Mizzou Strike Grows

After the bombshell dropped by Mizzou football a few days ago, a strike in solidarity with hunger striker Jonathan Butler, the immediate reaction of the most clever reporters was to count the number of people and immediately imagine possible conflict (e.g. "hmmmm I'm counting 29 players, all African American, the total roster is 58 with 43 African-American, that means 14 who aren't there.")

While that made me ill for numerous reasons, the least of which is his belief that he "knew" exactly how many "African-Americans" were on the team, the team answered this directly and immediately. The head coach of the University of Missouri, Coach Gary Pinkel, and his name does deserve a bit of notice here, tweeted this picture,

and said, 

Notice their locked arms, the physical intimacy - itself an act, both presenting and representing, solidarity.

They are under intense pressure, I'm sure, and the abuse they will receive is hardly insubstantial. 

Don't believe the lie. Men can touch in public.

Men touching other men in (ostensibly) non-sexual ways. We still see it in our day and age. When? Where? I have one answer here: in solidarity struggles, among black football players. Players on the Mizzou football team going on strike in solidarity with another Mizzou student who is on the sixth day of a hunger strike to protest racism on campus. Fascinating, tragic, inspiring.

For more information, look here - on the football strike itself, and on a tumultuous year at Mizzou.

turning male bodies into a national manhood

This is from communist era Czechoslovakia. I doubt you've seen a spectacle of masculinity quite like this. 

Foucault

Some interesting theories on power and sex by Foucault. I'm not sure how widely accepted this is.

http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/foucault_sexuality_24grammata.com_.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/facebook/videos/10154074866091729/

What is "male"?

The category "male," a biological and social construct, is determined differently across time and space. While the fluidity of gender, of "masculinity" is pretty easily seen, the fluidity of biology, of sex, is not always so evident. However, in the case of a small town in the Dominican Republic, guevadoces, the fluidity couldn't be clearer.

Guevadoces are people whose genitals don't fully develop until they are 12 years old. 

the Guavadoces . . . are deficient in an enzyme called 5-α-reductase, which normally converts testosterone into dihydro-testosterone. So they appear female when they are born, but around puberty, when they get another surge of testosterone, they sprout muscles, testes and a penis.

The article doesn't seem to understand the connection between sex, gender, and sexual preference. Nor does it speak with sensitivity about the issues of sex, identity, and biology. It does provide a unique case to ponder, however.

Clashing masculinities in the modern age

Man Cave vs. Study

when did men abandon one path for another?
or did they?

Gendered/Sexist Ads. Ugh.

I don't think I need to explain the following ads. A friend of mine on Facebook posted the link & they're quite awful.

http://shortietheatrekid.tumblr.com/post/51838554110/perpetualvelocity

And if you want to look at more, look at the "pointlessly gendered products" section on pinterest.

http://pinterest.com/socimages/pointlessly-gendered-products/


I think it's time we change this and just have "toys." Right?

It recently ocurred to me that one topic we never talked about was the Men's Rights Movement (MRM). I'd love to hear people's thoughts -- I honestly still don't know how to make sense of it all -- but until then, I thought I'd leave you all with this website. I don't even know where to begin as I'm having trouble getting past their "Mission Statement" on this website.

http://www.avoiceformen.com/policies/mission-statement/

MISSION STATEMENT

It is the mission of A Voice for Men to:

• Promote the dissemination of information that will expose misandry and gender-centrism on all levels in our culture;

• Oppose any form of gender-centrism. We propose to foster the equal valuing of men and women socially, regardless of sexual orientation and identity, as well as their equal treatment under the law;

• Recognize the institution of marriage and the family unit as the foundation of civilized society. However, we support the trend away from that institution until the current legal zeitgeist making it unsafe for men and children is corrected. We support an end to “no fault” divorce and support default shared custody in the event of divorce. We seek to promote awareness of information designed to protect men and fathers who are already married;

• Promote a rejection of sex based chivalry in any form or fashion.

