After a
pleasant conversation with the author and philanthropist Sallie Bingham at Mable
Dodge Luhan House in March, one particular topic stood out for me as a
blog-entry or e-letter in order to inspire field studies in
social sciences about the school shootings in the U.S., which seems quite a unique
and unfortunate phenomenon in contrast to the rest of the world. The burning
question which surprisingly remained unstudied as far as my online library research
showed was: “Where are the fathers?”
Ms Bingham wrote:
“I wonder in the latest school shooting where that young man’s
father is—or was. Only the mother is mentioned, implying that she alone was
responsible for teaching this tormented soul how to be a man. And she
died—mercifully for her—before he committed his crime. (…) In all the school
shootings I remember, the murderer is being raised by a single mother. No
uncles, no grandfather—and, most crucially, no father. These separations are
often caused by spousal abuse, and so the disappearance of the fathers is
another terrible consequence of this wildfire problem.”
Bingham
argues that fathers are the only ones who can possibly transmit a radically new
formula for manhood, not defined by violence or even success, and adds that
they must assume the responsibility for revising the myth of masculinity. I am all for collaboration though. Mothers can
contribute by not admiring or complimenting the characters of the outlaw and the
criminal in real life or in fiction/movies etc. as she also hints. Maybe they should shake the
myth of unconditional maternal love and try keeping a distance
from their sons when the sons display macho behavior.
For the
record, dear researchers and graduate students, please consider a non-conservative
perspective on the issue which won’t glorify the importance of the institution or
sanctity of marriage or condemn same-sex marriages. I have found few articles
on this specific issue but I will not post a Fox-news clip (“Missing fathers
and America’s broken boys”) on my blog. Instead check out the following for sound approaches, impressions, and warnings on several major themes in life and
in our society.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder