Last month, America celebrated its 246th birthday. For many, Independence Day is a holiday to reflect on and celebrate the many values, freedoms, and privileges that our great country offers. If your 4th of July was anything like mine, it probably ended with a huge firework show while Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” played in the background.
I, along with many other fellow conservatives, would whole-heartedly call the United States the best country on Earth. While there are countless things about America to celebrate and be grateful for, it is not immune to the darkness that comes from living in a fallen and sinful world.
On July 4th, a shooting took place at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. It resulted in 7 deaths and 36 other nonfatal injuries. This event is one of many similar cases in recent months, such as the shootings at a Buffalo, NY grocery store and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. Tragedies like these and others throughout past years have continued the seemingly never-ending debate over gun control and gun rights America is having today.
Despite differing opinions on ways to solve the issue of gun violence, it is clear neither side of the political aisle wants to see these tragedies continue to happen. While most liberals or left-leaning individuals will cite the lack of strict gun control as a cause for mass shootings, there may be an even deeper issue that undergirds and permeates the problem at hand.
With the rise of feminism in recent years, America has moved towards the demonizing of masculinity. The term “toxic masculinity” centers on “exaggerated versions” of traditional masculine traits. Those traditional traits that include strength, courage, dependence, leadership, and assertiveness are now considered “toxic” or “archaic.” While it is entirely possible for a man to exhibit negative and harmful behaviors, any expression of natural or traditional masculine traits are vilified and denounced as toxic and sexist by a lot of modern feminists.
Since 1982, 127 mass shootings have been committed by males. According to statistics on mass shootings since 1966, more than 40% of the 196 male shooters were between the ages of 18 and 29. There seems to be an apparent reason why most mass shooters are men. We know that men have more testosterone than women do. Because of this, generally, men biologically tend to be more prone to aggression than women are.
Rather than completely suppressing any form of masculinity, there should be a bigger push towards expressing the natural aggression that comes with being a male towards more positive means. When young men are effectively neutered and told that masculinity is bad, they are left with no way to express it healthily.
Many mass shooters have also often been described as “quiet” or “loners.” These personality traits do not mean that someone is guaranteed to commit a shooting (I say this personally as an introvert myself and someone who definitely fits the description of a “quiet person” or “loner” at times and has never committed any kind of crime). However, humans were created as relational beings meant to be in community with one another. A lack of a healthy community can lead to loneliness, depression, and further isolation.
Without a positive community to lead them in the right direction, they may look to other communities that share their dark ideas and become more inclined to commit these violent acts. If an individual is without community and feels rejected by society, they may seek to exert dominance or feel powerful through violence and “destroying” those whom they feel rejected by.
The issue of fatherlessness in America comes with a plethora of problems as well. Statistics show that 85% of youths in prison come from fatherless homes. 25 million children live without their biological father. Fathers are an important part of the family unit and their children depend on their guidance as the head of the household to model what it looks like to be a man.
Unfortunately, traditional gender roles are also now looked down upon. Our current culture argues that men and women are interchangeable and the nuclear family is no longer important for a thriving society. The breakdown of the traditional family unit in recent years has done no favors for the young men in America.
America is failing its men by allowing the culture of supposed “toxic masculinity” to thrive in society. A young man with nobody to look up to and nothing to live for can be extremely dangerous. Traditional masculinity should be encouraged, and it is up to the older generations of men to step up and model that for them, especially if it is lacking for them in their own home. There may be no single way to totally prevent mass shootings. But by valuing the nuclear family unit and encouraging the expression of healthy masculinity for young men, America can begin to find ways to at least mitigate the tragedies, starting by looking to the root causes.