Getting Men To Talk About Gender, Too
Women’s Studies courses are full of women. Classes focus on gender, mostly women. In discussions of sexism, only women are doing the talking. Where are the men?
Here are some tips to help men understand that discussions about gender and sex include them too:
Admit that sexism is a real problem on your campus and in our society.
Understand how your own attitudes and actions may perpetuate sexism and violence. What are your expectations about the different roles men and women play in the world?
Confront sexist, racist, homophobic, and all other bigoted remarks or jokes.
Don’t fund sexism. Your dollar is very powerful! Stop spending your time and money on videos, music, magazines, movies, and television programs that portray women in a derogatory or sexually explicit way.
Get involved. Find out what your campus women’s resource center is doing. Join the campaigns to eliminate sexual assault, like attending Take Back the Night events, march, protest, raise your voice! Partner with a sorority group to help raise funds for a cause or participate in a service project.
Learn. Don’t be afraid to take a women’s history or a gender studies course. You might be surprised by what you don’t know! It is important that we understand the roots of sexism and gender inequality and how we are impacted about rules of masculinity and manhood.
In the early 1990s, Brian was the first male to ever take the Women’s Health course at his undergraduate alma mater and today speaks of the value of opening men’s eyes to how gender is lived in American society, how male dominance creates a need for celebrations such as “Women’s History Month”, and how men must be the ones who fight against sexism and sexual exploitation, and for women’s empowHERment.
Brian’s keynote program, Reel Diversity, is an excellent choice for Women’s History Month programs and can be customized for deeper discussions on the intersections of sex, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation, or to examine the ways sexism is woven into the fabric of our society through the movies we watch. Brian is happy to design a program that fits your programming needs.
Check out www.campuspeak.com/johnson for more information about Brian and his keynotes.
RSS
CAMPUSPEAK Home