The Toronto Star has still not learned that the days after a horrific event are not the time to roll out hot takes.
Last week, a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 22 people, killing several by fire, as well. Police have found no motive, but have found that some of his victims were premeditated, while others were random.
In an op ed published by the Star, though, columnist Shree Paradkar decides to play armchair psychologist and finds that there is a deadly culprit that no one is talking about: Toxic masculinity.
This isn't the Star's first rodeo in blaming frail masculinity for a rampage. In 2018, the Star blamed the Danforth shooting in Toronto on masculinity and rejection.
This time around, though, it's made clearer by the author's choice of words:
"The shootings provoke at least two troubling reflections: toxic masculinity — 'passion for policing,' and what society deems dangerous — in other words, who gets to get away."
The expert consulted on the matter, Judith Taylor, a professor in the Department of Sociology and in the Women and Gender Studies Institute at University of Toronto and a shooting survivor from the University of California, says it's the man's perceived passion for policing that makes 'toxic masculinity' a safe bet, as if women are not also police officers.
"Of all the uniforms people can collect, why police? Because of what it symbolizes—alternate power, above the law. You can make anyone open their door, and you can make anyone stop their car.”
The expert consulted on the matter, a professor in the Department of Sociology and in the Women and Gender Studies Institute at University of Toronto and a shooting survivor from the University of California, says it's the man's perceived passion for policing that makes 'toxic masculinity' a safe bet, as if women are not also police officers.
"Of all the uniforms people can collect, why police? Because of what it symbolizes — alternate power, above the law. You can make anyone open their door, and you can make anyone stop their car.”
“Ultimate authority. Ultimate power. Ultimate masculinity," Taylor says.
The RCMP says a motive for the shooting has yet to be found.
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