of violence are the people who has a high tendency of being violent (i.e. those who were abused during their childhood, abused by a lover etc. ). 

I think, the subtle hints of influences by the media are more disturbing. The media usually portray a hyper-realistic image of reality that people cannot immediately delineate as wrong or right. The things that fall in this category is the portrayal of female beauty in films or the roles taken by different genders as portrayed by the media. We tend  to believe the life that the media shows us and considers it as reality. Intended or not, the media suggests subtle hints of different abuses and is tolerated by the general public.

Thus, although the media does not directly cause violence. The use of violence will eventually be considered by people who are affected by the subtleties in power relations in gender or race that the media tend to portray. For example, some men may think that women who wear skimpy clothing are “asking for it” because the media portrays women with skimpy clothing as women who are asking for it. Some women are abused because they look like they were asking for it.  Another example is the portrayal of “dumb blondes,” “playboy jocks,” and “latina maids” which affects the mindset of people that sometimes may lead to violence.