Are boys 'broken'?

This vid pretty much breaks down what I believe about this whole issue.

a reply to: vinifalou

Hollywood has been violent my entire life, the only difference now is the special effects are better. We didnt have this kind of stuff happening in the early 90's, just some isolated stuff in the late 90's.

At a certain age; people are kicked out of high school... considered too old and a bad influence on the rest of the younger student population. Such as reaching 21 means they can then be a source of distribution of alcohol to minors.

So why not say 18 too young for guns... a 19 year old high school fellow does not have to break into a parents gun cabinet... just go mow some lawns then go down to their local pawn shop for an assault rifle. Many of them less cost than a video game console...

So if they consider someone too dangerous at 21 for high school due to alcohol... then 18 seems to dangerous an age for fire arms... not too dangerous for the military at that age; but they are trained and in a controlled environment for them... that does not mean that late teens and early 20's military folks do not freak out gun wise either from time to time although rare.

Seeing how 18 is the age and the large student population? Hey that's rare too given the amount able to but do not... they are also a danger to students too young for one... same as alcohol purchase for minors.

So why not a civilian age limit on fire arms?

Teenage issues are nothing new... coping with them in various ways; some have support in what they do no matter what that is whether healthy or not. Of course; at that age they do not see it as a group too scared to move forward and want to hold others back with them. So in such peer pressuring there is a naivety where others take advantage because they don't want to be seen as the only loser... failing multiple grades etc. so what occurs... they new to not feel isolated and drag others with them.

When that means grabbing a gun they can legally purchase? It appears that that means drag as many not even interested in where they are going with them...

Of course none of that is really new; as the pecking orders go; few see it as a day in and day out job; to go to and earn an education. treating it as one's vocation helps... as it leads to an actual vocation and so many possibilities where it is not one closed door after another. the idea of cool this cool that? Changes so rapidly that nothing is cool except the things actually cool. Like air conditioning etc. later on many look back in horror at hair styles even music and say what was I thinking? Well they weren't they were going on with their peer group or herd/hive mind to fit in and not get pecked or picked on.

Such a silly fight and only with time does one see exactly how dumb all of that is... and the only smart thing was the education part meant to be focused on as the number one reason they are even there.

a reply to: bulwarkz
I agree with everything you just said. I am guessing you brought up BIG PHARMA because of my tag thingy. But just to clear that up I hate BIG PHARMA, but they pay my bills On topic though I do strongly believe that our education system has been flawed for many many years. I wish I knew how o fix it but I don’t.

originally posted by: loam

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.

I really want to say what my dad would but things have changed.

Screw it! Tell your kid to whack whomever, in the nose and go after that gal he likes.

If her family doesn't approve, remind them of Romeo and Juliet.

Then smack them.

Then smack your son for not thinking it through.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Men used to be expected to be the protectors of women and children. Now men are demonized for exhibiting such traits.

This thread could be taught as a textbook case example of a persecution complex. White male's are about the least persecuted class in the US (behind wealthy white males), and I challenge anyone here to actually provide facts to support a rebuttal to that.

a reply to: ker2010

That video pretty well covers it.

a reply to: Wayfarer

Whose problem is slavery from 150 years ago?
Whose problem is manspreading? (only one gender can sit comfortably or they're inconsiderate)
whose problem is mansplaining? (We used to call this condescension and everyone was capable of it)
which is the only race capable of racism?
whose problem is it if a man doesn't want to date another man pretending to be a woman?
who is blamed for all of the wars around the world?

I could go on and on and on. But you probably won't even finish reading that short list. Why should I waste my time?

The entire premise of the argument is that there is one way to behave properly, and all other ways must be repaired.

Somehow, mankind has existed for tens of thousands of years without teenage boys causing atrocities at communal locations. What we are witnessing is a recent phenomenon, therefore there must be a recent stimulus. It's not just testosterone (that's always been around), it's not just violent games (those have always been around), it's not just masculinity (that's always been around.)

