Tough Guise 2

One of the biggest components of this documentary for me was the way the media completely ignored masculinity as a possible cause for violence in schools. Despite 62/63 school shooters being male, the entire media focus is on the NRA for gun control and video games and television for promoting violence. No one discusses how boys are raised with this idea that they have to hide emotions and be completely stone cold to the world around them. What could be greater recipe for a world of masculinity-driven sociopaths, right?

And I find it extremely sexist and ableist for the media to also blame school shooting on mental illness. As Tough Guise 2 explains, women also have mental illness, so why aren't the numbers of female shooters equally proportionate to the amount of women suffering from mental illness. Women can own guns and are exposed to violent television too. Why are women completely ignored when factoring in these statistics?

I was incredibly interested by the commentary on Bowling for Columbine, because that documentary as hugely influential for me as a future teacher. A lot of the arguments that documentary made were incredible easy to follow, as I do agree that it is much too easy for people to get a gun in our country. More strict background checks would most certainly help, but its not the main issue with school shooters and various acts of violence. The main issue is completely ignored and as a result, our culture continues perpetuating the idea that in order to be a real man, men must be aggressive and dominant to the point where school shootings are rational.