"Cruelty & the scourge of masculinity"

Submitted by Mastodon on Mon, 2016-06-20 22:35

Article here. Excerpt:

'When I hear about acts of cruelty — at either small or large scale — my first reaction is anger: how could someone do that? How was such a person raised? Doesn’t this person know the harm being done?
...
Many have noticed that perpetrators of severe violence — be it a mass shooting or individual assault of some kind — are typically men. This is no coincidence. Males are raised to embrace aggression and relinquish emotion — including compassion and empathy — at young ages. These “lessons in manhood” are perpetuated in college and corporate America. Thus, when a man is hurting on a psychological or emotional level, he may fall back upon all he knows, all that has been rewarded by his male role models, his male peers, and even females who have bought into this version of masculinity. He may fall back upon aggression.
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So, what now? How do we deal with the causes of such violent outbursts? Perhaps both adult males and females can make a concerted effort to model healthy behavior and encourage students to not fear emotions. Perhaps we can make respect for women and others a systemic part of education. Maybe we can listen to young boys when their inability to process their emotions manifests in outbursts and tantrums. Maybe we can explicitly discuss the merits of compassion and empathy on a regular basis.'

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Comments

Yes, it paints a broad brush picture and he's evincing some of the typical anti-male self-loathing we see way too many guys display.

NONETHELESS... he hits the point that if a boy is raised to be a violent or self-hating man, it is indeed because he was *raised* that way. Feminists want ppl to believe that men are inherently violent beings incapable of dealing with emotions like shame or anger except by violence. This is claptrap but alas, claptrap swallowed by too many. Opinions like this one help in any case to challenge that belief.

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Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2016-06-20 23:22

Back in the late '60s and '70s, I remember my mother taking me to Leo's Barber Shop on Ventura Blvd. in SoCal. I recall seeing this poem there which explains a lot of how children's behavior reflects their life experiences.

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

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Submitted by mens_issues on Tue, 2016-06-21 00:16

Also "not all men" is too weak a statement. A "small minority" of men would be more accurate. One could say that that's still too much, but as Matt wrote, it's inaccurate to paint men with such a broad brush.

And do such men become "misogynistic" in part due to the misandry they experience in the general culture? And shouldn't compassion and empathy be applied to boys and men as well?

I cringe at the word "objects" and "objectification" when applied to the way men supposedly see women. One can be attracted to the opposite sex without that attraction being stigmatized as "objectification". Now, it may not always be what is wanted, but there's no need to shame men's natural attraction to attractive women (as long as it's done appropriately).

Finally, this article fails to mention that men are also overrepresented at the extreme of physical heroism (as well as acts of severe violence). The common denominator appears to be the willingness to take physical risks.

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Submitted by mens_issues on Tue, 2016-06-21 00:37

Sorry,

This guy is just hilarious. To be so desperate for approval is sad. But lets put this in perspective.

Erec Smith is an assistant professor in a second rate college in the US with qualifications in rhetoric. Thats writing and language, poetry etc.

So here he is making broad sexist statements outside his field of expertise. Thats uninformed opinion based on personal experience, anecdotal evidence, the lowest kind of evidence that can be used in academic writing, the equivalent of no evidence at all.

I think its likely Erec is talking about his own personal demons here. His own latent violence that he projects to all males, so he feels better about his personal failings.

Even more likely, like most apologists, he thinks he can absolve himself of his personal feeling of guilt using the age old method of saying - "it was them, not me. They (males) are all animals, but I'm an exception to the rule". Sad

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Submitted by rabel111 on Tue, 2016-06-21 05:58