Masculinity, marriage, school shootings?

Question

I remember reading an interview with feminist Camille Paglia shortly after the Columbine attack. She had some interesting perspectives, and I wanted to know what you thought.

She said that boys and men are no longer able to express their masculinity in our modern society. She basically said that in America, a young man had hopes that he can get a factory job, a wife, and raise a family and how those days are over and men no longer have a place for them to be men.

She said that women now have sex with no emotional attachment, dress sluttier, and act like Hollywood tarts and how these are humiliating experiences for boys and men.

Do you agree with her when she suggests that loss of morality in women, and the loss of anything conducive to masculinity in our society contributes to the rage these men show?

Ironically, she said that there would be a lot more of these sick attacks. I ask this question now because after what happened the other day in Ohio, her words seem prophetic.

Additional Details

Unique - Your answers offers no insight whatsoever. Clubs? Please. Also, I reject your suggestion that: "The domestic violence rate is higher than ever..." Please state your source for this ridiculous statement. And if it's true (it's not), what does that have to do with anything we're discussing?

Mrs - While we've always had mentally ill people, these shootings are a new phenomenon. I think we as a society refuse to look at the real reasons. We blame illness, video games, music, whatever. I think the the baby boomer generation failed us.

Ricardo wrote: " Oh, please, Ms. Anonymous. Please, join Camille Paglia, and remain anonymous." Camille Paglia is hardly anonymous.

mamamoon wrote: "So it's not the fact that it is much easier to get a gun? So we should put the blame on all women instead of mental illness, drugs, violence in the home which BTW is mostly from the men, ease of obtaining a weapon, poverty...."

We should put the "blame" where it belongs. We will not know the cause if we're too politically correct that we cannot even discuss the possibility that gender crisis or gender identity might have something to do with it. The fact that you become offended at the suggestion that gender roles might be a cause speaks volumes. Why has feminism become such a sacred cow? Also, it's safe to say poverty has nothing to do with it.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

We discussed this book and many others in class...I feel many of the opinions are very true...Guys this is for you..women have expressed that you should be a man of the 50's 60's era and act like one...But look at the problem for you guys..Due to over population you live in condos, apartments, or houses with home owner rules. You do not have a garage(build a classic car, change oil and tires etc.) you do not have a lawn, and you cannot have a dog. You are stuck basically in a cracker box unless you have money to ski, golf, and that . So how could you have masculine qualities? A big problem that was brought out was that most guys no longer have a father figure....Women's roles have greatly changed in society...women are looked down on if they are a "stay at home mom" so women have had to trade in the apron and flour for their place in what used to be a mans world. We hear on the news all the time of murders, rape, and violation of women.(I live in Reno and all of you have heard what terrible things have just recently happened here.) We brought out in class that if guys had an outlet for anger, stayed busier, men would not have so much rage.

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Asker's Comment:

Thanks.

Answer 2

That combined with being mentaly ill.

Answer 3

The things you said about current society are pretty much true, but most people don't go around shooting and killing others.

Answer 4

No one will ever have all the answers for such questions.
And why is the woman always blamed for life's ills???
Do men ever accept responsibility for anything?

Answer 5

I agree that women are not what they used to be. There is such a thing as equality with dignity -that is something women seem to have forgotten.

However, when it comes to children acting out in such a violent manner, we have to look at society as a whole. No one sex is to blame and much of the responsibility should be given to the parents. No one is home to raise their children anymore. Men and women alike go to work and depend on electronics and school to raise their children. As a result, we have a lot of bad influence being put on the younger generation and our children are raising each other based on the standards set by TV, movies and video games. And why are both parents out working? Some choose it, but the vast majority cannot afford to stay home. You never heard of such a thing in the 50's when one parent worked and could still afford a house, car, etc. I think when we get back to basics, we will find a lot less violence in our society. This is everyone's responsibility.

Answer 6

so am I to think if we allowed men to be the way they were back in Leave it to Beaver days, that it would be "women" the ones doing all the school shootings?

we women have had to put up with NON emotional sex from men, so we've learned from THEM!

