… men’s near monopoly of gun use can be seen as a manifestation of a lifetime’s socialisation into violent expressions of manhood and cultures in which male gun use is regarded as the norm. In times of war, men and boys are actively encouraged and often coerced into taking up the roles of combatants. In countries characterised by violence, war, or high levels of gun possession, young men may use guns as part of a rite of passage from boyhood into manhood. Guns may also be positively associated with manhood in contexts where their use was valued and encouraged as part of a widely supported liberation.
Even in peacetime, boys may be socialised into a familiarity and fascination with guns, or gun-like toys… Research among young men involved in organised armed violence in ten countries finds that carrying guns is seen as an effective means of gaining status and respect. Soldiers, snipers, other gun users, and armed male role models in television, film, and violent computer games are often cult heroes, with guns routinely glorified in the popular media.
Articles
Ever since sexual assault allegations surfaced against Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange, Wikileaks supporters, many who consider
themselves "progressive," "liberal," pro-women's rights," "anti-rape,"
etc. have rallied behind Assange. Many supporters claim Assange was
being set-up by his enemies. Feminist Naomi Wolf blatantly discredited the alleged victims'
I was recently puzzling over why I was having such difficulty doing a particular piece of writing. Everything I tried felt a little off key, a little false, and I couldn't understand it. It slowly dawned on me that the explanation was that I couldn't write authentically about the topic at hand without setting it in a different and broader context -- that is, without talking at least briefly about my feelings about masculinity.
Over the past several weeks while reading about the more serious news that has impacted our current society, I have also been reminded about the supposedly ongoing “problems” of golfer Tiger Woods.
The report, Where Men Stand: Men' s roles in ending violence against women was launched in Australia on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the focus of the White Ribbon Campaign. The report is a stocktake, a reckoning, of where men are at when it comes to violence against women. The report focuses on four key dimensions of men’s relations to violence against women. (See below for the full report, in PDF.)
One of the most contentious topics today is gender. Whether the issue is sexual assault, housework or body image, the public sphere is quickly, predictably inflamed by discussions of men and women, and their relationships.
This toolkit presents conceptual and practical information on engaging men and boys in promoting gender equality and health. Specific topics it addresses include sexual and reproductive health, material, newborn and child health, fatherhood, HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support, and GBV prevention. In addition to laying out numerous examples of programmes that have effectively addressed these issues, the toolkit provides guidance on advocacy, needs assessment, monitoring and evaluation related to efforts to engage men and boys.
Created in God’s Image: From Hegemony to Partnership is a Church Manual on Men as Partners: Promoting Positive Masculinities. It builds on the gender manual, Created in God’s Image: From Hierarchy to Partnership, which was developed and published by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in 2003. It embodies and builds on the rich experiences gained from workshops, which were done from 2006 to 2010 in St Maarten, Malawi, Guyana and Kenya.
sex+++
or
sexism+racism
+heterosexism
+capitalism?
[This is a modified version of a blog post, which I welcome you to comment at *here*. I hope it works fine here as a story.]
Sexual harassment will only disappear when men take an active role in ending it. Most men don’t harass, and most don’t condone it. But sexual harassment is largely a problem of men’s behaviour, against women and other men.