As part of a social experiment in Italy, a group of young boys were introduced to a young girl named Martina. The boys, ranging in age from 6 to 11, were then asked to complete a series of actions.?The young boys had no problem paying the girl a compliment, making a funny face at her, or even caressing her.?These actions were?all?done with?nervous giggles and smiles.
However, when the boys are asked to slap Martina, they turn to the cameraman with confused expressions. The cameraman then insists that they need to slap her, “hard.” Their reactions can be seen in the video below.
All of the boys refused to?hit Martina despite the cameraman’s insistence. Their touching responses include:
“Girls shouldn’t be hit, not even with a flower.”
“I’m against violence.”
“You’re not supposed to hit girls, I don’t want to hurt her.”
Perhaps the most powerful response was from an 11-year-old. When asked why he wouldn’t hit Martina, he replied with?”Cause I’m a man!”
I know when I become a mother, I will pull up this video for my children to watch. What a wonderful, beautiful lesson for young boys to learn: Hitting a woman (or anyone, for that matter) does not make you a man. It makes you a coward.
