Monday, September 13, 2021

Cracked: The Masculinity Industry

It's more guns adgacne in the end.  And has some good points but Cracked's article about the "Masculinity Industry" is goes in some 'interesting' places.

Such as a few sexist comments implying how women who buy guns for self defense might as well be men.

"Strong overlap between guys who love cops and the military, and guys with zero trust in them to keep us safe. "

Which....   turn that over the head.  What about the overlap between those who think the cops are structurally racist and will use prohibitionist laws disproportionaly against minorities annd then want to give the cops more power by banning more things.

If you think the War on Drugs was a racist assault on civil liberties, imagine a War on Guns.



Or this

If you browse, say, Reddit’s concealed carry group, the average gun owner sounds responsible and happy to chastise dinguses with Rambo fantasies. But concealed carry, despite sounding so American that George Washington probably walked around with a little flintlock shoved under his wig, is yet another aberration. 2.7 million Americans had concealed carry permits in 1999 but, after intense lobbying by the NRA and other advocates to loosen laws, that number’s now almost 20 million. 


It's not good enough to be responsible.  And note that they complain about how gun laws were loosened,  you know from the racist way they were in the past when Police could ban people they con't like from carrying guns even though they passed a background check and took the required training. 

A racist history Cracked has pointed out.

But … why? A majority of Americans have, for decades, believed that crime rates are rising. And, for decades, they’ve been wrong. Media and politicians mislead us about how dangerous America is, petty crimes like vandalism lead to the mistaken assumption that serious crimes are also rampant, a high-profile crime across the country can convince us that we’re next, and all while the actual statistics keep improving. 


Hmm, it's not just the "masculinity industry" that  uses a single high profile crime to convince people that they're next.

Between 2019 and 2021 the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, which teaches self-defense and trauma care, saw its membership jump from 300,000 to 600,000. Their success came from their focus on family protection. The USCCA is far less combative than the NRA, and they emphasize that part of being safe is avoiding fighting. But they still talk about America as a place where you’re perpetually on the verge of fending for yourself a gunfight. 


Note how they slip into "training is bad".

The USCAA says 40% of their members are Democrats. If that’s not conservative enough, you can join one of America’s growing militias, but if that’s still too conservative then you can check out the John Brown Gun Club, the Socialist Rifle Association, or another rapidly growing leftie gun group. The language they use is different, but it’s still the same message: learn to protect yourself before things go to hell. Did I mention the study that suggests gun ownership for personal defense is driven by fear?  


So.... the acknowledged that gun rights groups are all political stripes and there are minority groups.... and then immediately dismisses them as "driven by fear"  that seems.... a bit racist. 


Now to give the article credit they don't go for cheap solutions.  They don't even demand gun control, though the implication is there.  They even talk about the problem of suicide.


And the solution isn’t to continue the endless churn of videos that tell guys to bury all emotion, barricade themselves against the imaginary wolves at the door, and become the kind of man that never really existed. 

The problem with this advice.  It's not just the "Masculinity" folks who tell men to bury all emotions.  The stigma that mocks men for being weak for opening up, or for dismissing the problems of others, is very broad in today's society.

Heck, even this article itself is framed as "stupid men with their stupid fears and stupid feelings".

No comments: