McDermott Participation

Heather McDermott Participation

When asked what she thought should be done in order to transform the meaning of masculinity so it's no longer equated with violence my respondent said that people need to change the way they look at things. Rather than judging a book by its cover, people need to get to know the person and not judge someone simply because they are a man. She pointed out that she has a boyfriend who can be aggressive when he needs to be but he's not a violent person. She also connected this with her dad and how there are times he messes around and wrestles with his family, but doesn't hurt them. She goes further by saying that just because you see a man yelling at his wife it doesn't mean he's violent. There can be a variety of factors involved such as him just being very frustrated at the time. She believes that society has created this idea that men are violent and everyone else simply buys into the idea. She stated that she was a criminology major and pointed out that women are just as capable of being violent. She believes another way that reduces this idea that men are violent has a lot to do with the way a person is raised and what their values are. If you are brought up to respect women and taught how to treat them the right way it will help with the concept that men are violent people in general.