Feminist kooks dominate anthropology of "male violence"

From: offshore eddie (eddie_at_nospam.com)
Date: 07/26/04 

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 06:45:45 GMT

"Feminist" kooks have not only distorted the perception of the present, they
are busy distorting perceptions of the past. Here is some of the typical
"feminist" bull*** that passes for anthropology today:

   "Popular culture, religious dogma, and scientific discourse
   perpetuate the idea of an insatiable male "sex drive."
   Frequently, this idea is used to justify sexual pursuit
   regardless of a woman's will. Men are portrayed as
   captive to their libido and therefore not fully responsible for
   their actions. Sometimes men's raging hormones are
   portrayed as the culprit, whereas at other times, male
   behavior is couched in the language of evolutionary biology
   in which male promiscuity is seen as a vestige of
   evolutionary forces that confer "selective advantage" on
   men who impregnate as many women as possible."

Male aggression IS largely a vestige of evolutionary forces. Politically
correct anthropologists have dumped that theory, though, because it doesn't
suit their anti-male agenda. Otherwise, they would have to answer the
question, what evolutionary forces selected for aggressive males? Why,
females' choices, of course. Aggressive males got the rewards in the herd,
and the females chose to mate with those males so they could share the
rewards. The reason there are "so many" violent males today is that
*females chose to mate with the most aggressive males*, just as they do
today.

The feminist response to this is usually to claim the women had no choice;
they were raped. However, other anthropologists, some of them feminists
unwittingly working at odds with their cohorts, have shown that rape
accounted for only a small portion of births, and was not common enough to
be a selective force:

   "Dr. Sanday presented findings from her
   now-classic comparative study of rape in 156 tribal societies.
   According to her detailed analysis of the ethnographic record,
   rape of women by men was totally absent or extremely rare
   in 47 percent of the cultures she studied (Sanday, 1981)."

Therefore, there are aggressive men today because women in the past chose to
mate with aggressive men. Simple. But, no, the "feminists" cannot tolerate
any theory in which women share the guilt.

   "In fact, Miedzian lays a large share of the blame for the
   epidemic of male violence in her own U.S. culture on a
   "masculine mystique" that encourages toughness,
   dominance and extreme competitiveness at the expense
   of honest emotion, empathy and communication."

And what encourages the masculine mystique? There must be some rewards for
toughness, dominance and extreme competitiveness or men wouldn't pursue
those things. Why yes, I can think of one big reward. -->*Women*<-- are
attracted to tough, dominant, extremely competitive men. By Jove, could
that be what motivates men to be ... Well, you'll never hear a female
anthropologist acknowledge it. It's all intellectual prestidigitation by
these "scientists" to make people avoid the obvious conclusions.

More classic, anti-male jibber-jabber:

   "Men in many cultures strive daily to prove to
   themselves and others that they qualify for
   inclusion in the esteemed category of "male."
   The fear accompanying this insecurity derives
    in part from a gendered system that assigns
   power and status to that which is male and
   denigrates or subordinates that which is female.
   To be "not male," is to be reduced to the
   status of woman, or, worse, to be "gay".

Um, wait a minute. Don't the females go for the guys who have power and
status and ignore the guys who are "not male"? Could this be why some men
strive to be so "male"?

   "A growing number of theorists have begun to
   argue that violence against women is partly
   fueled by men's fundamental insecurity over
   their masculinity (Lancaster, 1992; Stoltenberg,
   1989; Segal, 1990). To say that men are
   insecure does not in anyway condone their
   coercive conduct, but it can help us understand
   the phenomenon and suggest avenues for
   intervention."

How about not mating with aggressive males? Oh, but those non-aggressive
males, they don't collect the big bucks, don't drive sportscars and often
are the victims of the aggressive males.

   "One way to feel unambiguously male in many
   cultures is to dominate women, to behave
    aggressively and to take risks. A "real man" in
   the Balkans, for example, is one who drinks
   heavily, fights bravely and shows "Indomitable
   virility" by fathering many children (Denich, 1974).
   In eastern Morocco, "true men" are distinguished
   by their physical prowess and heroic acts of both
   feuding and sexual potency (Marcus, 1987). On
   the South Pacific island of Truk, fighting, drinking,
   defying the sea and sexually conquering women
   are the true measures of manhood (Caughey,
   1970; Marshall, 1979; Gilmore, 1990).

How do you father many children without the women's consent? Obviously,
Balkan women choose the most virile men to have sex with.

