Why Won’t We Talk About Violence and Masculinity in America? [View all]

[shcrane71]

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/12/17/why-wont-we-talk-about-violence-and-masculinity-in-america/

Young white men have entitlements and privileges that, when combined with disappointment, illness, loss and soul-strippingly unhealthy and common glorification of violence, can lead to tragedy. The only place I heard this discussed this weekend was on MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes, when Salon’s David Sirota pointed out that white men are really the only group in America that is “not allowed to be profiled.” We need more white men like David Sirota and Chris Hayes, who disproportionately make up our media experts and political leaders, to step up and talk openly about exactly this. About how ideas about whiteness and maleness are not only our unquestioned norms, but are imbued with an innocence and authority that makes it almost impossible to critically talk about them in terms of a pattern of horrific events like Sandy Hook.