Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Toxic Masculinity and Mass Shootings


I read an article about masculinity and its relation to mass shootings. This article paid homage to the recent shootings at the Walmart in El Paso, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, and the night club in Dayton, Ohio. It is such a tragedy that these horrific acts of violence are continuously occurring in the United States. 
The article acknowledged how there are certain traits that many mass shooters share, such as: anger, suicidal urges, and behavioral disorders. However, a trait that is often not spoken about is toxic masculinity. This article sought to unpack the impact toxic masculinity has in these violent crimes. 
About all mass shootings are perpetuated by men, however, men are not more prone than women to commit mass shootings. This points to something going on with masculinity as a correlating factor. Virtually all mass shooters have a history of violence towards women. 
The article mentions something known as “aggrieved entitlement” which is defined as: “an existential state of fear about having the ‘rightful place’ as a male questioned…challenged…deconstructed.” Most men, specifically those with privilege (straight, white, able-bodied, etc.), have been socialized to feel that they have a right to something solely because of their male status. This feeling of aggrieved entitlement has been encouraged by political leaders, including our current President. Problematic rhetoric has been used to fuel hate crimes against many marginalized groups, including people of color and those in the LGBTQ community. Examples of hate crimes can be seen in practically every single mass shooting that has occurred. 
This article mentioned two of the films we have watched in this course: The Mask You Live In and Tough Guise: Media, Violence, and the Crisis in Masculinity. The Mask You Live In brings to light the harm toxic masculinity brings to young boys and men when it comes to violence. They are often taught to conceal their feelings (the mask) and encouraged to act and react in violent ways. We must put in the work needed to change the culture that leads to feelings of aggrieved entitlement, as mentioned before.
The article references the film Tough Guise for the link it draws between toxic masculinity and mass shootings. A quote mentioned worth repeating is by Dr. Katz when he says, “In the many hours devoted to analyzing the recent school shootings, once again we see that as a society we seem constitutionally unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge a simple but disturbing fact: these shootings are an extreme manifestation of one of contemporary American society’s biggest problems—the ongoing crisis of men’s violence against women.” We must combat this issue and do everything in our power to product change. An attempt at a first step could start at gun control reform, at the very least.

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