Summary

Greta Nemiroff questions the role of men in violence. She asks why we see so much violence among men yet not among women. According to existential analyses, violence is innate and cannot be changed. From a historical or anthropological perspective, some believe that it is an acquired characteristic. Historically, men were hunters and had to compete with others and this lead to their tendency toward violent behaviours. Greta Nemiroff hardly accepts such explanations that legitimize men's violence.

Another analysis claims violence to be a social construction - that is, that it is behaviour created and maintained by cultural influence. Men are able to profit by using violence and their power is based on being able to threaten others. Young boys construct their own sense of masculinity through games, then through certain «achievements» in adolescence in the process of becoming invincible and invulnerable. Using violence is central in maintaining order and the hierarchical structure of power. The patriarchal system is perpetuated by violence. Therefore, this situation can be improved or reversed through education, parental training, the law, and the media. How will men be compensated if they lose power that has normally resulted from their use of violence? Here, although we may be pessimistic, we must do more research on non-violent men. Otherwise, women must question the extent of their own complicity in men's violence.