Comedian and Jewish dad of two Michael Ian Black has a lot to say about the tragic Florida school shooting this week that left 17 dead.
In a time when parents, kids, and teachers fear they soon could be the victims of the next school shooting, it’s not a surprise that Black spoke out in a Twitter thread last night, as a parent himself. He also happens to live with his family just 10 miles away from Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 26 people including many children in 2012.
Black took a slightly different stand than many. While he does agree that we need to change our gun laws and restrict access to guns, he also stated that we need to fix toxic masculinity and “broken boys” so we can stop violence from happening in the first place.
It’s hard to argue with — gun violence and the ways in which boys and men are taught to engage with the world are linked, and we can’t fix one if we don’t fix the other.
He wrote, “Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken. Until we fix men, we need to fix the gun problem.” He expanded in a long thread of tweets:
Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 15, 2018
Until we fix men, we need to fix the gun problem.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 15, 2018
We’re terrified of being viewed as something other than men. We know ourselves to be men, but don’t know how to be our whole selves. A lot of us (me included) either shut off or experience deep shame or rage. Or all three. Again: men are terrified.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 15, 2018
The language of masculinity is hopelessly entwined with sexuality, and the language of sexuality in hopelessly entwined with power, agency, and self-worth.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 15, 2018
While I don’t necessarily agree that “women were taught they can be anything,” especially when it comes to women of color, it is true that girls are often taught they can express their emotions, whereas boys are not taught to be vulnerable.
Black concluded the thread by saying we need to start a dialogue about how to end violence before it starts (which seems like common sense), saying that it hasn’t happen so far “because it’s so scary” for both men and women. Clearly, though, our current methods of communication and prevention aren’t working.
