SIGNS OF TIMES: The Men Taking Classes to Unlearn Toxic Masculinity
Here are the latest stories demonstrating we live in a mad modern world.
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For
some time, Stephen Hicks had felt like something was off. “My
relationship ended, then a lot of things started collapsing in front of
me,” Hicks says. He began attending therapy, which made him realize that
he needed to make a bigger change: “I wasn’t doing really terrible
things, but I also wasn’t being the most ideal Stephen I could be,” he
says. “The bar is really lowered for cisgender guys.”
So earlier this year, Hicks signed up for the pilot Rethink Masculinity
class, a partnership between the Washington, D.C., Rape Crisis Center,
Collective Action for Safe Spaces, and ReThink, an organization that
works to prevent sexual assault.
The
program bills itself as a class where men “learn how social constructs
of masculinity harm them and the people around them, and work to
construct healthier masculinities.” Or, as Hicks puts it, “It was eight
weeks of guys discussing how they can address their actions with better
self-awareness and less toxicity.”
“We
spoke of emotional labor, consent, violence, communication, empathy,
and vulnerability,” he adds, noting that the last subject, in
particular, was a struggle for him: “[I was] trained and conditioned to
be tough growing up.”
The
Rethink program is the latest in a growing number of courses targeted
toward people who identify as men, including the Men’s Project at the University of Wisconsin, Masculinity 101 at Brown, and the Duke Men’s Project at Duke. The
goal, proponents say, is to help men examine their own biases and
behaviors in order to cut down on misogyny and gender-based violence.
There’s
no doubt that the problems these classes aim to tackle are pervasive
ones — a reality that’s been made especially, painfully clear in recent
days and weeks, as the Harvey Weinstein revelations have pushed
discussions of sexual assault and harassment to the forefront. But can a
class really be enough to chip away at something so deeply entrenched?
“It’s
a promising approach,” says Eric Mankowski, associate chair of the
psychology department at Portland State University and head of the
school’s Gender and Violence Intervention Research Team,
“but we don’t know whether they prevent sexual violence. Some studies
show promising effects on attitudes and behavior intentions, but a
single class is unlikely to undo years of socialization in toxic
masculinity.”
For
the past 25 years, Mankowski has taught a course titled Psychology of
Men and Masculinities, which, he says, “deconstruct[s] how masculinity
is socialized as a performative mask rather than a biological
imperative.” He argues that the concept of “toxic masculinity” has four
main components: suppression of anything stereotypically feminine;
suppression of emotions related to vulnerability, like fear, sadness, or
helplessness; male domination over women and other men; and aggression.
“From
those four distal expectations come the proximal attitudes and
behaviors, like ‘I deserve to have access to women’s bodies,’” he
explains. “What we don’t know is if it’s more effective to address the
distal or proximal ideas and behaviors.” Mankowski says alcohol abuse is
a perfect example. “It numbs feelings and allows men to act aggressive.
We can effectively address it, but we’re not addressing the underlying
issue. It’s functioning to help them display their manhood, so why would
they stop?”
“We’ve
spent many years addressing survivors and victim behavior, but
ethically, and in terms of efficacy, that’s incomplete,” he adds. “We
have to address the roots.” And while course evaluations show that his
students typically absorb what he teaches, Mankowski notes, that doesn’t
necessarily mean that the class is making a real-world difference: “It
may change beliefs about gender,” he says, “but does it change
behavior?”
It’s
not a given, but it’s not impossible, either. Research consistently
shows that holding sexist attitudes is associated with gender violence,
for example, so it’s not unreasonable to hope that better beliefs can
lead to better behavior. Studies
have also demonstrated that bystander intervention training — a subject
covered in Rethink classes — can be effective at reducing the incidence
of sexual assault.
On the other hand, though, these classes are taking on a lot.
Trying to undo a lifetime’s worth of lessons about how to act at home,
in the workplace, and in public — it’s a lofty goal, especially when so
much of what participants encounter outside the classroom contradicts
what they learn within it. And some of the desired outcomes — increased
vulnerability, more emotional openness — are difficult to measure.
But
Hicks argues that these problems don’t negate what the classes can
accomplish; the program, he says, isn’t designed as a fix for anything.
It’s a step. Granted, it’s a step with limited reach — there’s probably a self-selection bias at work — but it’s a step nonetheless.
Since
the class ended, Hicks says, he feels he has “been more deliberate
about expressing emotions and making space for people.” (Over the
summer, the class facilitators asked Hicks to become a co-director of
the program, noting that he had been one of the most vocal
participants.)
“You
won’t be transformed by a ten-week class, but you’ve got to start
somewhere. And ten weeks is better than no weeks,” Mankowski says. Those
who are really committed to making a change, though, shouldn’t expect a
one-and-done scenario: “The key is continued examination. You will have
a difficult time maintaining anything unless you continue working on
it.”
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WHEN IS THAT COMET COMING AGAIN?
SOURCE
YIKES
ReplyDeleteThe first story reminds me of what Rush Limbaugh often talks about. The "woosafication" of men! All told...I DON'T RECOGNIZE MY COUNTRY OR THE WORLD ANY LONGER!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME SOON JESUS, I WANT TO GET OFF NOW :(
ReplyDeletesick stuff
DeleteWe must not stop praying and it looks like we need to be praying continuously too ! So sick , so sad , am not able to comprehend what is making people believe this is acceptable ? Please Saint Michael and all your legions help us now .... Amen
ReplyDeleteOne of the indicators signaling the last days, the last days Jesus spoke of, is that society would look how it looked in Noah's day. It says in Genesis that it grieved God's heart that he had made man.
ReplyDeletespot on
DeleteMore evidence of man in rebellion against our CREATOR,being led by the enemy
ReplyDeletedays of lot
DeleteLord have mercy on us !
ReplyDelete:(
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