A useful yet uncommon way to consider why violence occurs so frequently in males is to think about how men acting out aggressively could be a result of feelings of powerlessness and helplessness. Men are expected by society to act a certain way, feel a certain way, and live a certain way; these expectations by society not only lead to added pressures in a male’s life, they also lead to men feeling entitled to having authority and supremacy in certain situations. Thus when their authority feels threatened, men feel a sense of powerlessness and they often act violently in order to attempt to restore their power (Kimmel 2000). Toxic masculinity refers to the widespread male impulse to prove and assert one’s masculinity, whether it is by means of belittlement or violence (Marcotte 2016).
In today’s society, violence has become something of a male habit. There have been several active, straightforward attempts at reducing this violence, such as suggesting the application of gun laws or restrictions, however, the attachment to violence is rooted far too deep in the male brain to try to attempt to make such a drastic change so quickly. Perhaps rather than going straight for the guns, first we should make an attempt at attacking the male mindset.
The idea that men have to be the dominant, bread-winning figure within a family is an outdated patriarchal idea that is heavily linked to male violence. When men feel that they are supposed to be the “man of the house”, they begin to act entitled to things that they really are not. For example, they believe that because they are earning the main salary for their family, their wife should show her gratitude by cooking dinner for their family every night and always being willing to engage in sexual relations. When women refuse to do either of these particular things, men start to become violent in response to their feelings of powerless. In order to prevent this situation and other similar situations from reoccurring, we as a society must deconstruct the idea that men have to behave a certain way in order to be perceived as masculine. After changing the male mindset and redefining masculinity, it is likely that men will take much easier to the idea of gun control and other forms of restricting violence. Once the feeling of powerless is erased from the male mindset, the necessity to fight their way to the top will disappear and as will a huge portion of violence in today’s society.
