Men Need Less Violent and Healthier Role Models

By Richard MacTough
News Editor

Masculinity shapes culture not only in The United States, but it designates globally across the world.

Masculine social norms are often toxic and create chaotic behavior.

From their childhood, young boys learn to associate behaviors that are accepted in everyday life for males.

I remember in my middle school, boys would participate in boxing. Growing up with common practices of violence scared me.

Male children can commonly face initiations in proving their manliness.

Bully Beatdown was a television show created by Music Television Entertainment (MTV) back in 2009.

Professional Mixed Martial Art fighters were matched up with “real” bullies. The bullies often agreed to the fight for a cash prize.

Shows like this influence guys to solve their problems with violence.

If you fight back, it’s “ok” because many are taught if they stand up for themselves, everything will go well.

I remember my bully constantly picking on me. I felt I had no choice because that’s “what men do.”

Back then, I had confidence that I would win because in movies, the bully “always get punished.” I was wrong.

It is highly important that males step away from behaviors subliminally taught to them.

In high school and college, being with woman is a common practice in fulfilling the roles of being masculine.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, nsvrc.org, more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report what happened to them.

The assaults usually happen with parties that involve drugs and alcohol. It is common to blame the crime on heavy drinking.

The only person responsible is the individual who initiated the act without the other’s consent.

Sexualizing women and being intimate with them is something men are supposed to “prove” that they can do.

Donald Trump has recently been receiving heavy criticism from a leaked video where he degraded a woman, which he referred to as “locker room talk.”

When men fail to initiate such acts, they can be commonly called derogatory terms that suggest homosexuality.

This can then lead to homophobia, and homophobic individuals fearing that others might believe that they are secretly gay.

Projection of their own hate is put on to the LGBT (Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.

Over 200 Anti-LGBT laws were proposed this year. This proves how far Men are willing to go to hide their own insecurities.

Men seek therapy less than women to avoid revealing their true feelings about the problems in their daily lives. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, afsp.org, they have a higher successful suicide rate than women.

The male population are more willing to commit suicide than to show who they truly are.

There needs to be healthier and better role models who showcase more emotion and less violence.

Email Richard at:
rmactough@live.esu.edu