   "Significantly, sexual conquest and potency
   appear as repeated themes in many cultural
   definitions of manhood, placing women at
   increased risk of coercive sex. This is as true
   in the United States as it is elsewhere. Recently,
   nine teenage boys from an upper-middle-class
   suburb of Los Angeles were arrested for allegedly
   molesting and raping a number of girls, some as
   young as ten. The boys, members of a group
   called the Spur Posse, acknowledge having sex
   with scores of underage girls as part of a sexual
   competition. In tabulating their sexual exploits,
   the boys made reference to the uniform number
   of the sports stars who are their heroes: "I'm 44
    now-Reggie Jackson. I'm 50-David Robinson."
   Tellingly, some of the boys' fathers appeared
   boastful of their sons' conquests. In a New York
   Times article about the rapes, one father praised
    his son as "all man" and insisted the girls his
   son had sex with were "giving it away" (Gross,
   1993).

Um, wait a minute. Not sure all those details were correct. Fact is, many
of those girls were happily "giving it away" and to aggressive, muscular,
lusty boys, not to mild-mannered, chess-playing nerds.

   "When masculine ideals are associated with violence,
   virility and power, one can easily see how male
   sexual behavior might emerge as coercive and
   aggressive."

Especially when women seek out the most aggressive men.

   'Regardless of the rationale, the social acceptance of men's
   violence runs deep. The belief in the "naturalness" of men's
   aggression is a core one that we must challenge in order to
   build a global consensus against gender-based abuse.'

Then you'll have to stop mating with aggressive men, dear.

- (Offshore Eddie, 2004)

