School violence is constantly on the rise and is not being taken as serious despite its severity. With the evolution of technology, it is becoming easier for people to speak ill of one another and can go as far as bullying through social media. Although both sexes suffer from school violence, it tends to be men who usually instigate this behavior. After studying Kilmartin’s reports throughout the semester, it is quite clear as to why males typically have these manners. Having witnessed multiple fights growing up, it is clear that men have a bigger tendency of fighting to harden their pride. In the documentary we also learn that school boards tend to hide the incidents which occurred by labeling it as something else or not making people aware that it has happened.
As mentioned in Kilmartin’s “Defining Men’s Studies”, men are usually associated with characteristics given to fighters, such as “[s]trong, [t]ough, [a]ggressive, [p]hysical, …” which manipulates their tendencies to fit this ideology. (2) We learn that being a “real man” in most societies often refers to being the toughest and most fearless individual. Due to these stereotypes, men often try and live up to the traits they “should” have and resort to violence in order to prove that they are “real men.” In most cases, fights break out from verbal disputes and are used as defense mechanisms when one feels threatened or is not capable of responding verbally. A study in “Men at Work: Jobs, Careers, and Masculinity” explained that men try to obtain the most power possible to feel superior. (Kilmartin 229) This is correlated to fighting as men try to prove they are the “Alpha Male”, untouchable by others. By doing so, they are not only perceived as more dominant but make the other males seem weaker further improving their reputation of being a “real man.”
Growing up, I have been apart and witnessed many physical fights. Most cases were slight disputes taken out of hand and resulted in someone getting hurt unnecessarily. Often times, these fights broke out over people having a crush on the same girl and would use violence to try and win them over. It was their way of demonstrating that they are “real men” and would defend as well as provide for her if they were together. Stereotypes affect the way that men perceive certain traits. In most movies, we see the attractive cheerleader falling for the tough jock which tricks men into believing that they are able to win over a female’s heart by being aggressive. In one of Deborah David and Robert Brannon’s books, they explain that “American masculinity ha[s] four primary characteristics”, one being “[s]tatus and [a]chievement” (“Defining Men’s Studies” Kilmartin 4,5). A victory from a physical fight builds up a man’s status and as a result, they continue these acts of violence in order to strengthen their reputation.
In the documentary, we learn that many school boards shy away from sharing incident reports which have occurred in order to preserve their reputation. Some schools have even gone to the extent where they do not address the number of annual incidents to students and do not approach victims of school violence. Instead, students feel as though they have no one to talk to and are scared to express situations they might have experienced. Despite awareness being brought to this topic, not many schools have taken too much action to reduces the chances of violence occurring and continue their days as though it is not an issue.
Schools need to take more action in order to reduce the ongoing violence. Measures need to be put in place to better monitor bullying and verbal offenses to prevent fights from being instigated. Although we cannot fully eliminate stereotypes, men need to find ways of not believing everything they hear. If the education system becomes more severe about punishments, violence should decrease instead and students will be able to focus more on their education rather than worrying about being harmed by others.
Works Cited
Kilmartin, Christopher, and Andrew P. Smiler. “Defining Men’s Studies.” The Masculine Self, Cornwall On Hudson, NY, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 1–7.
Christopher Kilmartin and Andrew P. Smiler “Men at Work: Jobs, Careers and Masculinity.” The Masculine Self, Cornwall On Hudson, NY, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 221-226,228–235.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 