• Promote the legal and nonviolent antagonism of all agents of misandry and gender-centrism, from members of academe, to holders of public office, to law enforcement and other state functionaries, to popular bloggers and to corporate agents who promote misandry and gender-centism for profit;

• Support peaceful acts of civil disobedience when necessary;

• Educate men, women, girls and boys about the threats they face in feminist governance and to promote an end to that governance;

• Debunk sex based lies and distortions wherever they occur;

• Offer a more reasoned, cogent and intellectually honest view of sexual politics;

• Address the variety of problems faced by men and boys under feminist governance and attempt to ameliorate those problems;

• Push for an end to rape hysteria, DV hysteria and false allegations;

• Promote a culture that values equal treatment under the law for all human beings;

• Facilitate a new social contract between men and women, leading to mutual respect, accountability and expectation.

Thoughts?

Using conceptual tools - The Obituary of Alvin Basse

What might an obituary about a third-generation farmer in suburban Milwaukee tell us about masculinity? An entire web of lives, shaped both by common events are particular experiences, is captured in one man's story. Without the need for either hagiography or brutal expose, the newspaper obituary treads a moderate course outlining a very particular, "acceptable" portrait of a well-lived life.

That being the case, it bears attention to notice the attitudes toward gender that are (and are not) expressed in the obituary of Alvin Basse. Is he esteemed as a traditional patriarch or something else? 

We're told that, 

Alvin Basse was prom king and president of his class at Waukesha High School, but he was also the guy who picked up and carried his friend, Tom Uthovien, between classes."And when I say he carried him around, that's exactly what he did," his son said. "He would race to Tom's class, pick him up off his chair, dash up the stairs with him in his arms and still make it to his own class later," his son said. They remained lifelong friends.

We get a sense that yes, this was a man among men. Gentle, compassionate, but dashing and very "manly."

Yet, to finish the obituary, his widow says,

"We could always work side by side, do field work, milk cows, make hay. Whatever needed to be done." 

Rather than being superlative, he is now an equal partner with his wife, Carolyn, who, along with so many others, helped keeping their big production rolling along. There is something about agricultural life in terms of production relations that seems inherently equalizing. This isn't to say that hegemonic masculinity is necessarily less dominant in rural / agricultural areas. Far from it. It is just to say that perhaps the ideology of masculinity has to do different work in those areas, to cover up the fact that women are co-equals. We can actually see some evidence of this ideology in a picture of the couple:

Notice that here name is absent on the barn in back. It is the "Alvin Basse Family" farm. Merely following convention on Mr. Basse's part meant erasing the name of his adult life and business partner. 

This was, is, a long-standing practice in our culture. Whether in research, art, or business - heterosocial (and sometimes sexual, but it need not be) pairs (or larger groups) are often credited through the sole name of a singular male patriarch. My great aunt is an example. She was not able to keep her maiden name as part of her full formal name when the business she co-owned with her husband was about to grow exponentially.  

Anyways, seems like Mr. Basse was quite an accomplished person, whose masculinity may best be measured by the calm and centered widow he leaves at his wake.

May he rest in peace. 

Queering Gatsby

So if you didn't already know, I love films. All kinds. I'm also taking a film theory course and one of the topics we've talked about recently is that of queer films or queering films. A key tenant is the idea that there are no more "straight" readings of a film as there are "queer" readings. Has anybody seen the new The Great Gatsby film? I haven't, but I really want to. Here's an interesting article about a queer reading of the film.

The author states: "Specifically, I will argue that the novel's treatment of sexual transgression and its proliferation of gay and lesbian signs work together to create a homoerotic sub-text that disrupts and de-stabilizes the heterosexual narrative, creating, in the process, a sexually ambiguous novel. And we shall see, this homoerotic sub-text fiends its most complete embodiment in the characterization of narrator Nick Carraway, who is, I believe, unaware of his gay orientation."

What does it mean to be "unaware of one's orientation," and for those of you who have read the book and/or seen the film, do you buy her argument?

http://www.mychandlerschools.org/cms/lib6/AZ01001175/Centricity/Domain/953/Lesbian-Gay-Queer%20Crit%20-%20Gatsby.pdf

On war, widow's weeds, memorials and "The Americanization of Emily"

There aren't many rarer examples of American masculinity than the one expressed here by James Garner in "The Americanization of Emily."

