Jane Fonda's Eye-Opening Masculinity Speech

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'9 to 5 [link added] actress, author and marriage equality advocate Jane Fonda posed some thought provoking questions about American masculinity in a speech to a women's organization in New York City on Tuesday, reports the Advocate.

The fitness guru, who recently starred on Broadway in the Tony Award-nominated 33 Variations, was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the New York Women's Agenda.

Long-time feminist Gloria Steinem introduced the actress and in her acceptance speech, Fonda made sure to relate her thoughts about society and the masculine-based theories that are keeping violence with children at an all time high.

Fonda suggested that violent behavior could be reduced by examining the hyper-masculinity at the core of acts such as the school shooting at Columbine and other massacres committed by young men.

"What is it about our culture's view of masculinity that makes men and boys so vulnerable to shaming?" asked Fonda. "This is a toxic masculinity."

The On Golden Pond star and Women's Media Center co-founder proposed that a more sensitive and refined understanding of gender could lessen some of the grief.

"If we want to reduce violence in this country anywhere in the world is to create a democratic masculinity that's not so vulnerable to shaming," she said. "But we're so far from that because we don't view the problem in the proper gendered context."'