James Gilligan Preventing Violence Essay
Violence is a constant, a catalyst for the cycle of life and death that has existed since the beginnings of life. However, humans have now, and have been, using violence for senseless pain and suffering. __ In James Gilligan’s novel, Preventing Violence, Gilligan discusses that a major cause of violence is feelings of shame, which usually roots from social factors and views of masculinity. Shame, the most common feeling behind violence, is feeling a lack of self-pride and humiliation.
The lack of pride and respect one receives in one’s life is, more often than not, a highly common reason why some turn to violence. For some, violence may as well be the only way to rid themselves of the shame and humiliation that has plagued their lives, or at
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This is due to the gender roles assigned to each sex, from the moment that we are born, and reinforced nearly everywhere. Men are expected to be violent, it is the defining feature of their masculinity- the very virtue of being a man. Men are shamed when their masculinity are called into question, while women are shamed when they behave unfemininely. In patriarchal societies, men are expected to be objects of violence, and women are expected to be objects of sex. If men refuse to be violent, they will be shamed and violence will be turned towards them- violence powerful in warding off shame & can achieve pride & honor. In most patriarchal societies, women are usually prized for remaining a virgin until marriage, and shamed if she isn’t, while the opposite is true for men. Women are clearly seen as objects of sex, as most rape victims are women, with male-on-male rape making the victim into a woman, as “to be a sex-object is to be a woman” (61-62). The hatred and contempt towards homosexuality has lead towards shame, and eventually for men, violence when the homophobic have their heterosexuality questioned. When questioned, these men feel the need to exaggerate their gender-role, their very masculinity, which results in exaggerated violence, fueled by rage and
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