Pink and Blue

An artist was transfixed by how much her child was transfixed with color. She set out to research the ubiquity of the pink / blue binary. It's totalitarian, I'm afraid.

The Pink and Blue Project.

Is this true?

So, what do we all think about this? It's been going around on Facebook for a while now and most men who comment on the phone say it's true. Comments?

Brut: the essence of Man

I just thought this video was appropriate for our class. Its very random, but take what you want from it I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVa9XLM31lU

French Hetero-Masculine Protest Against Gay Marriage

Shirtless, Masked and Gagged Straight Men Protest Gay Marriage in France

After learning that my home state, Minnesota, has recently become the 12th state to legalize gay marriage (hell yeah!) I decided to search the opposing parties reactions. However, I found something better. The html included above will bring you to Queerty, where a report on France's anti-gay marriage protest has left people with mixed feelings about the way in which these men display themselves. These half-dressed straight men have caused members of the gay community to question the intent of these men, based on their "sexy" attire, or lack of. I thought it was interesting to compare France's anti-gay culture, or more specifically this event to our country's more conservative approach. I also wanted to highlight some of the reactions from readers:

@Dakotahgeo:

"Want to make a bet that at least some of these tools are having issues coming to terms that they are themselves homosexual?"

  
Cam: 

"This “Protest” reminds me of those interviews with the anti-gay “Ex Gay” groups that claimed that close holding and touching between men was a good way to stop being gay because they claimed the men were just gay to try to replace affection they should have gotten from their father. In other words, they weren’t “GAY” they just had an excuse in their group to cuddle up with a bunch of men. These French guys aren’t “GAY” they are just so anti-gay that they want to run around shirtless with a bunch of other shirtless men dancing to ABBA. Funny how being topless is legal in France but none of these “HETROS” saw fit to invite a woman."

These men not only embrace their masculinity by exposing themselves (and muscles) but also gain empowerment from one another as a collective group, who describe themselves as "peaceful" and "determined". Another question that has been raised by the public is whether or not these men are responding to a pro-gay marriage event where feminists appeared shirtless as well. Overall, France has received a lot of heat by anti-gay marriage advocates since February, after the gay marriage bill passed. This article just goes to shows how far things have gone!

For more information I would recommend this website:

http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/hommen-gay-marriage-femen#.UZF4IVfj51M

What Would the Ponies Do?

So, from the recent discussion of bronies, I wanted to take a look at what the psychology of bronies actually are. I am particularly interested in what types of psychopathology some bronies may be suffering from, besides anxiety and depression (which this study already looked at). It seems as if MLP is almost a coping mechanism for some of these individuals, while also serving as a social element for a highly introverted crowd. Out of the types of bronies - the "hidden bronies" may be of the most imperative crowd to understand, since they're so secretive with such a low guidance level; if this crowd had participated more greatly in the study, some of a pathological results may have changed.

 

What will be truly interesting in seeing is if this "hidden" group of bronies are the culprits within the problem of Rule 34 (the pornographic site) or are the more mentally ill group of people who may have pedophilic ideas (even though maybe not acted upon). Since the third study has already ended, it will be interesting to see the results as well as the continued 3-4 year follow-up of this study.

But, just as a bit of awkward humor and videos circling the web, here is a take on PSY's "Gangnam Style" ... slightly offensive? of course. Probably more than slightly in some instances. But a lot of the issues with this video are also discussed in the above video within the psychological study.

Jennifer

Konerak Sinthasomphone - we still remember, they still forget.

Have we ever heard cases of single women, or groups of women, who have imprisoned kidnapped men for decades? Women will abide, assist, and avoid men who do these types of crimes. But rarely will they commit these crimes without a man present.

Men do it, and get away with it, why?

I don't have the time to research the data of long-term captivity crimes in the US or globally. You can find scattered lists here and there. Deep research is not necessary to reveal the clear gender segregation in this crime. It follows with all sorts of sexual violent crime - a preponderance of male perpetrators on one side, and criminal/legal institutions who fail miserably on the other.

