MAN: Hollywood movies are one of the great teaching forces of our time, but it's not just movies. Look at violent video games, which provide guys with an immersive and interactive experience that allows them to master with their environment and impose their will through violence or the rise of 24/7 internet pornography, a multibillion dollar industry that sexualizes men's control and dominance over women.

Look at popular men's sports that often seem to be less about healthy competition than about proving toughness through physical force and violence and dominating and humiliating the opposition. Look at the world of advertising, which sells products by exploiting men's anxieties about not measuring up. And look at our political culture, where the game is all about establishing your manly credentials by butching yourself up and methodically feminizing and taking apart the manhood of your opponents.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: And to those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say, don't be economic girlie men.

MAN: What most discussions about violence miss is how pervasive and interconnected this larger story about manhood is, how it creates a kind of all-pervasive cultural script that says physical toughness, force, and violence are legitimate ways for men to achieve and maintain power and control, a script that men and boys are expected to adhere to whether they want to or not.