This is mainstream psychology and sociology. The fact that you don't know that is irrelevant. Yes, sometimes women are complicit in upholding patriarchal norms - but that doesn't make them any less patriarchal or any less at the root of violence and sexual predation in our culture.
The APA spent 13 years going over 40 years of research - much of it done by men, but it's completely in line with all other mainstream research on this - including from asking men themselves.
They also stopped considering homosexuality as disordered in 1973 — well ahead of most of the rest of the culture.
Healthy competition isn’t problematic and it also isn’t a “male” trait. Ever heard of Caitlin Clark and the other female basketball players putting on the most exciting games of the season? However, a zero-sum (patriarchal) outlook where you must always win and dominate — in every interaction — or you lose is extremely problematic and harmful.
The Man Box is an enormously violent place, with negative repercussions for young men themselves, for young women, and for others in their lives. Men in the Man Box in the US and UK are as much as six or seven times more likely to report having perpetrated acts of online or physical bullying against male peers than men outside the Man Box. Men in the Man Box in Mexico are also three times more likely than their peers outside the Man Box to report having perpetrated sexual harassment. In the US and UK, men in the Man Box are six times more likely to report perpetrating sexual harassment.
"Paradoxically, to be perceived as masculine and thus to achieve the higher social status and power afforded to “real” men, men are pressured to and rewarded for adopting certain traits (e.g., being aggressive, virile with many sexual partners, unemotional, in control, adventurous, risk taking, dominant) that result in vulnerability to negative physical and mental health consequences.12–14 Furthermore, adoption of inequitable beliefs and adherence to traditional norms of masculinity have been found to be associated with violence,15–18 risky sexual behaviors,12,19,20 and sexual and intimate partner violence against women,20–22 which in turn negatively affect the health of men, women, and children."
While media images of men are becoming somewhat more varied, research has found that violence – even if it’s now more often used to protect others, as with The Witcher and The Mandalorian – remains an essential part of how media defines masculinity.[15]The association between masculinity and violence is reflected in men’s behaviour, as well. Believing in narrow definitions of masculinity – what is sometimes called the ”Man Box” – is a predictor of whether or not a man will actually be violent towards others.[16]
Not all men subscribe to or buy into the Man Box to the same extent, but they are all pressured to do so and it demonstrably contributes to violence and sexual predation in our culture.
On a personal level, men who are not abusive toward women nonetheless play important roles in the lives of men who are. Men who physically and sexually abuse women are not monsters who live apart from the civilized world. They are in our families and friendship circles. They are our fathers, sons, brothers, and best friends. They are our fishing partners, drinking buddies, teammates, fraternity brothers, and colleagues. We too easily let them and ourselves off the hook when we call their violence a women’s issue. Do we do it intentionally? I don’t know. But whether conscious or unconscious, it’s an effective strategy to avoid accountability.
Katz, Jackson. The Macho Paradox (p. 17). Sourcebooks. Kindle Edition.
“[Ours] is a culture in which sexualized violence, sexual violence, and violence-by-sex are so common that they should be considered normal. Not normal in the sense of healthy or preferred, but an expression of the sexual norms of the culture, not violations of those norms. Rape is illegal, but the sexual ethic that underlies rape is woven into the fabric of the culture.” — Robert Jensen
I could go on and on and on citing you mainstream science on this, but if you actually care about this topic, you will educate yourself and not rely on women to teach you about it — and if you don’t care about it, then you are being a part of the problem. Reading The Macho Paradox would be a good first start, or you can read and follow Mark Greene here on Medium.
