“The question remains about how to bring boys and men along in this ambitious work. Male violence is not simply a behaviour that can be turned on or off, but rather an entire complex of norms, values and practices with deep connections to the social, political and economic order. For men and boys, abandoning violence…
For all its dominance, and dependence on aggressiveness, competition, and strength–physical and emotional–hegemonic masculinity is incredibly fragile. Those who conform to the strictest tenets of hegemonic masculinity, the toxic elements of sexual conquest and domination, and fail to meet them, are the men more likely to engage in domestic and sexual violence, and who then…
When discussing acts of mass violence, the media often portrays the perpetrator as a loner, outsider, social outcast, or some sort of deviant. When in fact these individuals are merely taking masculine socialization to its next logical step. This article highlights how white male perpetrators of mass violence are in fact conformists to norms of…
Racism in the United States is in many ways a gendered oppression. The threat of rape, specifically of white women, has been used to justify mob violence against black men for centuries. Dylann Roof used the need to protect white women’s purity as justification for opening fire inside a South Carolina church, murdering six black…
Benevolent sexism is a double edged sword; utilizing positive traits to perpetuate women’s subordination and dependence on men. Roof, who murdered nine African-American people during a church service, is reported to have said that white women need to be protected from rape by black men prior to opening fire. It is rhetoric as old as…
In the United States, gender defines far more than how people dress, or the roles they must assume in their intimate relationships. Gender socialization sets the stage for how individuals think and interact with the world around them. In the United States, male gendering socializes aggression, domination, and hatred for women. This paper examines the…
Role-reversal is an effective tool in working to understand why an action, behavior, or cultural dynamic is problematic. When it comes to street harassment, Twitter user @ElonJames created the hashtag #DudesGreetingDudes to highlight the absurdity of men who argue that their behavior isn’t sexually motivated, isn’t intended to bother women, and should be taken as…
Masculinity, or manhood, as it is most commonly understood in Western culture, is determined by a set of criteria placed always just out of reach of the striving man. The result is not only constant attempts at proving one’s manhood, but the perpetual failure to succeed in all realms: financial, physical, sexual. Dr. Nerdlove (not…
