Gender?

[sleigh]

Somewhat sideways to the topic of gun violence, netmouse pointed me to an interesting article on gender and violence. Here it is: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-katz/men-gender-gun-violence_b_2308522.html -- go read it, think about it, and you can come back and tell us what you think about the gendering of violent tendencies.

EDITED TO ADD:  Apropos to this topic: Bushmaster's "Man Card" campaign for the rifle used at Newton. The campaign has since been taken down from their website (which does show some compassion on their part), but buzzfeed has captures from it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/scott/bushmasters-shockingly-awful-man-card-campaign

Comments

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

One of the biggest problems, as I see it, is that the discussion is tabled immediately, "out of respect for those that died," which means that any talk of what to do is typically left alone until it gets cold.

I think that also has to do with how emotional it gets, as those that favor fewer guns in our society step up to make those points, those that simply say it's a mental health problem make their points and nothing is typically done about anything.

It's good to finally examine the aspects of the male brain and masculinity here, as it does seem to be at the crossroads of everything to do with the issue. I have even suggested in my LJ that perhaps male and female brains are different in either their wiring or their physicality, just as we have those differences below! And wouldn't that have a bearing on the process of living?

"Big boys don't cry" and "be tough" were two MANtras that helped define what this male dominated society expected. And surely the suppression of natural emotions must have something to do with this process as well. Women and girls are permitted to express the full range of emotions they feel. And even though I don't think the phrases here get said much anymore, in popular culture and among friends and classmates, men and boys are still pretty much ridiculed for expressing sadness and crying.

This isn't sideways to the disussion at all; it's germane.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

To the last point: agreed.

[podling]

I have been wondering for years why no one talks about this aspect of it. Seriously, for years! And when I'd say it out loud, it was as if there's no real discussion to be had, basically a "and your point is?" reaction from others.

Mind you, I'm not saying we as a society shouldn't discuss mental health, or guns, or any of the other facets of these situations, but I agree with the gist of the article. It's not teenage girls shooting the crap out of things. We should be examining why boys, and what can be done to lead them to better paths.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Well, and I'm curious to what extent the recent increase can be connected to the recent downturn in economic and familial power for men, as re: graduation rates and job availability, and the odds of single women being heads of households. I read somewhere that the Newtown shooter's parents had recently split, and his mom had recently lost her job. Instability begets instability...

Steve, did you ever find gender-based numbers on gun ownership?

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I did. Gallup has a poll from October, 2011 (http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/self-reported-gun-ownership-highest-1993.aspx) that says that 52% of men report that they own a gun, while 43% of women say the same. That's a new high for this poll, which they've been doing since 2002.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Though not clear where that statistic was listed near the top of the page, later down they indicate those numbers reflect "gun in the house," not personal gun ownership.

Farther down, it says:

"The gender gap in personal gun ownership is wider than that seen for household ownership, as 46% of all adult men vs. 23% of all women say they personally own a gun."

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

A 2-to-1 gender gap is exactly what I saw in the concealed carry class I took, FWIW..

But in some ways, the gender gap in ownership isn't all that relevant when it comes to talking about mass killings with firearms. If, statistically, twice as many men own guns than do women, then we still have the question of why that is: is it societal, is it biological, is it something else entirely? And given that statistic, there are lots of women out there who own a gun, yet we don't see an equivalent 2-to-1 ratio in the gender of those who commit these "spree" killings, so the gender gap doesn't shed any light on the "why" of that. It doesn't matter what the percentage is, high or low: except in rare cases, women don't commit spree shootings.

Why?

Perhaps graphing out the frequency of these killings against economic data could show some correlation -- but correlation isn't causation. Does media coverage cause "copycat" incidences? Is there any correlation in family size for the killers, or upbringing, or religious background, or social class, or family history, or mental health, or peer relationships, or... the mind boggles at the myriad factors that have an influence on a personality, even if you're just looking at males.