School Shootings Articles

[Doc Johnson]

I was reading this today, and thought I'd pass it on to the rest of you. BTW, the semester's almost over, so I should be back a bit more often after the next week or so. Anyways

Quote:The Queer Thing About School Shooters

t may have been suggested by an earlier post, but every since the earliest school shootings were reported, I’ve been interested in the stories and people behind them; in particular, the shooters. Every time another one happens, I find myself pouring over articles about the latest shootings and past shootings. This time was no different. I now have a folder in my RSS reader for the VA Tech shootings, which is starting to fill up with articles and posts.

But a couple of nights ago, I came across something I hadn’t thought about until now. I’d written earlier about the anti-gay bullying and harassment I’d experienced in school, and how as result I identified to some degree with the anger the school shooters obviously felt and some expressed. But it wasn’t until I stumbled across a website that suggested I had more in common with these guys than I thought.

It goes on to talk about how young men at the top of the food chain are able to enforce their own definitions of manhood to keep those who are not like them down. A brief excerpt about that:

Quote:If you look at these guys, and look at their lives, one thing they all have in common is that they were not what’s conventionally considered “masculine” in the most superficial sense of the word. (Whether anything beyond the superficial matters to or is valued by their peers or their culture, is another matter altogether.”) Quiet, shy, bookish, bespectacled, non-athletic, slight of build, etc., all of which reads as something less than manly.

But drawing that line of demarcation around manliness or masculinity, thus defining it, means defining those outside that line as well. And if the authors above are defining “what makes a man a man,” then those who fall outside that definition have be seen as not being men no matter how we define ourselves. In that context we are not “real men,” but are either something other than men or something less than men.

And thus, while none of the authors above would necessarily use the terms, we become “sissies” or “faggots” for falling too far outside their ideals of manliness or masculinity. We don’t “act like men” or “like men are supposed to act.” So we are like something other than men. Or like something less than men.

The queer thing about school shooters isn’t that they are queer or that they’re not. It’s that they are, all at once, too queer and not queer enough.

There's two parts so far. They are here, check 'em out:

Part 1: http://www.republicoft.com/2007/04/25/th...ters-pt-1/
Part 2: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1462

[SoulRiser]

Quote:Why, then, do American men feel so powerless? Part of the answer is because we've constructed the rules of manhood so that only the tiniest fraction of men come to believe they are the biggest of wheels, the sturdiest of oaks, the most virulent repudiators of femininity, the most daring and aggressive.

Indeed. Now, what I'd like to know, is why the hell it got this way? ... I suppose in a sense it was always this way... kinda. Why are people so fucking stupid?

[Dark Soul X]

SoulRiser Wrote:

Quote:Why, then, do American men feel so powerless? Part of the answer is because we've constructed the rules of manhood so that only the tiniest fraction of men come to believe they are the biggest of wheels, the sturdiest of oaks, the most virulent repudiators of femininity, the most daring and aggressive.

Indeed. Now, what I'd like to know, is why the hell it got this way? ... I suppose in a sense it was always this way... kinda. Why are people so fucking stupid?

Because they are pathetic weaklings.

[Happy Camper]

Manly men are way overrated.

[Rebelnerd]

i agree with that completely. maybe back in medieval times being tough and manly was vital, but this the 21st century. we've gone beyond that. but this ridiculous pressure's still here for some reason, and i think that is part of the cause. that was really the whole point of Fight Club.

[Guest]

It's all about culture. It takes a lot to change gender roles. They are changing but the ideal of manliness is still often taken too far.

[Doc Johnson]

The funny thing about it is that most of the really manly stuff is, if you really think about it, kinda gay. Women are rarely involved. Men go off to be together with other men. They actively evaluate each other in terms of their manhood--Who is the real man's man (don't even get me started on that expression). And doing things like wrestling around half naked with other naked men in an attempt to make them submit (Ultimate fighting), checking out other dudes' oiled up bodies (bodybuilding), admiring other men's guns, clothing and accessories (hunting), is supposed to connote a high degree of masculinity. I can't help but think that some of them do it to prove that they are SO TOTALLY NOT GAY!!!!!!

[Bob Dole]

Heh, that's actually very true. I'm using that as a weapon next time some retard calls me a fag or a homo. Thanks, Doc!

[SoulRiser]

On one occasion in college I was sitting near this group of girls, and there were these guys walking past, and the one girl pointed at the one guy and said "That guy is definitely gay". And she'd never seen him before. I felt like punching her.

[Dark Soul X]

SoulRiser Wrote:On one occasion in college I was sitting near this group of girls, and there were these guys walking past, and the one girl pointed at the one guy and said "That guy is definitely gay". And she'd never seen him before. I felt like punching her.

At least it's not as bad as I have it. Some traitors at school call me gay because they know I like a girl, and that I get too nervous to talk to her.

[Doc Johnson]

FightforRight Wrote:Heh, that's actually very true. I'm using that as a weapon next time some retard calls me a fag or a homo. Thanks, Doc!

Just don't blame me if you end up getting smacked around, okay?

[Bob Dole]

Doc Johnson Wrote:

FightforRight Wrote:Heh, that's actually very true. I'm using that as a weapon next time some retard calls me a fag or a homo. Thanks, Doc!

Just don't blame me if you end up getting smacked around, okay?

Don't worry, I won't. I can take care of myself.