ManchestrMorgue |
09-08-2007 01:09 PM |
This is an interesting topic...
I really abhor the whole "fighting/drinking/truck driving" mentality. It just seems... dumb.
Media/film tends to portray this mentality as simple, but harmless and likeable. Think of TV shows like the Dukes of Hazzard, etc. (which I did quite like at the time).
However the darker side of this mentality is abusive and lacks empathy.
These "Men" (by which I mean the macho stereotype rather than the male gender for the purposes of this discussion) profess to love and protect their family but at the same time are abusive to the family that they proclaim they protect. It seems to be that they feel that only they have the right to abuse their family...
I think what really frustrates me is the general lack of empathy - how "Men" can appear totally oblivious to the feelings and rights of others is boggling. Fighting, using physical force get what one wants without a care for the negative impacts it has on others... A lack of mental capacity or antisocial traits? A combination perhaps?
I have tried to live my life at least trying to consider what effects my actions would have on others, and act accordingly. Although I sure as hell haven't been perfect.
Where I live we have recently had a number of scandals with football players being accused of sexual assaults/rapes and other acts. These are the archetype of the "Man", and this is one of the more blatant examples of the the darker side of the stereotype that I mentioned earlier. As a result, I can't watch the game anymore - I can't support this sort of mentality. But society does. Society puts it on a pedestal.
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