Boys Will Be Boys Myriam

Boys Will Be Boys Myriam Miedzian's book entitled Boys will be Boys presents a comprehensive and compelling argument dealing with the manners in which male violence is endorsed and perpetuated within modern society. She attacks the issue from multiple viewpoints in an attempt to rigorously silence her critics and skeptical readers alike, thus alerting them to her fundamental premise: violence in our society can be drastically reduced both in terms of war and crime if we are willing to tear down the traditional archetypes of masculinity.

Namely, the she presents the notion that the masculine male is powerful, bull-headed, competitive, and of course, violent. Miedzian points to examples within politics, history, the media, and the consumer market that foster these beliefs and amplify their social consequences. The manners in which she proposes the traditional ideal of the male be altered include changes in education, upbringing, and censorship.

Nevertheless, it seems that her proposals for changing this archetype are likely to be insufficient in ultimately shifting the perspective held by society at large; primarily, this is 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.

The central problem that Miedzian identifies is associated with this: "In the twentieth century the paradigm of masculinity is a strong, dominant, tough man who asserts his power through prowess at fighting or talent in making lots of money." (Miedzian, 114). Additionally, she defines the essential goal for society regarding this issue: "Perhaps by the middle of the twenty-first century, being in touch with one's feelings, being empathetic, caring, and nurturing of one's children, will be seen as an acceptable part of being a normal male." (Miedzian, 114).

In other words, the prevalent symbol of the ideal male in modern society is detrimental to the overall aims of society, and accordingly, requires rethinking. She connects most types of violent crime -- either committed between men or between men and women -- with this idyllic model of manhood. Also, war is seen as childish competition on the playground taken to its absolute extreme.

Among the other negative consequences of the male paradigm are lacks of close inter-male friendships, dysfunctional father figures, and degradations of positive characteristics -- associating them with "wimps." Miedzian adamantly defends her claims as to the negative results of the John Wayne type male, and addresses many counterarguments that may be taken to asset that there is something fundamentally of value in the archetype. 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.

This stems from the argument put forth by a number of sociobiologists. Specifically, "Aggression, sociobiologists argue, was advantageous for humans. As early hunting and gathering societies competed for limited resources, the more aggressive groups with better warriors tended to survive." (Miedzian, 48). This is a type of evolutionary explanation as to why males are innately more violent than females -- the males were the warriors by virtue of their greater speed and strength.

Miedzian contends that although this argument carries much weight -- men may be naturally more inclined than females towards acts of violence -- it does not imply that individual males and society cannot overcome these drives; nor does it suggest that such drives are at all desirable in modern society. Succinctly, this is a form of the nature vs. nurture debate. Miedzian supports her siding with nurture by citing a renowned sociobiologist Edward O.

Wilson: "Wilson stresses again and again that while human behavior is based on biology, and its origins can be traced through evolutionary theory of adaptation, it can only be fully understood through the interaction of biology and culture, and the weight of culture is enormous." (Miedzian, 49). Essentially, dispels the notion that evolutionary traits need to be carried through to society, particularly when the have detrimental results. 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." (Miedzian, 20, 33).

Overall, she believes that these traits are harmful on a large scale and inevitable lead to unnecessary conflict. Miedzian's recommendations for solving the problem she has identified are most elementally concerned with upbringing. True, the male may be inclined to violence, but society does not need to nurture and magnify the consequences of this inclination.

The book suggests that the best environment for children to be raised in is one in which both parents contribute: "If we want to effect a fundamental and long-lasting change with respect to violence, if we wasn't it to become an occupational aberration instead of part of our everyday lives, then co-parenting must be fully accepted and encouraged." (Miedzian, 101). Furthermore, it is asserted that children need to be taken out of the economy and not advertised to with violent toys, videogames, music, and all the ideals they endorse.

Generally, young males need to be raised in an environment where the attributes of caring, compassion, and cooperation are valued far above strength, aggression, and competition. The argument that Miedzian offers is rather comprehensive regarding the whole of society. One of the most powerful effects on young men that cause them, sometimes, to idealize violence and perpetuate it is competition. As an educator, this particular aspect of Miedzian's diagnosis is considerably difficult to eradicate.

After all, academic competition is one of the driving forces behind students who strive to achieve in their education. This specific form of.