Why do accosted women go unfound, but medicinal marijuana brings SWAT teams and all their brutality? The War on Drugs knows no bounds, the War on Sexual Violence is . . . what?

Getting the Facts Straight
Elise Cintron, neighbor of the Castro brothers on the 2200 block of Seymour Avenue in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, south of downtown, reported this a few days ago,

"said her daughter once saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard several years ago and called police. 'But they didn't take it seriously,' she said."

Well, one call, you can imagine might not be enough.
Oh wait, there was more?

Israel Lugo said he, his family and neighbors called police three times between 2011 and 2012 after seeing disturbing things at the home of Ariel Castro. Lugo lives two houses down from Castro and grew suspicious after neighbors reported seeing naked women on leashes crawling on all fours behind Castro's house.

Others had spoken up. We can't say it was entirely because people didn't intervene. The same system that has its eyes and ears out for weed plants growing indoors can't seem to muster the same intensity to find imprisoned females. A naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard not taken  seriously reminded me of a story.

Though I hate to bring up his name, the Jeffrey Dahmer case provides a similar history of general neglect towards victims. Konerak Sinthasomphone was one of Dahmer's victims. His story is uniquely tragic because he almost got away.

Two women, Sandra Smith and Nicole Childress, discovered the victim, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, after he had managed to escape from Dahmer's apartment, naked, bleeding from the rectum and heavily under the influence of drugs. They called 911, Balcerzak and his partner Joseph Gabrish were dispatched. Though the Laotian immigrant had been in the country for ten years and spoke English fluently,^[1] in his drugged and brain-injured state, Konerak was unable to communicate his situation to authorities. Dahmer found the boy with the police and convinced them that the boy was his 19-year-old lover. Smith and Childress recognized the boy from the neighborhood and were convinced that Sinthasomphone's life was in peril. They communicated this to the officers and tried to save the boy. However, Balcerzak and his partner returned Konerak to Dahmer's apartment, against Konerak's and the women's protests. The officers noticed a strange smell in Dahmer's apartment, which was the decaying corpse of a previous victim in the bedroom, but made no attempt to investigate. Later that evening Dahmer sexually abused, killed, and dismembered the boy.

Whoever is planning it, or implementing it, or recreating it day by day, I can't say exactly. All I know is that we live in a world where victims like these are ignored, dismissed, and denied full humanity by institutions that resist doing things any other way. The perpetrators and institutions in question are nearly all entirely men, or controlled by men.

The policing of sexual violence must be a cornerstone issue of gender equality and human right. Yet it bumps head on with a deep-seated core organizing principle of masculinity - on a structural, legal, intellectual, and emotional level - that violence against certain marginal groups in society is not sufficient cause to intervene in the private affairs of men with a certain level of power. It doesn't take much power to glide above the system - the Castro brothers weren't special; Dahmer was a sweet-talker, but nothing special. These weren't hegemonic men by a long shot, but they still had enough of whatever it takes to keep the fuzz away from your home dungeon. That right there, in one particularly disgusting and gruesome form, is what I think Connell would call the "patriarchal dividend."

Hand Shakes to Nose Rubs !

 

As cliche as it sounds , this picture is indeed worth more than a thousand words and the perfect Kodak moment.  Considering our analyses of masculinity , where do we begin to unload the formations of masculinity in terms of body language, personality and of course the big message, presented in this picture. Nose rubbing is such a personal interaction almost intimate in many cultures and for me not the typical way to greet or show respect for someone , much less to be exhibited by an example of Hegemonic masculinity in that of Governor  Martin O'Malley. The expression on his son's face further reiterates a "going outside of the box phenomenon" and how this is  challenging social expectations. In same token , I applaud the respect and the reverence shown for the Dalai Lama Check out  the link below for the article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/omalley-rubs-noses-with-the-dalai-lama--literally/2013/05/07/c3c32d96-b746-11e2-aa9e-a02b765ff0ea_story.html

TEDTalk on Gender and Success

This TEDTalks elaborates on what the article "Guyland" outlines-- in terms of how habits divided between gender lines in youth affect confidence and success later down the line.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html