General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnita Sarkeesian points out an obvious and undeniable truth, receives death threats.
Ms. Sarkeesian pointed out that there might be some link between mass shootings and our cultural definition of masculinity, based on the fact that the vast majority of mass shootings are committed by white males.
Trigger warning - here's the link to the e-mails to the tweets she received which are ugly and nasty.
Bryant
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)and people send her death threats to prove her point.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Isn't making terroristic threats a crime?
And what happened with that Utah State threat, where the guy threatened mass murder?
In this day of sophisticated surveillance, I find it hard to imagine that law enforcement cannot find the senders of the threats. What's going on with this?
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)but it certainly sounds like a reasonable hypothesis.
demigoddess
(6,640 posts)I would agree with 'undeniable truth'. they prove her point.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Because they have this thing called testosterone, which makes them more aggressive and less mindful of the consequences. Which is why throughout history, whether it's guns, swords, fists or footballs, they've been more violent than women.
As for being white, just lol
79% white? Those whites, amirite? Oh wait
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
According to the Census Bureau, 77.7% of the US population is white. Which is declining. Which probably explains the 1% difference. Herp derp.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)Sheldon Cooper
(3,724 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)mythology
(9,527 posts)The numbers suggest that the problem is distributed far more racially equally than thought. The problem is very gender aligned, but if you say that mass shootings are a white male problem culturally, you're not seeing the whole problem.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)There is a very real problem with a few million out-and-out misogynists (vocal or undercover, doesn't matter) causing shitloads of problems for everyone else, especially women. There's also a problem with gun culture, too.
But here's the thing: it's not just a white guy problem......it's a guy problem, period.
So, okay, are you satisfied now?
Oktober
(1,488 posts)What a bummer...
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Your headline states this truthiness as self-evident, which I thought needed a thorough debunking.
Interesting opinion you have. I advocate debate, so I'll disagree with you once again.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)Fairer with testosterone
The study's results, however, contradict this view sharply. Test subjects with an artificially enhanced testosterone level generally made better, fairer offers than those who received placebos, thus reducing the risk of a rejection of their offer to a minimum. "The preconception that testosterone only causes aggressive or egoistic behavior in humans is thus clearly refuted," sums up Eisenegger. Instead, the findings suggest that the hormone increases the sensitivity for status. For animal species with relatively simple social systems, an increased awareness for status may express itself in aggressiveness. "In the socially complex human environment, pro-social behavior secures status, and not aggression," surmises study co-author Michael Naef from Royal Holloway London. "The interplay between testosterone and the socially differentiated environment of humans, and not testosterone itself, probably causes fair or aggressive behavior."
Moreover the study shows that the popular wisdom that the hormone causes aggression is apparently deeply entrenched: those test subjects who believed they had received the testosterone compound and not the placebo stood out with their conspicuously unfair offers. It is possible that these persons exploited the popular wisdom to legitimate their unfair actions. Economist Michael Naef states: "It appears that it is not testosterone itself that induces aggressiveness, but rather the myth surrounding the hormone. In a society where qualities and manners of behavior are increasingly traced to biological causes and thereby partly legitimated, this should make us sit up and take notice." The study clearly demonstrates the influence of both social as well as biological factors on human behavior.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091208132241.htm
In other words, there's a lot more going on here than one hormone making guys act like jerks in an effort to impress the ladies.
*
"'Testosterone poisoning,' now part of the language is a popular explanation for excessive 'manly' behaviors such as boasting, violence and pugnaciousness," the Penn State researchers concluded in their study. But "in fact there is little empirical support for these popular assertions.
"It is already clear that there is no simple one-to-one relationship between testosterone and machoism or aggressiveness or sexuality."
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/testosterone-male-hormone-makes-guys-tough-makes-honest/story?id=17493592
there is also an article in mens group about it.
so, lets quit using this as an excuse for violent behavior.
LawDeeDah
(1,596 posts)This is a very common excuse and like you say, it's bullshit, it's just a way to duck responsibility. I have no idea why some men think being out of control either by testerone or their sex drive, is somehow a great thing and why some women and mothers/wives/sis etc., accept this stupidity.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)the culture of masculinity. since the majority of men are not controlled in anger and violence, nor rape, we pretty much have the reality of the situation. but, when it behooves them to hold it up as a man card, too many men are tempted.
no, it is not a complement.
do we hear us go around talking about estrogen all the fuckin time? women, controlled by your estrogen again. i tell ya.
thanks for your post.
chrisa
(4,524 posts)How often do you see women / girls so on mass shootings? It never happens.
To say mass shootings are just the spawn of "crazy people" enables them to happen. Mass shootings come from the toxic masculinity in our culture that teaches that might is right, getting revenge makes you a man, and women are objects for the taking. We don't teach men to work things out and seek out help / support. That's "weak." Instead, we teach them to explode at the drop of a hat and lash out violently.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)making them aware, and having discussions. it is not too too hard walking away from this. it does behoove our men. it is a little more challenging in the upper teens lower twenties, i see. the pressure is so damn hard, demanding the boys hold up their man card.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)Then what IS our "cultural definition of masculinity"? And how does this definition differ from that of, say, Canada?
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Saudi Arabia, for examples, is one of THE worst places to be a woman right now. So is China. So, too, are Iran and North Korea, and probably much of the rest of the third world as well. And no doubt there's guys out there who'd love to bring us down to that exact level(all while the racist hypocrites amongst them mutter and mumble about "white" "superiority", etc.).
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)"violence comes from the US culture of masculinity"
Q: what is the US culture of masculinity?
A: It is violent.
Meaning she has said nothing, but we are supposed to applaud because she is attacking males.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that our American culture is itself violent, and the favored gender conforms to cultural stereotypes that manifest this underlying worship of violence.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)Lowlife dummies...
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)the vast majority of american mass shooters are white and male. just look at how some are furiously trying to deny that in this thread. pathetic.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)I asked some questions up thread and got crickets.
Calling people ugly names is one thing, but making death threats or threats of physical attack is a crime, isn't it?
Has she gone to the police? Have the police done anything?
At Utah State, there was a mass murder threat. What happened to that?
I find it hard to believe that in this day and age, the authorities can't find out who is tweeting death threats. It seems like a few exemplary prosecutions might make a difference.
Lancero
(3,002 posts)Police can't do much unless Twitter cooperates with them.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)recently having conversation saying this is an up and coming field in law that is very active now.
we need laws.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)I'm glad she knows how to raise the question in a way that is generating discussion. K&R
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)and i have no doubt most of them are males, and probably white males.