"Boys will be Boys"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the fundamental premise of Myriam Miedzian's "Boys will be Boys" is that violence in society can be drastically reduced, both in terms of war and crime, if society is willing to tear down the traditional archetypes of masculinity. The author points out that one of the most common lines of attack that Miedzian takes into consideration is the notion that somehow the male is biologically inclined to be violent, which stems from the argument put forth by a number of socio-biologists. The paper concludes that proposals for changing this archetype are likely to be insufficient in ultimately shifting the perspective held by society because market forces are likely to continue advertising and supporting the male as a figure of action for the simple reason that it is profitable.

From the Paper:

"The second powerful argument that Miedzian is forced to grapple with deals with the theories of political realism. Specifically, the idea that violent and aggressive males are advantageous to society because of foreign struggles and wars. Still, she classifies this premise as false and writes, "The 'real men' who run our country are handicapped by the values of the masculine mystique to make rational foreign policy decisions. . . . The masculine mystique teaches men to be tough, to repress empathy, and not to let moral concerns weigh to heavily when the goal is winning." Overall, she believes that these traits are harmful on a large scale and inevitable lead to unnecessary conflict."

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