Are boys 'broken'?

Are boys 'broken'? Another mass shooting renews debate on toxic masculinity

After 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was accused of gunning down 17 people at a Florida high school last week, comedian Michael Ian Black started a thread on Twitter that sparked a vitriolic debate about the role of gender in gun violence. It began with the tweet, "Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken."

Black's tweet has been liked nearly 65,000 times. In an interview with NPR on Sunday, he elaborated.

"I think it means that there is something going on with American men that is giving them the permission and space to commit violence," he said. "And one of the main things we focus on correctly is guns and mental health, but I think deeper than that is a problem, a crisis in masculinity."

As a parent of a young white adolescent male, this kind of thinking makes me want to perpetrate some toxic masculinity of my own on people who subscribe to this perspective.

What could possibly go wrong with making young impressionable boys feel there is something inherently wrong with them? And let's be clear, it's not just restricted to their sex. The cultural message includes race and sexuality too.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been raised in today's climate.

I wonder where we will be in 10 to 15 years from now, when the current crop of 8-18 year olds reaches adulthood after an entire childhood of being told that if you are white, straight, and male (actually you only need to be one of the three to be demonized) there is something inherently bad about you.

Spiting nails over this repulsive nonsense.

Apologies if I've missed something obvious, but have there been any mass/school shootings perpetuated by females?

originally posted by: loam
...of being told that if you are a white, straight, and male...

As a straight, white male who is also an evil Mason (superfecta) I would tell them to ignore it and enjoy life. Making people feel guilty for their genetics in any capacity is asinine.

originally posted by: Wayfarer
Apologies if I've missed something obvious, but have there been any mass/school shootings perpetuated by females?

I don't like Mondays. Look it up

And op I don't envy any child or teen that has to navigate today's world. Been thinking about it a lot. My daughter is 5 so she is just starting. Could not imagine dealing with the social bull# of today.

originally posted by: loam

"I think it means that there is something going on with American men that is giving them the permission and space to commit violence," he said.

Yes, it's called Hollywood and lack of empathy.

If only ONE person had extended his arm to that kid when he was going through a rough time... Things could've go differently and these 17 kids could be alive right now.

a reply to: loam

Might have something to do with the culture young men are being raised in today.
Masculinity is looked down on now.

a reply to: loam

I find positions like this a waste of time and bandwidth, but it's obvious that an agenda is being pushed.


Mark Twain had a saying about teenagers and I think it's still appropriate to this day.

He said that when a child turns 14, they should be placed in a sealed barrel with only a hole in the side for food. And when the child turns 16?
Plug the hole.

a reply to: Wayfarer

Not as often but it happens.

There are no Saints.

www.psychologytoday.com...

It is often said that school shooters are white males. Of course, they usually are males. After all, violent crime in general is overwhelmingly a male phenomenon, and school shootings are no different. The perpetrators of large-scale school violence, however, are not always male, and in the interests of understanding and preventing these attacks, we need to recognize that sometimes females go on rampages.

It's easier to just point a finger and say look.

But who cares nobody thinks about this crap after reading some more BS.

This is one very good comedian. He really made me laugh with this routine. He really had me believing he is a complete idiot who knows nothing of the subject he's spouting off on. First rate observational comedy. Well done.

Death of the nuclear family.

Young elephants without older males to guide them become tyrants.

Put 3mil men in prison and see what happens.

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: Wayfarer
Apologies if I've missed something obvious, but have there been any mass/school shootings perpetuated by females?

I don't like Mondays. Look it up

And op I don't envy any child or teen that has to navigate today's world. Been thinking about it a lot. My daughter is 5 so she is just starting. Could not imagine dealing with the social bull# of today.

www.statista.com...

I'm just reaffirming that while y'all are getting your panties in a bunch over the article, there seems to be evidence to suggest this is almost entirely a male driven issue. Has anyone actually bothered to understand what the article is saying or did your brains just shut off at the title?

a reply to: loam

Mmm, Men are protective, women are nurturing. Except for rare instances (Ilene Wuomos was a serial killer) , males are the ones doing all the killing.

The problem there is pride, fostered by a broken society and its ego driven, goal oriented, ambition fostered Paradigm.

The expectations society places on everyone becomes too much for some, and they break.

Human beings aren't 'broken', our 'civilized society' is.

.o2

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
Death of the nuclear family.

Young elephants without older males to guide them become tyrants.

Put 3mil men in prison and see what happens.

Hey man you're making way too much sense.

All my "independent" ladies might have a different opinion lol.

Why would a Boy need a Fajah?

As has always been in any society, SOME boys are broken. Some girls are broken too, but they show it in different ways.

My 18 year-old son is thriving and healthy and I know all of his friends and my friends' boys of the same age are also not broken.

The little kids these days: the big issue I see with them is a severe lack of attention span, a large intolerance of any discomfort or work, and rudeness. So I can see some problems with those kids when they're older, but who knows.

It's our society that's broken, or well on its way to getting there. Evidenced by a TV star going on Twitter and saying that boys are broken. There have always been outliers in society. There always will be.

We definitely need to get a hold on how we allow our government to commit crimes and get away with them, and lie to us and social engineer us.

But I think he and his 65,000 "likes" are lemmings.

a reply to: Wayfarer

I'm not in a bunch over anything so how about don't lump me in. At least read my #

a reply to: loam

Are boys broken?

No.

There are so many factors that have an effect on people these days that I think it would be a disservice to look at only one or two aspects, and not the whole. Their gender is but a small factor.

"I think it means that there is something going on with American men that is giving them the permission and space to commit violence," he said. "And one of the main things we focus on correctly is guns and mental health, but I think deeper than that is a problem, a crisis in masculinity."

Right people.

Just ignore the FACT 99.9% of us white, straight guy,gun-toting' cowboys.

Don't do jack snip to anyone.

There's something wrong with people that clearly make up that snip.

a reply to: neo96


Thats why we will have to process you for thought crimes.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
As has always been in any society, SOME boys are broken. Some girls are broken too, but they show it in different ways.

My 18 year-old son is thriving and healthy and I know all of his friends and my friends' boys of the same age are also not broken.

The little kids these days: the big issue I see with them is a severe lack of attention span, a large intolerance of any discomfort or work, and rudeness. So I can see some problems with those kids when they're older, but who knows.

It's our society that's broken, or well on its way to getting there. Evidenced by a TV star going on Twitter and saying that boys are broken. There have always been outliers in society. There always will be.

We definitely need to get a hold on how we allow our government to commit crimes and get away with them, and lie to us and social engineer us.

But I think he and his 65,000 "likes" are lemmings.

This sounds eerily similar to how your grandparents likely described your parents, how your parents likely described your generation, and now the cycle continues...

Or perhaps the previous generation always disapproves of the one that follows it.

a reply to: loam

Here's my humble opinion.
It all starts at home. Most of these shooters come from homes with rich parents that couldn't or wouldn't spend time with their children and gave them whatever they wanted in order to shut them up and get them out of their hair. All it takes is one out of place chromosome and some motivation (in this case, being picked on by the kids) to snap. Having never been disciplined or worked with, and incapable of critical thinking, they copycat what others in their position did. In the mind of a teen, your life is right here right now, you don't think about the future. So what is there to lose? And stop feeding them so much soy, it's PACKED with estrogen.

I've made damn sure I teach my kids to be proud of their straight, white, male heritage, ancestry, and DNA. Ain't nobody gonna bring them boys down... Plus they get good down home cooking from scratch