I’ve been working to end men’s violence against women for almost 20 years. And I am doing this work largely because of the inspiration, teachings and welcome of powerful, smart, feminist women. We men (myself included) owe it to these women, and to ourselves, to practice true accountability.
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When you’re told you’re going to die, you go through five stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. I remember learning about these Stages of Death and Dying, by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
I’ve noticed that, as men, we tend to go through these same stages when confronted with the reality of men’s violence against women.
Twenty years ago I joined my first anti-sexist men’s group. I’ve had a passionate commitment to profeminism ever since, nurtured through men’s anti-violence activism, Women’s and Gender Studies, editing a profeminist magazine, and now pursuing a career in feminist scholarship. Men’s violence against women is an obvious area for anti-sexist men’s activism, as it’s one of the bluntest and most brutal forms of gender inequality. I’ve organised campaigns in groups like Men Against Sexual Assault, run workshops in schools, helped run a national White Ribbon Campaign, designed violence prevention programs for athletes and others, and done research and writing on violence against women. But I’ve also been forced to critique and confront anti-feminist men in ‘men’s rights’ and ‘fathers’ rights’ groups. Their efforts are having a growing influence on community understandings of, and policy responses to, gender issues.
Don’t Be A Dick is a zine written (mostly) for men about the connections between the construct of masculinity, rape culture, and mainstream pornography. It combines (hopefully accessible) theory and personal experiences to address sexual assault in personal relationships. The zine also includes a section on radical consent.
Assumptions are often made about the health and development of adolescent boys: that they are faring well, and supposedly have fewer health needs and developmental risks compared to adolescent girls; and that adolescent boys are disruptive, aggressive and ìhard to work withi. This last statement focuses on specific aspects of boysí behaviour and development - such as violence and delinquency - criticizing and sometimes criminalizing their behaviour without adequately understanding the reasons behind it.
To improve the lives of women and girls in our society, men’s and boys’ lives must change as well. For over three decades, the mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women has been to support the efforts of women and girls to govern their own lives and influence the world around them. This work has been done with the awareness that the lives and futures of women and girls are interwoven with those of men and boys, and that the gender order in our society has harmful effects on all members of the human community.
The aim of the study was to investigate how systemic factors affect the educational performance and outcomes of boys and how these can be addressed in the school context. These systemic factors include family, school and community environments, peer culture, student-teacher relationships, and teacher classroom practices. The research seeks to understand how these variables affect the educational experiences and achievement of boys and girls from different socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and to determine which school and classroom strategies ensure the best academic and social outcomes for all students.
This new report is the most comprehensive resource available on men's sexual and reproductive behavior and needs, encompassing men in 45 developing and developed countries from sexual initiation through marriage and parenthood.
See below for the report in PDF. Or see here for versions in Spanish.
An in-depth examination of men's sexual and reproductive health brings together national research findings to document the sexual and reproductive needs of men in their own right—as individuals and not simply as women's partners.
See below for the report in PDF. Or see here for versions in Spanish.
From the executive summary - "The focus of this 2000 Technical Report and Policy Paper...is on a gender perspective in sexual and reproductive health, and on finding constructive ways to build partnership between men and women....Just as family planning and the pill were revolutionarey 50 years ago, building partnerships with men in areas such as sexuality, reproductive intentions, new gender roles, fatherhood and conflict resolution is the revolution occuring at the start of the 21st century...