Masculine roles, in Europe and elsewhere
Aug. 9th, 2008 02:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wombat_sochoReading this post by Dr. Helen stirred up a number of things I probably shouldn't be trying to deal with before coffee, but here we go anyway.
Christina Hoff Sommers and others have noted the changes in American schools and culture that -intentionally or otherwise- tend to feminize boys or at least deny them outlets for innate active/aggressive behavior. I think this confuses young men and women and correlates with the increased popularity of BDSM (pace Paglia, who notes that this has always enjoyed an upswing in times of confused gender roles) as well as the popularity of "gangsta" role models as an extension of pimp culture. In Europe, where the military is not as available to young men as a channel for aggression, one sees soccer hooliganism*, which in its extreme forms takes on a political aspect far out of the mainstream of European socialism. See, for example, Real Madrid's Ultras Sur for an example that conflates historical Falangism with neo-Nazi skinhead tropes; Celtic's Green Brigade and Hapoel Tel-Aviv's Ultras Hapoel for examples of Communist/anarchist imagery.
This ties in to posts I've made before arguing that the present American educational "system" -more correctly, the patchwork quilt of local school districts across these United States- with its default to college prep is bad for the country, since it presents young men not inclined to joining the clerisy with no clear options except for the military, which many young men are neither physically or temperamentally suited for. The result is hooliganism and other antisocial behavior. The question is, how do we pry the schools loose from the death grip of the teachers, administrators, and lawyers who have gotten us into this mess? Home-schooling isn't for everyone, and the Falangist part of my politics argues that there should be a minimum amount of socialization and cultural education going on in the schools - just not the socialist, equalitarian, esteem-based castrating crap we have now.
*For an interesting take on "the English disease", see John King's review of Hooligan Wars in The New Statesman.
Christina Hoff Sommers and others have noted the changes in American schools and culture that -intentionally or otherwise- tend to feminize boys or at least deny them outlets for innate active/aggressive behavior. I think this confuses young men and women and correlates with the increased popularity of BDSM (pace Paglia, who notes that this has always enjoyed an upswing in times of confused gender roles) as well as the popularity of "gangsta" role models as an extension of pimp culture. In Europe, where the military is not as available to young men as a channel for aggression, one sees soccer hooliganism*, which in its extreme forms takes on a political aspect far out of the mainstream of European socialism. See, for example, Real Madrid's Ultras Sur for an example that conflates historical Falangism with neo-Nazi skinhead tropes; Celtic's Green Brigade and Hapoel Tel-Aviv's Ultras Hapoel for examples of Communist/anarchist imagery.
This ties in to posts I've made before arguing that the present American educational "system" -more correctly, the patchwork quilt of local school districts across these United States- with its default to college prep is bad for the country, since it presents young men not inclined to joining the clerisy with no clear options except for the military, which many young men are neither physically or temperamentally suited for. The result is hooliganism and other antisocial behavior. The question is, how do we pry the schools loose from the death grip of the teachers, administrators, and lawyers who have gotten us into this mess? Home-schooling isn't for everyone, and the Falangist part of my politics argues that there should be a minimum amount of socialization and cultural education going on in the schools - just not the socialist, equalitarian, esteem-based castrating crap we have now.
*For an interesting take on "the English disease", see John King's review of Hooligan Wars in The New Statesman.
