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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."
originally posted by: loam
...of being told that if you are a white, straight, and male...
originally posted by: Wayfarer
Apologies if I've missed something obvious, but have there been any mass/school shootings perpetuated by females?
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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."
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.