Sunday, March 31, 2013

Post 8, Masculinity and Teen Violence




     1) Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence by Kimmel and Mahler
   2) Extended Comments

I would like to extend on Linette’s blog. Like Linette wrote, I, too, agree that violence among men has a lot to do with our culture, society, and the way boys are raised. Boys are definitely raised to be tough and to fight. I used this video in one of my posts before, but this article made me think of the movie Tough Guise, which shows the way media and society shape masculinity and influence boys.   Just like the example of homophobia that the authors use of people using the phrase “that’s so gay”, masculinity comes with a bunch of phrases that get tossed around like “boys will be boys” or “boys don’t cry”.  All of these phrases are so common that I don’t think people even give much thought to them when they say them.  The last picture of the little boy on Linette’s blog is a great example of the way boys are raised. You can see this violent attitude is already apparent at a young age.  How quickly children learn these gender roles shows how much influence society has on people. I also think Linette makes a good point about society being okay with the current definition of masculinity and the way boys act. Even though it sounds pretty sad to say that society is okay with this concept, I would agree that for the most part it is.  Well, I guess society has to be okay with it since that is what teaches boys (and girls) how to act. Some people, like feminists, are not okay with the current definition of masculinity, and I think that is  a good start. I thought it was very sad to read that these boys who were shooters felt bullied and picked on, just because they may have not fit any stereotypical definitions.  Clearly, the current definition of masculinity comes with horrible consequences and needs to be changed.

   3) For Class:
 Reading about the societal and cultural influences on these shootings did not come as much as a surprise to me. I'm wondering how other people felt and if culture is to blame, or if psychological reasons are still seen as the most important reason.