NOT every woman dresses like a slut and those who do, get what they want. ( usually). She's not much a of a lady if she's putting all women in that catagory now is she.
The ones doing the school shootings are sick in the head, or been harrassed and bullied by others, and the schools not doing a damn thing about it. Of course it's going to keep happening. I think the news has to STOP putting it on the news. Alot of times, they the shooters do it for attention they weren't getting and feel they may as well go out with a bang and be remembered!

Men have plenty of places to be masculine! They're no different in the bars than they use to be, they still have their MEN ONLY CLUBS, men's sports, men's JOBS!

The domestic violence rate is higher than ever...............I suppose it's the womans fault for this, because we're suppose to let a man feel like a man and BEAT US?

It's not right to blame the women!!

Answer 7

While I do agree with her, I do not think these are the reasons for attacks. I think there is always a combination of very complex issues with these people...none of which include a mentally healthy person.

Answer 8

No I think its a mix of being mentally ill having easy access to weapons and no male role models. Our society was like that in the past too, when men used to pack up and leave to be pirates or the like. We are realizing (again) that a family is better off with fathers and mothers.

Answer 9

Oh, please, Ms. Anonymous. Please, join Camille Paglia, and remain anonymous. The reason boys or men walk into schools or restaurants and shoot the place up is because the perpetrator is Mentally Ill. Perhaps, not diagnosed, but read their history. You will find mood disorders, sociopathy, attachment disorders, and sometimes outright psychosis in their histories. John Hinkley is a great example of this type of person. Stop blaming our society for demasculating men. You raise a child to have good self esteem. People with biochemical disorders, left untreated, or treated incorrectly (not everyone is ADHD and needs ritalin) will go out and act crazy, and some will kill, as we have seen. Our society does not produce killers, but mental illness does.

Answer 10

What? So it's all the women's fault that men and boys don't have a chance to grow up to work their butts off in a crappy factory for pennies and go home to a "Betty Croker" wife with 3.5 kids and live in poverty just getting by day to day?
And this is all because women dress slutty?
This is one of the most incredibly ignorant things I have read in a long time!
She is a self hating moron who blames her mother for all of her issues.


"Mrs - While we've always had mentally ill people, these shootings are a new phenomenon. I think we as a society refuse to look at the real reasons. We blame illness, video games, music, whatever. I think the the baby boomer generation failed us."

So it's not the fact that it is much easier to get a gun? So we should put the blame on all women instead of mental illness, drugs, violence in the home which BTW is mostly from the men, ease of obtaining a weapon, poverty........no these things have nothing to do with it.......it's the women that wear mini skirts they are to blame for everything!
This is just moronic!

Answer 11

Women have always been the glue of the family unit. What we see today is a continual decline of society. The fiddler has been fiddling while Rome burns for years. Government welfare has more to do with the collapse of the family then women working. Displaced aggression and a general lack of empathy for ones fellow man has contributed to the debauchery of our society. It's no longer a question of how, when, why, one commits suicide but how many they will take with them.Lacking belief in a higher power may well have much to do with our crumbling state of affairs. That idiot in Illinois stood on a stage and just started picking people off. Why did he feel so free to stand up on that stage and play God? I bet he would have thought better of it had there been a conceal carry law in effect. There is absolutely a problem with young woman acting slutty to gain equality or the same status as a man. You can be a lady and still have independence and equality. Somewhere along the line young women have become more like men. It is now socially acceptable to pleasure your boyfriend on the school bus or experiment with homosexuality for "fun". We are doomed when we cant even agree what is right and what is wrong. Not everything is subjective.There are clear white/black moral issues that shouldn't confuse anyone. As for men, I think the modern feminist movement has got men so emasculinated they are in the midst of a full blown identity crisis. If you hold the door open you may get pelted with a handbag. If you smile too big there may get a sexual harrassment suite within the hour and loose your job. It doesnt have to be this way. To be a real man doesnt mean you'll deney the woman her equality. Miscommunication and a thread of militant feminism is the cause men are confused when it comes to the sexes dealing with each other.