Male Gender Socialization and the Perpetration of Sexual Abuse*

Few people would consider male gender socialization to be a public health issue. Certainly, the Centers for Disease Control have not made such a pronouncement. Yet there is considerable evidence to support such a pronouncement, evidence that links sexual abuse and a vast array of interpersonally abusive and violent behavior to the process by which male children, male adolescents, and young men are socialized into masculinity.