School Shootings and Masculinity

School shootings have been linked to white masculinity in a variety of news sites, blogs and even academic articles. For instance, a Mother Jones data set on mass shootings showed a link between white men and mass shootings, and many commenters from CNN to Forbes to Elle made this connection. Sociologists Michael Kimmel and Matthew Mahler study random school shootings between 1982-2001 and concluded that not only are they most likely to be committed by white boys, but that they are also highly correlated with Republican-voting counties. The relationship between school shootings and white masculinity is often ignored, but deserves immediate attention if the issue of mass shootings is to be addressed.

Evidence

Numbers of school shootings by sex.

Since the school shooting at Columbine High School, there have been 158 male school shooters and 2 female school shooters, as defined by 1-2 active shooters in an academic setting. Of these shooters, 92 were white and 75 black or african american. White school shooters have consistently accounted for more fatalities than black school shooters in these cases.

Total fatalities by school shooters by year for black and white americans.

White Masculinity as a Culture

“White Masculinity” has now become a culture with its own discourse. This particular culture stems from an attitude that “boys will be boys” and a long history of systems that privileged white men over other groups. Michael Kimmel’s book, Guyland, describes this lifestyle of white college men as “almost men” who are struggling to claim and perform their own stereotypical masculinities. Guyland, Kimmel argues, is more than an idea or a label, it is a culture--a real place in which white masculinity dominates and is constantly in demand.

The basic rules of masculinity in Guyland exist around avoiding femininity and weakness at all costs, assuming the role of the “Gender Police” by evaluating others’ masculinity. In this culture of white masculinity, masculinity itself can never be permanently claimed, as no one person can possess the dominance for too long. Thus, masculinity is constantly controlled and vocalized by others. In this culture there is a constant need for a narrative with each interaction of masculinities. This discourse is evident almost everywhere: fraternities, sports teams, schools, and beyond.

In Angry White Men, Michael Kimmel describes a demographic of men who feel cheated by the system and the “way things are supposed to be.” A certain population of these men go on to commit terrible acts of violence--often seen as acts of redemption. It is no coincidence that these men identify as white and, thus, their white masculinity feels threatened. In the late 1960s, the traditional white male power was disrupted by events like the Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation, and gay liberation. In the 80s a lot of singers and celebrities started to blur the lines of sexuality and masculinity which caused more anxiety in white men. Other developments such as shifts in the job markets or increasing racial diversity have also had these effects. Feelings of entitlement originate from the history of being a white male in America and in the world. These feeling of entitlement cause discontent and anger towards other genders and races when the system no longer benefits them exclusively.

Entitlement and Violence in White Masculinity

According to Michael Kimmel, one of the key cultural factors that contribute to violence is a sense of entitlement to privilege and superiority inherent in white masculinity. Kimmel notes that the fear to conform to the norms of masculinity, norms that are increasingly troubled today, drives young men “to take huge chances to prove their manhood.” In addition to this, the construction of white masculinity regards violence as a legitimate response to perceived humiliation. In fact, this entitlement to privilege and superiority is regarded as a birthright. The humiliation confronted when failing to conform to white masculinity drives the turn to violence, a turn that is inherently taught as a natural response to humiliation. Significantly, according to Kimmel, violence has long been understood within an American context to be the best way to prove one’s manhood. Therefore, to Kimmel the enemy is this inherited kind of white masculinity that promises privileges coupled with a lack of emotional intelligence. It is when this entitlement falls short that the lookout for blame begins.

"Fag" discourse, White Masculinity, and School Shootings

An individual’s “ownership” of this white masculinity is continuously unstable.  In C.J. Pascoe’s book, Dude You’re a Fag, she says, “…achieving a masculine identity entails the repeated repudiation of the specter of failed masculinity”.  For boys and men, those who exhibit “failed masculinity” are those who adopt feminine coded traits. This need to distance oneself from the feminine led to the development of “fag language.” The term “fag” is a traditional homophobic slur,“…But becoming a fag has as much to do with failing at the masculine tasks of competence, heterosexual prowess, and strength or in any way revealing weakness or femininity as it does with a sexual identity”. Because the term “fag” relates to a boy or man’s closeness to femininity, both gay men and straight men can be labeled with the slur. Anything marked as feminine in action or appearance may label a boy a "fag."  By wielding fag discourse, naming other boys as fags, boys assert their masculinity to their male peers. The danger of being the “fag” always lingers for boys; though a boy may be the epitome of masculinity in one minute, they can be accused of effeminacy in the next. Fear of becoming the “fag” therefore begets more latent homophobia and misogyny as boys continuously demonize femininity and those they associate with it.  

This latent and normalized homophobia and “fag language” has been shown to correlate to school shootings.  In Michael Kimmeland Matthew Mahler’s article, “Adolescent masculinity, homophobia, and violence: Random school shootings, 1982-2001,” they say that in their research of incidents of school shootings,

“Nearly all had stories of being mercilessly and constantly teased, picked on, and threatened. And most strikingly, it was not because they were gay (at least there is no evidence to suggest that any of them were gay) but because they were different from the other boys-shy, bookish, honor students, artistic, musical, theatrical, nonathletic, "geekish," or weird. Theirs are stories of "cultural marginalization" based on criteria for adequate gender performance, specifically the enactment of codes of masculinity."

