Laurie Essig

Masculinity on a rampage

I woke up to yet another story of a shooting rampage.  This one in Germany, as reported in the New York Times. This folows on the heels of a shooting rampage in Alabama and one in Illinois. And all of them follow on other rampages  around the country and around the world. Whenever these happen, the gunman is made a psychological problem (a loner, a loser, suicidal, etc.). What should happen is that the sort of masculinity they inhabit becomes a sociological problem (rewarding aggression, toughness, conflating masculinity with war and warlike behaviors).  Only by thinking about how certain sorts of masculinity are dangerous not just for the individual, but for all of us, can we begin to confront an out of control and heavily armed masculinity on a rampage.

Masculinity on a rampage

I woke up to yet another story of a shooting rampage.  This one in Germany, as reported in the New York Times. This folows on the heels of a shooting rampage in Alabama and one in Illinois. And all of them follow on other rampages  around the country and around the world. Whenever these happen, the gunman is made a psychological problem (a loner, a loser, suicidal, etc.). What should happen is that the sort of masculinity they inhabit becomes a sociological problem (rewarding aggression, toughness, conflating masculinity with war and warlike behaviors).  Only by thinking about how certain sorts of masculinity are dangerous not just for the individual, but for all of us, can we begin to confront an out of control and heavily armed masculinity on a rampage.