Do you think America is trying to feminize boys and men?

Question

In the US I see people often punish boys just because they behave and act like boy. Like the other day, when I was taking a walk around the park. I see a group of young boys having a lot fun runing around, playing with their toy guns (that doesn't even look like a real gun) making guns noise and playing military games. Suddenly a young woman (probably a baby sitter) walking toward them, taking the toy guns away from the boys and said "you don't play with guns like that!, it's violent!", she then walk them home. I was shock and disappoint when I see this.

It seem like American when want boys to grow up and be "kind" and "sensitive". Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people want their kids to grow up and be kind and considerate people. The pronlem that I have is that, they don't let boys be boys and doing the things that boys like to do. Playing with toy guns and military games are being seen as an act of violent nowadays

You can see it in the media too, gone are the day that Men are being seen as strong, proud and hero like. The media nowadays are portraying Men as goofy, lazy, stupid and wussy.

Why don't jthey let boy be boy?

I'm an America

I'm an American

Answer 1

I'm a Brit but we too played around with toy guns when we were kids. I once 'pistol whipped' a bully, an older boy, unintentionally cracking his skull. (In those days toy guns were heavy, made out of lead or something.) My mam paid the boy's hospital bills and everyone was happy and I've not been involved in violence since.

Let boys be boys, let girls be girls.

Answer 2

Most definitely!

I'm 45, and played with toy guns as a child. I certainly didn't grow up to be a violent criminal -- it was just play and creativity.

I'm all for people being sensitive, but boys should be allowed to be safely aggressive in their play -- it's called letting off steam.

Besides feminization/emasculation, I see males being ridiculed in pop culture. Look at how many times the husband or father is shown to be a helpless buffoon -- it's insulting. Then again, a lot of times the children are shown to be more intellectual than their parents and "in control," which I think is truly awful and rude. Showing children scoring points off their parents is a terrible thing for other kids to see -- painting disrespectfulness as somehow cool or proper is just wrong.

Anyway, I just don't understand why girls have tons of role models, but boys are considered unimportant.

Answer 3

Gotta agree with you friend. Leave the boys alone. I played with toy guns and didn't turn into a killer. And I agree there's no good roll models for boys. That's not to say a role model should be a gun-toting looney, but there certainly are lots of female roll models that kick the sh*t out of eveybody these days. So why not a few GOOD roll models for boys instead of the goofy twerps that are on most television shows?

Answer 4

I have to agree with what you say about it but America has always been violent. It's just became a lot more televised. And yes people are becoming a lot more concious about what their kids are doing because of the war in Iraq and school shootings! Boys should be boys and everything (trust me I'm a guy), and you know you can't censor their lives forever! I mean we see violence on the news 24/7 and you should never lie to your kids. Just I wish people would screw off because people need to realize that we're just having fun....something that america is being deprived of

Answer 5

I have to agree with him. North American society wants men to roll over and be soft and caring and never hurt anyone.
Now there is nothing wrong with being kind to other and animals, or caring and sensitive, BUT, men have to be men and that sometimes means hurting something or some one.
It's no wonder there are a whole genration of "wussy" boys or "metrosexuals" on the loose.
Girly Boys!!!
When your role models are "Ross" from Friends (Girly boy), Ray Romano on "everybody loves Rayomnd" (Funny, but a girl boy) and all the whitle males on TV commercials are clumsy stupid oafs.....well you reap what you sew don't you?
My son is 20 and he is definetly NOT a wussy girly boy!!

Answer 6

There are other ways to masculinize a boy than have them playing with toy guns. Take them to a football/hockey/baseball game. Show them a Bruce Willis/Arnold Schwartzenegger/Sylvester Stallone flick. Have them partake in sports. Boys can grow up to be kind and sensitive, and yet avoid coming out like Chris Crocker, wearing makeup and making pathetic videos in which he worships Hilary Duff or Vanessa Hudgens or whatnot.

Answer 7

A country that makes big money from wrestling and football? Where paintball rules supreme?

A lot of countries raise kids to be well behaved and the "boys will be boys" attitude is handled differently.

Parents overreact when it comes to kids playing war games using their imagination, but it doesn't mean America is trying to "feminize"...

Answer 8

Its silly to do that anyway...because boys are boys and if you take away the toy gun...theyll just use a stick or something and pretend.
Why do we do this with boys and then complain when men aren't like the men we want anymore?

Answer 9

I can remember when Men were men, women were sex objects and the rest of the world knew one thing... Piss us off and we would nuke ya.

American is weak now since they have been dumbing down boys since the 70's. We use to raise great leaders but now we can only claim a good actor who plays the part of a leader.

Answer 10

I totally agree. And it's very sad that we (women) are trying to emasculates boys (if not physically, than mentally). For heaven's sake! the things they are trying to take away are the things that make men! The playing with guns; that's their inborn need to protect. We should cultivate that and APPRECIATE it. God knows, I don't want a "girly-man"!!!!