Miscellaneous

Many aspects of our society have been rightfully scrutinised and criticised for propagating sexist and misogynist attitudes and opinions. Amongst these are the fashion industry, printed media, advertising and certain genres of music.

In 2020 the German Ministry of Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth adopted a strategy for  involving boys, men and fathers in gender equality politics. The dossier "Gender equality policy for boys and men in Germany – Implementing an equitable approach to gender equality policy" describes how these policies already address and mobilize boys and men as active subjects as well as beneficiaries. In addition, there is an overview of the current state of research and developments in the field.

In this new book from Routledge Press, gender scholar Thomas Keith takes the reader on a journey, explaining the many factors and influences in boys’ and young men’s lives that assist in creating men who view women as less important, less capable, and less valuable than men. In what Keith terms, “bro culture,” boys and young men are taught a normative set of rules of manhood, whereby the influences of TV, games, films, music, advertising, internet content, and pornography help shape boys’ views of girls and women, while also shaping men’s views of themselves.

What is the state of gender norms in Australia? To what extent are traditional norms of masculinity still dominant, and to what extent are they shifting or breaking down? Do young men agree with stereotypical constructions of masculinity, and if they do, what implications does this have for their lives and their relations with others? To answer these questions, this webinar draws on two recent Australian surveys, one among young men aged 18 to 30 and another among people in Australia. The webinar then explores how we may reconstruct masculine norms.

Men’s relations with men structure the practices, processes, and cultures of a wide variety of social contexts. Homosocial bonds have a profound influence on men’s friendships with other men and their social and sexual relations with women. Various institutional contexts, from schools and workplaces to militaries and governments, are dominated by males and shaped by the relations between them. Male-male relations define important kinship and familial connections.

Father’s Day is an appropriate time to remember that the man occupying the White House represents among the worst expressions of manhood the US has ever seen. That dangerous truth is being obscured by so many of Donald Trump’s other treacherous actions. Million of words have been written excoriating the questionably elected president on a host of topics—from denying climate change to restricting minority voting rights; from restricting women’s reproductive rights to promoting harsh prison sentences for nonviolent offenders. Almost entirely absent in this blizzard of assaults on social progress, is the predator-in-chief’s misogyny.

Homer, a new website that seeks to shine a light on masculinities, confuse ideas of what it means to be a man and add depth to what role models for men look like, is seeking submissions.
Homer invites and encourages writing from women, LGBTIQA writers and writers of all races and CALD backgrounds, but it won’t go far to destigmatising male vulnerability et al. without the public complicity of men. Homer is about men going public with this conversation, in concert with everyone else.

A body of writing on ‘inclusive masculinity’ has emerged in scholarship on men and masculinities. Pioneered by Eric Anderson and developed further by others such as Mark McCormack, this work makes both empirical claims about shifts in masculinity, sexuality, and homophobia, and conceptual claims about how to theorise masculinities. This work also has attracted critique and commentary. Here, we have collected recent examples of commentary on inclusive masculinity theory. Further additions are welcome.