Frustrations continue to mount as Republican lawmakers offer empty “thoughts and prayers” for the victims of Omar Mateen’s Pulse night club shooting. These prayerful Republicans never bother to acknowledge that these victims are the same people they’ve spent careers vilifying. And meaningful change—whether in the form of gun control, better access to mental health services, or addressing a culture of hate—remains elusive.
Thanks to a Democratic filibuster, Republican lawmakers have finally agreed, for the first time in years, to entertain gun control legislation.
But behind the rhetoric, empty well wishes, and faux sympathy lurks an uncomfortable truth: the same culture that purports to fight crime and oppose terrorism may be the very culture that is causing it. Experts are increasingly pointing to the role of toxic masculinity in acts of mass violence.
Homophobia and Violence
While conservatives point to terrorism and vilify Islam, they ignore the more immediate cause of Mateen’s attack. Colleagues and friends talked little of Mateen’s faith, but numerous people who knew him say he was homophobic. It seems likely that allegiance to the Islamic State was the result of Mateen’s homophobia, granting meaning and validity to an increasingly indefensible position.
Mateen isn’t the only violent man who has used homopobia to justify his attacks. continue to face violence, and research suggests people with homophobic sentiments are more likely to behave violently. Conservatives have spent a quarter of a century inflaming homophobic sentiments. Most recently, they’ve tried to convince parents that the most significant danger to their child is a transgender child using the restroom.
Expressions of sympathy fall especially hollow when conservative ideology is the very ideology that led to this shooting.
Domestic Violence as a Precursor to Mass Violence
Sitora Yusify, Mateen’s ex-wife, describes a terrifying marriage replete with violence. She says that Mateen savagely beat her, took her paychecks so she could not escape, and isolated her from loved ones. These are all classic abuse tactics. They are also common among men who eventually commit acts of mass violence.
Domestic violence and mass violence are tightly connected. One analysis found that 57% of acts of mass violence began with the murder of a current or former intimate partner. Another found that 40% of mass shooters had previously committed an act of domestic violence. Clearly traditional notions about masculinity—including the belief that men should control women—play a role in an increasingly violent culture.
Conservatives who decry the small handful of violent acts by Muslim extremists often go to great lengths to deny the reality of millions of women. Anti-choice extremists have a long history of excusing domestic violence—a major factor in many women’s decision to seek an abortion. Conservative Christianity is closely associated with violent crime, with conservative men committing significantly more acts of domestic violence. The more strongly a man endorses traditional gender norms, the more likely he is to behave violently toward his partner.
That violence may eventually turn outward, as it did in the case of Mateen. But here again, Republicans wish to blame Islam, rather than something far more familiar: regressive gender norms. A man who wanted to control women may also have wanted to control LGBTQ people. And that might explain his attraction to the Islamic State far better than any religious ideology.
The Ongoing Violence of the Anti-Choice Movement
No discussion of toxic masculinity and mass violence would be complete without a brief mention of the violence of the anti-choice movement. Since 1977, there have been nearly 7,000 acts of violence against abortion providers, and the frequency of those attacks is increasing.
Some of the most highly publicized acts of mass violence were perpetrated by anti-choice activists, including a number of clinic bombings.
It seems unlikely that Mateen was motivated by anti-choice sentiments. What is clear is that he was attracted to the extreme right-wing ideology of the Islamic State. That ideology includes a commitment to anti-choice politics and a refusal to allow women control over their own bodies—including access to birth control. His beliefs fit in well with many mainstream evangelical Christian principles.
Racism and Violence
Fifteen years ago, President George W. Bush urged Americans not to judge all Muslims by the actions of a few. It’s a fair standard. After all, we don’t judge Christians because a few are violent extremists. And even though one study found that more than 6% of men are rapists, we don’t vilify all men as potential dangers.
Somehow the reasonable urgings of a very conservative president have given way to the ramblings of Donald Trump and other racists. The notions that Islam causes violence, that Muslims are dangerous, and that practitioners of Islam should be banned from the country are now mainstream.
Proponents of this racist religious bigotry argue that they are interested only in protecting “real Americans.” But one need only look at the large number of crimes motivated by racism to understand that racism causes, not prevents, violence. Scholarly research consistently reveals a close correlation between racist ideology and violent tendencies. The people who want to “protect” us from Muslims and other minority groups, then, are the very people we should fear.
It is tempting to blame the unfamiliar for acts of mass violence. But young, white, Christian men continue to be the leading perpetrators of mass shootings. Many of them are inspired by extreme right-wing ideologies, including regressive gender norms and zealous anti-choice politics.
A society that wishes to give them a free pass while blaming Muslims is not motivated by anything other than racism. Omar Mateen makes better sense when understood through the lens of conservatism, not Islam.
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