Boys are socialized to have a very narrow and rigid definition of masculinity.

Mask You (Linity) 

After  examining the social construction of what it means to be feminine, we are now taking a look at the social construction of masculinity.

Question 1 : What are three words that describe what it means to be a man?




Question 2:  What are three words that describe someone who is not a real man?

Now examine some of these statistics:

Boys are 30% more likely to flunk.
Boys are 2.5 times more likely to be suspended.
Boys are 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with learning and emotional disabilities

Question 3:  Why do you think this is true?


Sociologists find that the construction of masculinity puts boys at risk in school:
There is a disconnect between school and masculinity; masculinity is constructed as “active” while school is constructed to be passive; sit-down, pay attention, take notes are docile, passive and feminine.

Other disturbing statistics:

40% of teenage girls 14-17yrs say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
1 of 5 college females will experience some form of dating violence from their male partner.
1 in 3 High School students have been or will be in an abusive relationship.

 Zacariah Foundation http://www.zcenter.org/index.htm

Why do you think this is true?


After carefully examining violence in America, I hope you see the larger dynamic of what is going on here.  Masculinity is a mask that many men wear in America. It is a way of masking or hiding who they really are in order to validating their self worth according to how the culture tells them they are supposed to be. Men in America are shaped by a culture that reinforces the idea that toughness, violence and aggression are normal ways of being male. They are also taught to not be vulnerable  or emotional or nurturing.  This creates a culture where overwhelmingly males are violent compared to females. Have you experienced this mask of masculinity? How? What are some other ways our culture should be constructing masculinity to provide validation for guys who are not violent? Are there examples out there that you know about? All of the agents of socialization play a role in this process.  Here is one example of the way the media creates this mask:

Kimmel and Mahler

Please answer the following questions:

1.  Without discussing or looking at your neighbors, please list three words that describe what it means to be a real man:

Now list the first three words that come to mind when describing someone who is not a real man:

Next, please take out the article by Kimmel and Mahler titled, Adolescent Masculinity, homophobia, and violence:  Random school shootings, 1982-2001. 

As a group, please answer the following questions:

2.  What is the most significant variable that correlates with random mass shootings?  What evidence does Kimmel and Mahler cite to show this?

3.  What are some of the ways in which researchers have tried to explain random mass shootings but have missed the variable (from #2 above) in their explanations?

4.  What was the geography of the shootings?  Where were the random school shootings more likely to occur?  Why?

5.  Explain how Kimmel and Mahler studied the phenomenon of random school shootings.

6.  What findings did the authors have about homosexuality and random school shootings?

7.  What were the school cultures like where the shootings occurred?

8. Why does the author say that boys are more likely to commit random school shootings?

9.  What race are the random school shooters more likely to be?  Why?

10.  What factors might help prevent random school shootings?

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