Jackass and Masculinity

 I saw Jackass 3-D last night...my neighbors wanted to give me a good dose of “masculinity” so we watched Jackass and UFC.

One of my girlfriends said she thought the movie was so masculine. “It’s just boys being boys,” and I immediately got sort of defensive. (on behalf of my entire “gender?)

Is jackass inherently masculine? Is it just “boys being boys?” and is that offensive, as offensive as saying “bitch” is inherently feminine? Girls will be girls...

I, or my father, or half of all creation—yang—is “masculine” aka Jackass? Ouch.

My friend Robin (who is a hairy bear) says he feels his testosterone more as a confidence, not a drunken jackassness. Confidence can lead to devastating things, of course, but feminine confidence can do horrific things as well.

Performance is feminine, yes? Maybe Jackass is feminine! But the performers in Jackass are all men, buddies, wealthy, they can do whatever they want, and they push their bodies to a limit, exploring fears and dangerous, hazardous play. Like the circus. So "masculine" is performing freakish fetishes and human tricks for an audience? Or is that the feminine? The feminine shines, according to David Deida, and the masculine watches, witneses...

the feminine dances and performs on stage.

For Sartre and Foucault, as well, the masculine is the male gaze, the watcher,  safe within their panoptic darkness.

Physical endurance or tolerance, showing the one-upmanship. Fear factor .

Jackass and masculinity, is it masculine, is that offensive?  

Maybe Jackass is a great flight back to the prerational, preconventional, prepersonal self, the childlike carnivalistic voice that needs to be expressed...

Calling Jackass, the movie and the personlaity type, "masculine" is like calling bitch "feminine", yes? My question becomes: is it sick masculine, or healthy masculine? Is bitch healthy feminine or unhealthy feminine?

‘Depends. Considering Jackass is also just play. And we now know, thanks to that TED  talk, that play is critical for the mental health and development of children.  Children who don't play become sociopaths. So maybe the carnivalistic play of Jackass is extremely healthy and should be celebrated.

But Jackass is also a kind of terrorism. When they go into the public, they force their pranks onto unsuspecting, suffering people.

Anyway, thoughts?