Though these boys were consistently “gay-baited” or marked as “fags,” their labels were not necessarily related to their sexuality. Because white masculinity is upheld by cultures of violence, these bullied, white boys use guns to prove their masculinity. This is the ultimate “repudiation” of femininity. Michael Carneal, the shooter at the 1997 Heath High School shooting in Paducah in Kentucky, stated that a history of being labeled by classmates as a “faggot” and “gay” played into his decision to enact violence.After the shooting, he told psychiatrists, "People respect me now," suggesting that the shooting allowed him to shed himself of the label of “faggot” and restore his masculinity. Kimmel and Mahler state,  “these boys are not psychopathological deviants but rather overconformists to a particular normative construction of masculinity, a construction that defines violence as a legitimate response to a perceived humiliation."

Video Games and Violence

War and violence are prominent themes within contemporary video games. Games such as “Call of Duty” allow players to simulate first person shooters. These games contain hyper-realistic graphic imagery that have been proven to desentiize players to real world violence. With an overwhelming 59% of all regular video game players identifying as male, and 42% of gamers stating that they frequently play shooter games, many researchers have began to investiagte the relationship between violent video games and agressive behavior in predominantly male players. In 2015 The American Physological Association issued a statement that confirmed the link between violent video games, an increase in aggressive behavior, and diminished “prosocial behavior, empathy, and moral engagement” in players. Given the abundance of research delinieating the link between graphic video games and violent behavior, the prominence of first person shooting games in America can be considered a cultural factor in the influx of mass shootings. Counter-evidence posits that video games are as frequently played in other countries as they are in America, and yet other countries have significantly fewer mass shootings. This counter-evidence suggests that mass shootings are the result of America's limited gun control policies rather than its gaming-culture.

Press Coverage

Parkland, Florida (2018)

The school shooting that occurred in Parkland, Florida at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was one of the largest recent school shootings in the history of massacres in the United States. As such, there was a wide variety media coverage on the event by all different types of news outlets. Many of the larger news sources seem to maintain a neutral, informational tone when describing the shooter. However, in many articles, it seems to be worth mentioning that the shooter was a previous student “who had been expelled from the school.” This matter of fact seems to imply a sense of sympathy toward the student, as if his expulsion would somehow justify his actions. In Fox News, there is an article dedicated to describing a view of a student survivor who believed the shooter should have been arrested before the massacre even happened. It describes his many struggles, including issues with his romantic relationship with his ex girlfriend, his history attending a school for those with “emotional and disciplinary problems,” and his eventual dismissal from Stoneman Douglas. Even opinion pieces regarding the incident are more sympathetic toward the shooter, describing him as “an orphaned 19-year-old with a troubled past.” The general theme of the news coverage of the shooting highlights the shooter’s mental instability and negative emotions toward those who wronged him, which in turn, would justify his actions and deserve sympathy.

Virginia Tech University (2007)

The Virginia Tech University Shooting of 2007 was committed by Cho Seung-Hui. While most press coverage focussed on the shooter’s mental health and “mean streak” as is typical of most school shooting coverage, his ethnicity was highlighted far more than when the shooter is white. His Korean American ethnicity and “resident alien status”  became a point of interest in the media, with many news outlets discussing Korean culture as influential in his decision to commit the crime, despite the fact that he had been living in the US for fifteen years. For example, news sources reported the supposed traditionally “patriarchal values”, “pressure to succeed” and “stigma around mental health” within South Korean culture. Hate crimes towards Asian Americans increased following the Virginia Tech shooting, whereas hate crimes towards white Americans has not increased after white men have committed school shootings.

Responses

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies revealed that 88% of all school shooters are men. It also showed that 76% of all school shooters are white men, specifically. Clearly, masculinity and school shootings are tied. Yet, mental-illness or family history or relationship issues, news media portrays are primary motivators for school shooters. Masculinity – especially toxic masculinity – and its effects are seldom talked about.

A week after the Parkland shooting, Michael Ian Black, in a New York Times op-ed, called American boys broken. While notions of femininity and womanhood have been a part of popular discourse for a while now, manhood and masculinity have eluded such conversations. Black says, “Boys, though, have been left behind. No commensurate movement has emerged to help them navigate toward a full expression of their gender. It’s no longer enough to “be a man” — we no longer even know what that means.” A student-led demonstration called "March for our lives" was held in response to mass shootings, particularly the Parkland shooting.

Finally, news media have begun seriously considering toxic masculinity as worthy of debate. The gender stereotypes boys mostly conform to promote physical violence, excessive bravado, and emotional stoicism. Violence is disproportionately a male problem because of our culture. Acclaimed sociologist Michael Kimmel considers patriarchy the root of the problem: “Our analysis of patriarchy is not simply men's power over women; it's also some men’s power over other men. Patriarchy’s always been a dual system of power, and unless we acknowledge that second one, we won't get an idea of why so many men feel like they're complete losers in the gender game, and they're not at all privileged, and they’ll resist any effort toward gender equality,” he stated in an interview with Lisa Wade.

In the wake of Parkland, numerous news articles linked school shootings with toxic masculinity. Agreeing with Black, many of those articles claimed that American boys are undergoing a “crisis of/in masculinity.” Politico, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and several college and high school newspaper published – some supporting the argument while others refuting it – extensively on the connections between toxic masculinity and school shootings.

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