Gender-Based Violence and Mass Murder

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Misogyny
Mass Murder
Masculinity
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Misogyny is the prejudice, aversion to, and hatred against women. Gender-based and patriarchal cultures determine the relationship between women and men, men and men, and women and women that promote inequality and social status. Gender-based abuse has been highly generated by violence. Various cultural, political, and economic factors promote gender-based violence. The paper aims to analyze the relationship between gender-based violence and mass murder, along with masculinity and gender roles in society.

Misogyny

An integral part of gender violence is misogyny – an extreme degree of negative attitude towards women, a means of justifying discriminatory practices affecting women. It is “hostility and aggression directed toward women at least partly, although not necessarily purely, because of their gender” (Manne 2017, 49). For instance, while feminist writer Lindy West interviewed a man, he said, “when you talked about being proud of who you are and where you are and where you’re going, that kind of stoked that anger that I had” (Oliver 2016, 51). One of the reasons for forming a negative attitude towards females can be their objectification, when a person is perceived as an item. It arises from their negative labeling due to the functioning of the binary principle. One of the options of the consumer attitude towards a woman may be her depreciation. In this case, the value of a female as a used or worthless object decreases sharply.

Mass Murder

An extreme form of gender-based violence is femicide, meaning killing females because of their gender. An example is “at the University of Mary Washington, Grace Rebecca Mann was harassed via social media, and eventually murdered for speaking out against fraternities that encouraged rape” (Oliver 2016, 88). Therefore, examples of gender-related homicide could be rape-murders, crimes resulting from intimate partner violence, so-called honor killings, and deaths caused by destructive practices and neglect. As a rule, gender-related killings are not isolated cases that occur suddenly and unexpectedly. Such kinds of crime are considered manifestations of a combination of gender discrimination and violence. While these demonstrations vary, they all involve the deprivation of socio-political and economic opportunities for women and the systematic disregard for female’s equal right to enjoy human rights.

Masculinity

Sexist and patriarchal views promote violence by ensuring superiority and men’s dominance in society. Moreover, prejudice, masculinity, gender stereotypes, and socialization of gender are other cultural factors that promote gender violence. It is caused by “a culture that encourages men to feel entitled to women’s bodies, where masculinity is tied to dominating women” (Oliver 2016, 70). Such an attitude results in the situation when unconscious, vulnerable women can become victims of serial rapists. As a real-life example, “the same is true of the Steubenville (Ohio) case where high school football players assaulted an unconscious girl while bystanders joked and made disparaging remarks about her” (Oliver 2016, 64). Thus, most violence arises from the concept of hypermasculinity and unequal positions of sexuality of genders.

First, if men feel helpless in everyday life and their masculinity is threatened due to the feeling of powerlessness, then the likelihood of violence is high. Analysis of cases when “groups of boys anally gang-raping unconscious girls suggests that these girls function as sex objects exchanged between men within a circuit of their own hypermasculinized homoerotic desires” (Oliver 2016, 60). Therefore, when society encourages excessive rivalry between men, they tend to dominate, and violence is one way to achieve the desired dominance and maintain their authority. The theory of gender roles emphasizes that under the pressure of traditional gender norms, men attach particular importance to affirming the value and significance of their personality.

The explanation of the impaired perception of non-consensual sex by males should be analyzed from the boys’ childhood. The child’s environment shapes the mental structures of masculinity; the latter is created at the level of fantasy. For instance, pornography may shape the future behavior, “for many boys, pornography makes sex less about intimacy and communication and more of a “one-way street” (Oliver 2016, 62). It means that all genres of pornography suggest that intercourse without a prior relationship or emotional connection is always enjoyable. Verbal consent is rarely or unnecessary; women being in a passive position should always enjoy sex, even if they initially refused or were forced to intercourse against their will. The boys’ masculinity formation is accompanied by the normalization of violence, its praise through toys, games, and the media.

When a person experiences gender-based violence in society, he/she is considered to be weak or shameful. An example of such an attitude is presented through the documentary The Hunting Ground. The film shows “dozens of young women who suffered additional trauma after reporting their rapes, when college administrators and police didn’t seem to believe them” (Oliver 2016, 85). Due to this notation, low levels of reporting and investigation on cases of gender-based violence are happening. It means that the frequently women talk about sexual violence, the more resistance they face. The statements of harassment and rape do not cause sympathy and indignation but fear for their safety and suspicion of lying. Therefore, the problem is that women are assumed to be the offenders, blamed for reporting and attracting violence through their behaviors.

Gender stereotypes are used for the definition of the expectation of appropriate traits or attitudes and behaviors. In most countries in the world, roles are given based on gender. Therefore, men are linked with higher status and recognition, while women are given worse roles. For example, there is the case with US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of attempted rape, which happened 36 years ago. However, Kavanaugh denies accusations against him, insisting “his situation is a political conspiracy against him” (LastWeekTonight 2021). It means that in this case, Ford can be perceived as an evil woman, trying to ruin the career of a prospective politician. It proves that victim-blaming in the aspect of misogyny is also combined with contempt, a disdainful attitude, and a sense of superiority that men, regarded as having more privileged status, demonstrate in relation to female representatives. Thus, legislative and political change should give significant transformations in gender roles, whereby these changes should bring about modification in attitudes towards roles associated with gender.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is difficult to consider a developed system of social traditions that contribute to the construction of nonviolent masculinity. Many institutions of gender socialization still support manifestations of dominance, suppression of others, and aggressiveness in boys, young men, and adults. The misconception of women and the less vulnerability of females have highly generated mass murder and gender-based violence. The gender approach involves considering the interests of both socio-gender groups since the primary goal of implementing this approach is to achieve gender equality. When analyzing the causes of violence in interpersonal relationships, considering the provisions of a gender approach, attention should be paid to the mandatory consideration of misogyny in society and the relationship between gender norms and stereotypes of masculinity/femininity and psychological well-being and behavior of men and women.

References

Manne, Kate. 2017. Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. New York: Oxford University Press.

LastWeekTonight. 2018.Brett Kavanaugh: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. YouTube video. Web.

Oliver, Kelly. 2016. Hunting Girls: Sexual Violence from the Hunger Games to the Campus. New York: Columbia University Press.

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Gender-Based Violence and Mass Murder

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