****************************************************************************
****

Sexual Coercion and Reproductive Health

Chapter 2
Boys will be boys

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

----
The idea that violence and dominance are somehow inherent to men's nature is
an idea with many adherents in different parts of the world. It has been
used to justify war, men's dominance of the public sphere, and all manner of
atrocities committed against women, nature and other human beings.
Especially in the realm of sexuality, the belief persists in many quarters
that male sexuality is inherently predatory: men need frequent sex (so the
theory goes), preferably with multiple partners, whereas women are
essentially passive. Ironically, in many cultures, the belief in female
passivity coexists with an equally widespread belief that female sexuality
is powerful and must be monitored and controlled at all times.
Popular culture, religious dogma, and scientific discourse perpetuate the
idea of an insatiable male "sex drive." Frequently, this idea is used to
justify sexual pursuit regardless of a woman's will. Men are portrayed as
captive to their libido and therefore not fully responsible for their
actions. Sometimes men's raging hormones are portrayed as the culprit,
whereas at other times, male behavior is couched in the language of
evolutionary biology in which male promiscuity is seen as a vestige of
evolutionary forces that confer "selective advantage" on men who impregnate
as many women as possible.
Regardless of the rationale, the social acceptance of men's violence runs
deep. The belief in the "naturalness" of men's aggression is a core one that
we must challenge in order to build a global consensus against gender-based
abuse.
Although theory building in the field of violence is still very much in
flux, there is a growing consensus among experts that violence is neither an
entirely biological phenomenon nor solely a product of culture. As Myriam
Miedzian argued during her presentation on the origins of male violence:
We must begin to move beyond a simplistic view of violence in which one side
contends that it is biological and therefore nothing can be done about it,
while the other side asserts that human beings are naturally good and
violence is caused by socialization alone.
In her presentation, Miedzian argued that although there appears to be some
biological basis for men's greater propensity toward violence, this
potential can be either reinforced or largely eliminated, depending on
socialization.
As Miedzian points out, acknowledging that humans have a biological
potential for violence-even that men as a class may be at higher risk for
committing violent acts than women-does not mean that violence is entirely
genetic and immutable. "If human beings were not biologically capable of
violence, violence would not exist, just as a child cannot fly simply
because he wants to play Superman.
Nor does a biological component to violence mean that it must be acted upon.
To make her point, Miedzian cites the ability of even a young child to
control the biological (and often powerful) urge to urinate or defecate in
inappropriate situations. "If a child can learn not to pee in public, it is
reasonable to expect that a child can master whatever biological propensity
he may have toward easy frustration or anger.
Indeed, Miedzian believes whatever biological basis may exist for men's
greater propensity toward violence probably stems from a lower threshold for
frustration, greater irritability and impulsiveness and a tendency toward
rough and tumble play during childhood (the latter tends to encourage the
expression of anger or frustration through physical activity rather than
verbal reaction, see Box 4). Although a factor, these biological tendencies
play only a small role in accounting for men's greater proclivity toward
violence. Far more important, Miedzian argues, are the powerful social
factors -male socialization, peer pressure, the media, and the military-that
virtually breed violent behavior in men.
In fact, Miedzian lays a large share of the blame for the epidemic of male
violence in her own U.S. culture on a "masculine mystique" that encourages
toughness, dominance and extreme competitiveness at the expense of honest
emotion, empathy and communication. Whereas aggressive impulses in girls are
generally discouraged and censored by authority figures, boys are taught
they must be tough if they want to be "a man." Strict codes of conduct are
enforced through peer pressure not to be "a sissy," "a ***" or a "wus."
Television, films, video games and combat sports further reinforce rigid
gender roles and violent behavior.
During her panel presentation, anthropologist Peggy Sanday also provided
information suggesting that men's violence is not inevitable. Dr. Sanday
presented findings from her now-classic comparative study of rape in 156
tribal societies. According to her detailed analysis of the ethnographic
record, rape of women by men was totally absent or extremely rare in 47
percent of the cultures she studied (Sanday, 1981). Even if one cedes that
some of the societies designated "rape free" probably represent inadequacies
in the ethnographic record rather than truly nonviolent societies, the
number of examples cited (and the descriptions of life in these societies)
suggests that there have been at least some cultures not plagued by sexual
violence (especially since the study eliminates any societies in which
insufficient information exists to determine the presence or absence of
rape).
Two other studies of wife abuse cross-culturally (Levinson, 1989, Counts,
Brown and Campbell, 1992) unearth additional examples of cultures in which
gender-based violence is absent or exceedingly rare. In his ethnographic
review of 90 peasant and small-scale societies, for example, Levinson (1989)
identified 16 that could be described as "essentially free or untroubled by
family violence." The existence of such cultures - even if few in number -
stands as proof that violence against women is not an inevitable outgrowth
of male biology, sexuality, or hormones. Apparently it is "male
conditioning," not the "condition of being male" that appears to be the
problem.
Sexual Coercion and Reproductive Health
Chapter 2
The importance of being male
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Although what it means to be "male" varies among different cultures and
within different segments of the same culture, the importance of the
masculine mystique appears to be a common element in many, but not all,
societies. In his book Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of
Masculinity, anthropologist David Gilmore (1990) notes that across many
cultures "there is a constantly recurring notion that real manhood is
different from simple anatomical maleness, that it is not a neutral
condition that comes about spontaneously through biological maturation but
rather is a precarious or artificial state that boys must win against
powerful odds" (p. 11).
Men in many cultures strive daily to prove to themselves and others that
they qualify for inclusion in the esteemed category of "male." The fear
accompanying this insecurity derives in part from a gendered system that
assigns power and status to that which is male and denigrates or
subordinates that which is female. To be "not male," is to be reduced to the
status of woman, or, worse, to be "gay".
A growing number of theorists have begun to argue that violence against
women is partly fueled by men's fundamental insecurity over their
masculinity (Lancaster, 1992; Stoltenberg, 1989; Segal, 1990). To say that
men are insecure does not in anyway condone their coercive conduct, but it
can help us understand the phenomenon and suggest avenues for intervention.
One way to feel unambiguously male in many cultures is to dominate women, to
behave aggressively and to take risks. A "real man" in the Balkans, for
example, is one who drinks heavily, fights bravely and shows "Indomitable
virility" by fathering many children (Denich, 1974). In eastern Morocco,
"true men" are distinguished by their physical prowess and heroic acts of
both feuding and sexual potency (Marcus, 1987). On the South Pacific island
of Truk, fighting, drinking, defying the sea and sexually conquering women
are the true measures of manhood (Caughey, 1970; Marshall, 1979; Gilmore,
1990).
Significantly, sexual conquest and potency appear as repeated themes in many
cultural definitions of manhood, placing women at increased risk of coercive
sex. This is as true in the United States as it is elsewhere. Recently, nine
teenage boys from an upper-middle-class suburb of Los Angeles were arrested
for allegedly molesting and raping a number of girls, some as young as ten.
The boys, members of a group called the Spur Posse, acknowledge having sex
with scores of underage girls as part of a sexual competition. In tabulating
their sexual exploits, the boys made reference to the uniform number of the
sports stars who are their heroes: "I'm 44 now-Reggie Jackson. I'm 50-David
Robinson." Tellingly, some of the boys' fathers appeared boastful of their
sons' conquests. In a New York Times article about the rapes, one father
praised his son as "all man" and insisted the girls his son had sex with
were "giving it away" (Gross, 1993).
When masculine ideals are associated with violence, virility and power, one
can easily see how male sexual behavior might emerge as coercive and
aggressive.