From my personal experience, Highschool is survival of the fittest. As boys hit puberty there testosterone, as well as there, drive to show dominance over there peers skyrockets. In schools, “The fear of being seen as a sissy dominates the cultural definitions of manhood” ( Kimmel 147), and what is the best way to prove you’re not a sissy? Well, for teenage boys the answer is simple, sexual harassment or physical violence.
As most boys start to have there first real interest in women, more often then not there urge for domination or pride leads them to sexual assault or harassment. “26 per cent of girls say they experienced unwanted sexual contact at school” (McGuire 2019). Bullying, one of the main factors contributing to violence inside schools can also lead to sexual assault towards the opposite sex. Men, especially younger ones have this need to fit into the “Man Box” (defined by)(Kilmartin 6) which causes them to be more aggressive towards anyone who dares challenge there ability or requirements to be considered a “man” in the eyes of there surrounding peers which can even go as far as men forcing themselves onto the opposite sex to assert dominance or to gain some sort of “manly” requirement. Men also tend to have buildups of emotions because relationships between men “focus on doing things together and tend to be emotionally shallow.” (Kilmartin 161) stopping men from emotionally expressing themselves among each other.
Bullying between one man to another is the most common and this is because of the need to be masculine. “Masculinity refers most commonly to socially constructed expectations of appropriate behaviors, beliefs, expressions, and styles of social interaction for men in a culture or subculture at a given time.” (Kimmel 5) and sadly, the “appropriate” behavior between men would be to show everyone how much more of a man you are compared to your peers through physical violence. “41 percent of boys say they were physically assaulted at high school” (McGuire 2019) but why is this? It’s because being “different” is seen as a threat between schoolboys.
Being “different” can mean anything along the lines of having different colored hair or being less muscular or liking “feminine” things compared to your fellow brotherhood and These “different” schoolkids are the prime target for bullying and physical violence because they “challenge” the norms of other more “manly” males. “If all the other guys like playing with dolls and I don’t am I the none-manly one?”. Thoughts like these create even more of a need to show dominance through the form of bullying.
This information and knowledge of violence in schools combined with the knowledge we have collected and explored regarding masculinity creates a lot of insight into this topic. Men act the way they act in schools to prove they’re worth to each other. “I’m the strongest so I’m the manliest and because I bully the rest of you you’re less of a man for letting me beat you up”. Thoughts like these are the problem with violence in schools. As a teenager, you’ll do anything you can to fit in and that’s including physical violence.
References;
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/school-violence-editors-note-1.5331402
“Masculinity as Homophobia” by: MICHAEL S. KIMMEL
“Masculinity” by: MICHEAL S. KIMMEL
“No man is an island, Men n Relationships” by: KILLMARTIN
“Defining Men’s Studies” by: KILLMARTIN
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 