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When a policy has been around that long and the problem persists it it a clear sign that it doesn't work. I think part of the problem is that people are assigning fault based not upon objective evidence of where the cause is, but instead attributing causality to align with their ideological leanings. You can only solve a problem by removing its causes - and you cant do that if these causes are misidentified to push extraneous agendas.

Toxic masculinity and rape culture are just labels for the same thing: men behaving badly toward women (and each other to an extent). And the campaigns against violence are of null value since the very men who are the problem are precisely the ones who will not listen/change. An unfortunate truth is that men will not listen to women - male behaviour will only change from other men diminishing the status of abusers, particularly during the developmental years.

I've come up with a theory about the developmental roots of violent male behaviour, and I'm hoping to publish a full article about it on S. The main idea is that male behavioural norms arise during the adolescent years during a period if intense competition for status and dominance hierarchies. Boys compete with each other to establish their masculine credentials through symbolic "adult-like" behaviours like fighting, boozing, driving (fast/drunk), and particularly sexual success with women. This process produces two extremes - those who go overboard with it and problematic norms stay with them for life; and those who fail and develop a foundational resentment toward women for their failure: the misogynist/incel dichotomy. It is clear to me these two extremes are opposite ends of the same spectrum.

I am not an academic in the field mind you, my view is based on observation and life experiences. The root of this problem lies among men and can only be solved within their milieu by socialising boys away from such patterns. Its a generational project, and made much more difficult in this era due to the neoliberal economic norms which have just stoked the ultracompetitive environment.

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