Already boys will go to great lengths to hide their vulnerabilities. Add to it that many of them are abused or from homes full of dysfunction (though what now can we say is a functional family?) and we may be closer to understanding from where some of the sudden, violent rage of our shooters comes

Their violent outbursts are not born out of a malignant masculinity but instead a sure sign of the failure to transition into manhood.

Compare this with Kuper’s (2005) definition of toxic masculinity. Whereas these behaviors would seem to be the product of a hegemonic patriarch exercising his power of others, Gilmore is able to see that it is in fact the uniquely masculine way of nurturing others.

We have sug- gested that masculine identity involves repression of emotion in response to stress and daily rela- tionship dynamics. The present results support this view and suggest that violence is more likely among men who experience a disconnect between their personal circumstances and their emotions.

If this is the case, and repressed emotion is eventually and explosively expressed in a violent act,

In this sense, men who are domestically violent are those who most dramatically demonstrate cul- tural images of masculinity (see a discussion in Connell, 1987).

he stress process may work differently for vi- olent and nonviolent men. Some evidence sug- gests that violent men experience greater physio- logical arousal in response to stress than do nonviolent men

se findings sup- port the idea that the demonstration of masculinity through repression of emotion and violent behav- ior may be linked.