Miscellaneous

The global economic crisis is showing the cracks in the surface of how patriarchy is lived in everyday lives; is now not the right time to refocus the discussion? Can we reclaim ‘patriarchy’ from the analysis of all men as patriarchs? How do we understand masculinities in a more political way? How do we address the ways that patriarchy is bad for men, whilst still recognising the battles for women’s rights? What are the implications of rights language for an understanding of patriarchy? If marriage as an institution is the foundation of patriarchy, why are gay and lesbian movements so into marriage now? What do you get if you undress patriarchy? What does it look like underneath? How can stories, film, art media help us to envision this? If the metaphor is that patriarchy is a prison, who are the prisoners and who are the prison wardens? How do elements of patriarchy replicate themselves in our feminist movements? Patriarchy may be seen as an old-fashioned term with little relevance to current work on gender, yet these kinds of questions motivated participants to get excited about the notion of ‘Undressing Patriarchy’ and inspired them to draft background papers and to travel across the world to take part in this conversation. This was an unlikely encounter of unusual suspects. They spent four days together in a hotel in Brighton, in September 2013, engaged in rather unconventional dialogues across perspectives from feminism, men and masculinities work, sexual rights and other social justice struggles. This publication captures some of the dilemmas, new thinking, the interactive process, analyses, future possibilities and challenges identified in these debates in Brighton.

Women often wonder why men behave like 'dicks'. Well I've got the answer. Society, to paraphrase Naomi Wolf, sets men up to fail. Every day we're expected to perform roles that, if we're being brutally honest, don't often come naturally to us. And that's confusing. And Irritating. And uncomfortable. You can't programme a computer to perform a task it wasn't designed to perform. If you do it'll crash. The HAL 9000 computer in 2001 went berserk and rubbed out the space crew when it was given conflicting primary orders. Well, men crash by behaving like arrogant, domineering, eye-wateringly stupid macho dicks throbbing with impotent fury.

In previous posts we have discussed television advertisements and shows that actively encourage “hypermasculinity” and “emphasized femininity”. In this post we will look at the show The Big Bang Theory and discuss the masculinities and femininities that are presented as alternatives to “hypermasculinity” and “emphasized femininity”.

In a few days from now, two men in suits -- Mitt Romney and Barack Obama -- will stand side-by-side to debate each other three times in three weeks. Imagine those moments. The two men defending their records and outlining their case to the American people: “This is why you should choose me to lead you for the next four years.”

In a previous post for XY online we discussed the Spike TV show “MANswers”, what the show insinuated about men and women, as well as its treatment of “hypermasculinity” through its focus on violence, toughness, aggression, binge drinking and dangerous behaviors. Spike TV is very specific in regards to the shows that it airs and can be described as a channel that is aimed at men, where the focal point is on “manly interests”. Spike TV focuses heavily on “hypermasculinity” which can be noticed in the names and contents of shows such as “MANswers”, “Deadliest Warrior” and “1000 Days to Die”.

What began as a form of half time entertainment during Gridiron matches at the super bowl has now evolved into the successful and controversial Lingerie Football League, ‘true fantasy football’ according to the website. And lucky for us founder Mitch Mortaza is now expanding his empire to Australia.

The following provides a handy, one-page introduction to gender. It notes that gender is socially constructed, gender is both personal and collective, gender involves power and inequality, and there is diversity and hierarchy

Television advertisements often portray men and women in very different roles, engaging in behavior that is often “safe” to perform in regards to one’s gender. Women are usually seen as domestic, marveling over the wonders of detergent, or as gentle nurturers and housewives who love preparing dinner for the family. They are also often depicted as sex objects of men’s desires. Men, on the other hand, are often depicted as workers, as engaging in masculine hobbies and leisurely activities, as sexually active, and on the prowl.

Courses focused on men, masculinities, and gender are an increasingly common element of university curricula in such areas as Sociology, History, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, and Literature. Here, we have begun to collect examples of the guides to or outlines of particular courses. You are most welcome to add your courses.