Sunday, March 1, 2009

Social Gender Roles, Feminism and Men

To develop a solid focus for my next paper, I am reading Terrance Real's book I Don't Want to Talk About it. I will definitely delve into the book itself in a later post, probably after I finish the actual paper. For the moment though, I want to delve into where exactly I'm trying to go with this paper - which will be eight to twelve pages in APA format. On page twenty-three he delves into the heart of where I am going.

For decades, feminist researchers and scholars have detailed the degree of coercion brought to bear against girls' full development, and the sometimes devastating effects of the loss of their most complete, authentic selves. It is time to understand the reciprocal process as it occurs in the lives of boys and men.

I will take this a bit further and assert that this study that Terrence is calling for is as important to women's studies and modern feminism, as it is to men. It is not nearly enough for feminists to tell us what we are doing wrong, how we are oppressing women. It must be understood that in any discussion of gender issues, all sides of the equation need to be addressed. The solutions to many of the issues facing women and modern feminism, are inexorably tied to solving the problems of male gender constructs.

Dr. Isis recently posted the letter of a male reader here. And this is an important discussion. While I take serious issue with the writer's use of the phrase "reverse discrimination," this is a semantic issue - important to be sure, but not fatal to his underlying point. The issue of discrimination against men based on social gender constructs, is just another facet of the issue of discrimination against women based on the same social gender constructs. The male gender doesn't exist in a vacuum, separate from the female gender - the social constructs are intertwined, they interact with and impact each other in very complex ways. Simplistic dichotomies cannot and never will be able to address the fundamental problems inherent to both male and female social gender constructs as they exist in society today.

On all fronts changes are being made and progress is being made, but that progress is dramatically stunted by the fact that nearly all of the focus is on studying women and female gender constructs. There are probably no more than a handful of colleges in the United States, or anywhere in the western world, that do not have a women's studies program. In contrast, there are probably no more than a handful of colleges that have men's studies programs. While there are general gender studies programs, those are generally focused on women's studies, transgender studies and queer theory, with little emphasis placed on men's studies.

I am very glad that JLK recommended Terrence's book. I am also most grateful to her for fostering the gender discussions. It has definitely made for some interesting lines of thought. I Don't Want to Talk About It is an intense read thus far. Terrence is a very compelling wordsmith, on top of having truly awesome insight into the issues of male depression and the underlying gender constructs that allow it to remain largely hidden, even from the men who suffer it.

So on top of some repair work with my first addiction paper, I now need to work out a basic thesis and set of research questions for my next paper. I actually have a pretty solid preliminary bibliography already, I just need to develop the actual topic proposal. If I can, I want to get finished with the abstract and outline during this week of spring break. We'll see what happens...

3 comments:

Juniper Shoemaker said...

The term "reverse discrimination" has always driven me crazy. There's no such fucking thing. Discrimination is discrimination. You can be a member of a group (or several groups) traditionally subjugate to white male "privilege" and still have the capacity to exacerbate the problem by discriminating against white men.

Whether the focus is race or gender, though, I don't think a lot of people even know how to begin constructively admitting this truth. That's because it feels like a denial of the existence of oppression. I know that when I have trouble with this kind of discussion, it's because I'm torn between, say, my inability to deny the existence of sexism and my ability to minimize the degree to which my gender identity is a reaction to sexism. It's way easier to imagine that I am protecting myself from guys by "otherizing" them instead.

I'm beginning to think that I should wait until you define "gender construct" for us in your future post before I comment again.

Have a good Spring Break!

DuWayne Brayton said...

I'm beginning to think that I should wait until you define "gender construct" for us in your future post before I comment again.

While I intend on discussing some of the primary or "common" constructs, I am really talking about a great many, different constructs. Archetypal constructs that tend to follow particular patterns.

That's because it feels like a denial of the existence of oppression. I know that when I have trouble with this kind of discussion, it's because I'm torn between, say, my inability to deny the existence of sexism and my ability to minimize the degree to which my gender identity is a reaction to sexism. It's way easier to imagine that I am protecting myself from guys by "otherizing" them instead.

This is exactly why I think this is important. The status quo has gotten us men who either feel like they are being attacked personally (and occasionally this is exactly true) when women talk about the basic safety issue they deal with, such as having to look in the back of the car, before they get in, or men who truly and honestly feel guilty for being men and making women have to live like that.

JLK said...

Great post, DB. I'm really glad that you're enjoying Real's book so far. I don't like the man on a personal level because he takes a lot of credit for work that came before him, but he has a way of putting it together that makes it much more accessible to people whether they are in psych or not. I'm looking forward to your review and your posts on gender!

@ Juniper - you really get to the heart of the issue in your comment here. We all know that sexism exists and is a real problem, just like racism and discrimination based on skin color. But we also know that most men we meet are NOT actively sexist.

The problem as I see it is that if we raise boys to devalue all things feminine, we have to be ready to accept that as grown men they will continue to devalue the feminine. It's like a white suburban child who is kept out of the "urban areas" because his parents are concerned for his "safety." If that urban population is largely made up of minority cultures, that child will learn to associate those cultures with lack of safety, stereotypes, and prejudice - even if his parents were never racist! I hear it all the time about the city I grew up in - kids from the surrounding towns would say "Wow, you're from THERE?? Did you ever see anyone get shot?? My parents would never let me go there...." It pissed me off then, and it pisses me off now.

The circumstances surrounding my husband's childhood left him with some sexist beliefs and tendencies. By talking to him about it and by studying the things that I study, he has gotten over most of them. Men's studies programs are great for that - showing men that they are valuable human beings, that being a man is not a bad thing. The problem? It's mostly women studying men's issues.