Man v.s Man v.s Masculinity

This weeks common topic seems to be male violence. Mostly male violence like including football damage to the brain and body as well as gun violence, but also violence fueled by hatred and racism. I feel race in general is just as prominent a topic, though, as male violence.

Male violence is fueled by little more than just simple primitive male competition.  A strive to be dominant, to be powerful. It's an old notion, really. The U.S. has to have one of the worst cultural views of masculinity there can be. Society tells men they must be big, tall, strong (emotionally and physically), they must be able to defend themselves and, above most, they should essentially enjoy violence. That leads us to American Football. What these athletes put themselves through for the sake of glory is more than dangerous, its lethal. But hey, as long as they put on a brave face, then we will cheer them on.  Luckily, this is beginning to change. Research has started revealing the truth, and its an ugly truth. Two of the assigned articles covered the brain damages caused by helmet to helmet contact, such as CTE (thankfully, this information is surfacing more and more often), as well as more tragic incidents, such as neck injuries that can cause permanent damage like becoming paralyzed. Yet, the NFL (despite making UTTERLY RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY, has hardly put any funding in preventative and post treatment research, relatively.

And then there's golf. Chris Rock's video, funny as it was, raised an interesting point.  Communities with people of color as the majority don't seem to view golf as a ligament worthy sport. Perhaps this is because it isn't as "masculine" as football, or maybe its due to an old demon. A lot of the male athletes of color come from broken communities, and because the U.S.'s education system is based more on monetary systems than hard work and dedication, athletic ability is usually the main way of getting away from such a life.

But if Richard Sherman proves anything, its that even national success is still not enough to be accepted. I remember being in middle school and learning about the heinous murders of children by white supremacists. I was taught about them as if it was our past, but clearly it is not. We've just replaced lynching with gun shots and "Stand Your Ground" laws. Not only does white privilege grant one a dismissal of murder charges, but apparently it also allows one to bird watch without being targeted by police. But I digress, violence isn't an act separate from masculinity or the pressures put forth by such a concept. It's directly linked to it.