We need to look at what has been changing in culture, education, media and families. Those are different now than they have been before.

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.

I have no idea how or why that sounds so familiar.

originally posted by: Dfairlite
a reply to: Wayfarer

Whose problem is slavery from 150 years ago?
Whose problem is manspreading? (only one gender can sit comfortably or they're inconsiderate)
whose problem is mansplaining? (We used to call this condescension and everyone was capable of it)
which is the only race capable of racism?
whose problem is it if a man doesn't want to date another man pretending to be a woman?
who is blamed for all of the wars around the world?

I could go on and on and on. But you probably won't even finish reading that short list. Why should I waste my time?

You have provided zero facts as I asked, and instead opted to compile a list of projection based on your 'feelings' (most likely spoonfed to you from whatever other conservative sources you frequent that's fed those silly thoughts to you)...

I'm actually surprised you didn't mention the war on Christmas as well.....

Can you actually back up anything you've listed with facts to reaffirm your assertions or is that tiny list really the best you can do?

Secondly, you have wasted your time evading my query (and projected that unto me as well), so you have nobody to blame but yourself.

a reply to: Wayfarer

You have provided zero facts as I asked, and instead opted to compile a list of projection based on your 'feelings'

So you deny that the current pop culture in a America is anti-straight, anti-white, and anti-male?

a reply to: vinifalou

Gotta say you are right. I saw a few interviews where other kids in his school called him weird. Said he was obviously going to be the kid to do a school shooting. I thought all these love everyone soft headed kids would have embraced him as being different and want to make how he is the new normal.

a reply to: EvillerBob

I think they're safe, since both have passed on now... Mom almost 30 years ago, now (damn...), and Dad two Christmas's ago.

I don't know, maybe I grew up in a strange neighborhood, there were a core group of parents that always had a weather eye out for us. They always, and I mean always, knew when we were up to no good...I know it was our own guilt that gave us away, now...sure didn't know then...it seemed to border on magical.

But we were allowed to skin our knees, got the scars to prove it. ...and get into all sorts of mischief. Gravel quarries. Railroad yards. You name it, we probably explored it.

Odds on me ever having children grow slimmer by the day, but I like to think I'd be quite a lot like my parents... They let me be a little boy, one that makes an appearance even today every now and then. Went sledding last winter when we had some snow. Let me tell you, that gimpy ol' 50 plus year old guy got some weird looks...from parents more than the kids. They thought it was strange, but cool. Or so I surmise, since I wasn't arrested...

a reply to: vinifalou

marilyn manson said the exact same thing after Columbine

I've said before that certain people, children especially, are prey to programming they are exposed to from various forms of media. Kids with autism spectrum disorders, kids with ADHD, those on psychotropic drugs. I think there may be some deliberate programming they're being subjected to, digitalized video in game and on TV. Its not just social content with sex and violence although that's a big part of it. And its not just violence, its gender identity and ideology and identity in general. This kid was thought to have autism and had ADHD. He was on meds. They didn't help him. Once his mother died, his last safety net was gone and he had nobody to help him. I'm watching a trend now, where girls are being encouraged to fight. I'm for equal rights but that goes against millions of years of evolution and genetic programming. Are we to get females ready to take to the battlefields? Nationalism is under attack. No borders, no sovereign countries. Religion is being shoved aside. One world government with no individualism. Is that what we want?

originally posted by: Dfairlite
a reply to: Wayfarer

You have provided zero facts as I asked, and instead opted to compile a list of projection based on your 'feelings'

So you deny that the current pop culture in a America is anti-straight, anti-white, and anti-male?

Yes, categorically, and you can't prove a single aspect of that. Once again, feelings, not facts is what you've provided.

The Men in charge of this crap are the broken ones.

Carry on.

a reply to: Dfairlite

I do.

Its egalitarian. Pop culture, despite all its drawbacks, is the best display of equality we got.