Now, according to Ong's analysis, all manifestations of misogynistic behavior in boys and men can be attributed to deficiencies in the male perpetrators' specifically masculine sense of identity. (Incidentally, girls and women can also at times manifest misogynistic behavior.)
Judging from the over-representation of teenage boys and men in our criminal justice system, I tend to suspect that we as a culture are not doing a very effective job in helping teenage boys and men develop a specifically masculine sense of identity. For example, cultures that had male puberty rites may have done a more effective job of helping teenage boys and men develop a specifically masculine sense of identity. But I am not recommending that we try resurrecting puberty rites.
In addition, I tend to suspect that all the men who listen to Rush Limbaugh broadcast his misogynistic views on his radio show have not developed a strong specifically masculine sense of identity.
DEVELOPING A SPECIFICALLY MASCULINE SENSE OF IDENTITY
At this juncture, I understand that Ong's claim about a distinctively masculine sense of identity may sound a bit vague. So let me now try to flesh it out a bit further.
For all practical purposes, what Ong means by a specifically masculine sense of identity is probably equivalent to what Erik H. Erikson says is involved in an identity crisis. So far as I can tell, all of the clients that Erikson diagnosed as having an identity crisis were teenage boys and young men. So what he refers to as an identity crisis in male clients can probably be understood as a crisis involving their development of a specifically masculine sense of identity -- to use Ong's terminology.
Next, I want to turn to discussing Ong's life. As a teenager, he was in the Boy Scouts. For him, this was a memorable period in his life. But being in the Boy Scouts is roughly equivalent to undergoing a male puberty rite.
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