While both liberals and conservatives recognize the role gender plays in the mass shooting equation, their solutions differ like night and day, in that liberals seem to want to choke the remaining masculinity out of men, while conservatives want to instead foster it by, among other things, promoting fatherhood.

Take Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom. After the El Paso and Dayton shootings, he issued a statement decrying “power, dominance, aggression,” three aspects that have been intrinsic to masculinity since day one.

“These shootings overwhelmingly — almost exclusively — are males, boys, men. I do think that is missing in the national conversation,” he reportedly said during an emergency meeting this week with top school, health and public safety officials in Sacramento.

“These shootings overwhelmingly — almost exclusively — are males, boys, men. I do think that is missing in the national conversation,” Newsom said in an emergency meeting with top school, health and public safety officials in Sacramento to discuss California’s response following

— Peace Rabbit (@PeaceRabbit2) August 6, 2019

So far, so good. Even conservatives have admitted that of the 113 mass shootings that have occurred since 1982, nearly 98 percent of them have involved “young, angry males.”

“I think that goes deep to the issue of how we raise our boys to be men, goes deeply to values that we tend to hold dear — power, dominance, aggression, over empathy, care and collaboration,” Newsom then added.

And there it is …

This mentality aligns perfectly with the left’s vision of transforming the notion of masculinity from one centered on strength and perseverance to one based on men being emotionally fragile wimps who may or may not enjoy prancing about like a little girl.

It also ties in closely with the left’s campaign against so-called “toxic masculinity,” a broad term used to pathologize the otherwise normal behavior observed among men, including their inclination toward protecting women and children, maintaining stoicism during dark times and being fearless leaders.

This is important because conservatives believe that this diminishment of traditional masculinity is one of the factors behind the explosion of “young, angry males.”

 

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In a time where masculinity has been demonized. When identifying toxic masculinity is more celebrated than a man’s achievements. What we are seeing is the most vile form of that rage being realized. Masculinity is about being a protector. Masculinity is about integrity. It is hardwired into every single man’s soul. We all have a choice to fight. We are all warriors on the inside. But if that is suppressed, if that is denied, it manifests in the most unhealthy ways. We have to a have purpose and let that purpose be fulfilled. We have to stop telling our young men to be anything else but a man. Strength is good. A fierce passion to protect the helpless is good. An insuppressible desire to explore and discover should be encouraged. Danger should be sought out and success should be rewarded. No medals for participation. But elation with every accomplishment. Let’s celebrate what it means to be a man. We stormed the beaches of Normandy to stop the Nazis. Placed the American flag on Iwo Jima and built the Chrysler building in New York City. Let’s remember what it means to be a man and most of all let us show this next generation what it looks like to be a man. Let them see you fail. Let them see you sweat. Let them see blood. Let them see tears. But most of all let them see us be men. #men #man #masculine #masculinity #pharmaceutical #adhd #add

A post shared by Tim Kennedy (@timkennedymma) on Aug 4, 2019 at 7:08pm PDT

A growing number of Americans believe this as well. Following the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting in late July by another angry, young man, the New York Post surveyed its readers by asking them, “Why are young American men so angry?” The responses were telling.

“[M]ost of these readers believe that what we’re seeing today, with alarming regularity, is a result of a decades-long erosion — in education, in popular culture, in the family and the workplace and society at large — in the way we now raise and regard boys and young men,” the Post reported.

“Many pointed to the relatively new buzz phrase ‘toxic masculinity’ as emblematic of the liberal and media elite’s reflexive contempt, one with real-world, trickle-down consequences.”

But note also how the Post’s readers complained about “the way we now raise and regard boys and young men.” This ties into fatherhood, which, conservatives believe, is another one of the leading causes behind this growing epidemic of “young, angry males.”

“The generation coming of age today grow up in what sociological experts have called the ‘fatherless’ generation, in which nearly 40 percent of students from kindergarten through 12th grade are raised without a father in the home,” Jen Kerns, the founder of Women for A Great America and former spokeswoman for the California Republican Party, noted in a column Monday.

“The Center for Disease Control reports that historically, 85 percent of children who display behavior disorders come from fatherless homes. Similar reports show that the majority of teens in jail come from fatherless homes.”

Hal Lambert, Sen. Ted Cruz’s former 2016 campaign national finance chair, agrees. Speaking this week with English radio show host Clive Bull, Lambert pointed to a “real cultural breakdown” and noted that “26 of the 27 top mass shooters” grew up in “fatherless homes.”

“You’ve got youth suicides, 75% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes,” he said. “So you got real issues around the family, and I think a breakdown of the family is one of the biggest problems we’re seeing here.”

Listen:

It’s a point that talk-show host, attorney and best-selling author Larry Elder has been pointing to for years, if not decades.

“For a lot of young boys and young men in particular, they don’t see an example of fathers or grandfathers, uncles, who are in a position to support families and be held up in respect,” he said during a discussion in 2013 about then-President Barack Hussein Obama’s war on gun rights.

“And so that means that this is not just a gun issue; it’s also an issue of the kinds of communities that we’re building. When a child opens fire on another child, there is a hole in that child’s heart that government can’t fill. Only community and parents and teachers and clergy can fill that hole.”

These are points Elder has tried repeatedly to impart on Obama, but to no avail:

“…children who grow up without a father are 5 times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; 9 times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.”@BarackObama June 15, 2008https://t.co/Kk09XbHnIZ#FathersDay

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) June 18, 2018

“[Kids raised without fathers are] five more likely to be poor…nine times more likely to drop out…twenty times more likely to end up in jail.”
—@BarackObamahttps://t.co/WjVVob03ls https://t.co/K90c3IlwSK

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) January 13, 2019

Speaking of which, Obama responded to the recent spate of shootings by doubling down on his war on guns and taking shots at President Donald Trump. Not once did he mention the dilemma faced by young boys and men. Nor would he necessarily even be inclined to, given as he’d spent much of his time in office attacking manhood and so-called “toxic masculinity.”

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Vivek Saxena

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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