Abuse has proven not only physical strength, but also mental and emotional vulnerability of the perpetrator.
We are in the age of post modernity, but why are we still going backwards? Because our culture prevents us from moving forward towards the path where freedom and liberty to express oneself is for everyone, including boys. Also, it is the institutions and its systems’ failure to address such issues and concerns that led individuals into committing these crimes.
In light of the recent issue apropos of Violence Against Women (VAW) that surfaced on Twitter last July 14th this year, one student’s twitter thread stirred a lot of reactions from netizens as Morales briefed her experiences on the hands of her abuser slash ex-boyfriend, Kyle Viray. Comments were stated as to the official status of Viray in the university and what actions have been taken since Morales has already filed a complaint to the university’s College of Science at the time she posted it. But the university responded to the case quite uncongenial as they sanctioned Viray on a certain degree of leniency thus provoking students and non-students of the university to denounce its decision. UST could have performed a better investigation and sanctioned him with what he truly deserved in the first time the complaint was filed because there were enough solid evidences. Their decision was disparaging on the part of the victim as it decries the painful experience and trauma the victim had suffered on the hands of her abuser. The university not only belittled women, but also disentitled them of any sort of rights to speak up when things go in dissonance. Is this going to be the reality we want our students to perceive that abusing women is tolerable if the man is the perpetrator? Is this the kind of mentality that we should provide our students with though contradicting to the university’s core values? Because severe or clement, abuse is abuse as much as violence is violence, no means is ever justifiable whatever the outcome may be, be the abuse perpetrated in any form because any abuse is deserving of condemnation. But weeks after the viral post, the University has finally excluded Viray from the university and barred him from enrolling in any courses or programs in both collegiate level and post graduate studies in the university.
Patriarchy stems from the underlying fear of men to be a subordinate, to be the “lesser” and/or “weaker” gender, to be the “effeminate” amongst the “virile” group of men. Simply put, fear breeds violence and this violence is perpetrated through an individual’s set of beliefs--- Hegemonic and Toxic Masculinity. But a lot of questions still hang in the air, untouched and unmoved: Is our society still patriarchal? If it is not, then the decision would have been fairly processed and carefully thought-out. Is this deviation from the norms or it is “the norm”? Wasn’t the abuse perpetrated because of the violent culture that was passed down and later learned through institutional means by the process of socialization that governs our thoughts and beliefs? Culture plays a pivotal role in shaping people through these means. It could also be the root cause why Toxic Masculinity is ever present in our society. Why would individuals like Viray act aggressively and then later on, justify it? What are the factors that pushed them to behave violently? Our culture is so violent that it created monsters out of young boys by ingraining in them that being masculine is the only way to be a “real man”, that being the dominant one over the “others” would not only benefit him, but will always gain him more access to resources, more possibilities of attaining great power and privileges. Culture is the very root why gender roles exist since patriarchal society stems from it, through time, gender roles were so socially accepted that it generated a plausible backwash---gender stereotypes which serve as the connecting bridge to yet another sturdy root, the Toxic Masculinity.
But if we are to create a safe space for boys, where they can freely talk about their feelings, would they still try to commit a violent aggression against women and others? I condemn any kind and form of abuse and we must at all costs but it is only through zooming in one’s own sociological lens that can help people better understand how these crimes commenced through a series of events, how actions are being performed and assessed, how groups of people can choose to be deviants while the other groups of people do not, how certain kinds of people obtain violent behavior and how these kinds of violent events can affect our society. It would be nearly impossible to discuss violence against women without first discussing toxic masculinity; the same goes for gender stereotypes, structural violence as well as culture which play a massive part on how patriarchal society arises. Without the initial introduction of these concepts, understanding the experiences and history of abused women would be a lost cause. Let us #VowtoEndVAW because by addressing these underlying roots, it would be easy to End Violence against Women.
Comments