Violence and Masculinity

Are violence and masculinity tied together?  For some, the idea of masculinity means having dominance over something subordinate and for some subordination requires violence. From my experiences and observations, violence usually ensue after one feel that they have been tested or deemed inferior whether physically or mentally and that usually causes violence. In Ben Atherton-Zeman’s Men's Manifesto from the text Men Speak out he discussed a lot about learned masculinity and violence as part of securing a masculine image. The fact that no other men are challenge the idea of violence as part of masculinity, allows for cycles of abuse to occur, especially towards women. In the text Men Speak Out Zeman writes, “One of the reasons our brothers and fathers have abused their wives, girlfriends and partners is because we haven’t said, with a unified voice, that this not a “manly” thing to do.”(144) Men are not the ones saying abusing women to prove masculinity is not okay, which allows perversion and violence to persist. This may make it seem as though the two are tied, but they can be challenged and separated as we learn more about male fragility, develop new ideas of masculinity and seek to overall reduce violence as a precursor to dominance.