A student (he shall remain unnamed) today made a remark that really bothered me. We were talking about the Super Bowl (or he was talking and I was listening) and he mentioned the fight at the end of the GAME. Yes, the GAME. He commented upon how manly the fight was.
As someone who has had to break up fights, who has seen them up close, who has been blood-spattered and hit, I would beg to differ.
I spent my early teaching career in schools where, in fact, fighting was common. Where I was always on edge because I never knew when another bout of violence might happen and I might be put in the horrible position of seeing someone I cared about pummeled. I'd have to do the mental calculations--Can I stop this? How hurt could I be if I interfered? How bad is this going to get? Sometimes I had to deal with the fact that I could not stop it.
One thing I never thought? Wow, how manly this all is. Or, glad to see these guys handling their problems like "real men."
Anyone can fight. If anything, it takes a "real man" to walk away, to turn the other cheek, to master what may be an instinctual response.
I wonder if you have ever experienced pressure to act a certain way because of your gender. Please add to comments box.
I don't know I think that fighting happens when your brain goes into overdrive. It may be considered 'manly' simply because that's how certain people (a majority that we are shown) are male. It has become a staple and instead of correcting it (if you believe it is wrong), we accepted it as human nature and then turned it into a 'good' thing. Or at least a viable source of self expression.
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