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Revisiting the Topic of Male Studies, With Help from Our Listeners

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This afternoon, I happened to see a Reuters report about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donating $1.5 billion to improve the health of women and children around the world. This gift would fund such endeavors as improving maternal mortality rates, providing access to contraception and offering vaccination and nutrition programs in developing countries.

The article included a quote from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon about the gift’s impact on women and children: “The women and children are always last in line for health issues…It’s just morally unacceptable.” This quote caused some consternation for a reader who commented on the article, who responded that he’d like to see Ban’s source for that statement. The commenter also said that Reuters should have done a better job at fact-checking the quote, before going on to say, “This sounds like yet another attempt to provide special treatment to women over men…I for one won’t be donating a dime until they become an egalitarian organization.”

It’s been a few weeks since Cristen I recorded our podcast episode about male studies, but after reading that quote, I couldn’t help but be reminded of it. Male studies, as you may remember, is a proposed academic discipline that aims to correct the evils of feminism by empowering men. Men, say proponents of male studies, have been unfairly disenfranchised by feminism, and they must learn to stop being dominated by women.

I think the commenter’s remarks relate to this debate about male studies because in some circles, things that benefit women are seen as attacks on men. But rather than write anymore about this contentious issue, I thought I’d share some of the responses sent in by our wonderful listeners. These thoughts might be worth considering when determining whether men truly are at a disadvantage.

Gryphon: I believe that politically aggressive feminism has gone too far. It’s gone beyond equality, into retribution. Unbalanced to say the least. BTW, according to the Women’s Studies course I took and texts I’ve reviewed, there are NO negative aspects of femininity, and there are few positive aspects of masculinity. Thus, the backlash against the current form of feminism.

Julie: There is no systematic oppression against straight, white, middle class men. There is, however, systematic oppression against poor people, women, minorities, homosexuals, transgendered persons and many others. Women’s Studies attempts to discover how this systematic oppression operates in recognition that masculinity has become normative in our society. Women’s Studies recognizes that the idea of the masculine as the norm is oppressive to all people, including men, but it does not single out men as a group.

Elizabeth: I took a women’s studies class and I HATED IT. I consider myself pretty liberal, but I found myself “the conservative one” in a classroom full of strange, older, bitter women. Our lecture the first day consisted ENTIRELY of a 4 hour Lifetime movie (called “Human Trafficking” or “Sexual Trafficking” or something). Then some women shared anecdotes and the teacher told us about how “sexual trafficking occurs here at home” and it’s all men’s fault because they create all the demand for sex slaves from other countries.

Amanda: I think this world has a huge issue with respect and I think that everyone is demanding it but there are few resources teaching it. We want people to be different but there is a hole when it comes to teaching the proper way to treat another human being. Boys are growing up without direction but need it, so they look for it and might not find it in the best places. There is a good way to be a man and a bad way. But no one seems to be willing to teach good behavior anymore because this might somehow lead to engendering someone or stereotyping. Maybe instead of giving people “roles” we need to just teach them how to be respectful, be polite, have manners, etc.

Flan: I would like to point out that being the son of a feminist, I am quite simply led to believe by my mother that men are inferior. What she says isn’t too serious but you can tell that she, as well as supporting equal rights for women, genuinely believes that putting the male species down is going to help women’s progress in society. She goes on about how men smell and can’t multitask and that all the problems in the world are caused by men. That is why I agree slightly with the basic concept of male studies about how in some circumstances men are made out to be thicker and more buffoonish than pleasant and sophisticated hygienic women, but I don’t think it is a big deal and I am very much a feminist myself. The male studies men need to grow up.

Rue: I was a Women’s Studies Minor because I was interested in learning about history and current events from a side of the story that is mostly silent in history and social studies classes. There are too few women canonized in literature, made heroes throughout history, and/or put in the spot light at all, and finally being introduced to some pretty amazing women made me feel like I could relate more to events of the past… bell hooks makes the case that men are some of the most important voices when it comes to feminism because feminism is truly about breaking stereotypical gender roles. Males benefit as much as females do because they can feel OK about not fitting into the “macho man’s man” gender role. If they want to knit a scarf while reading Felicia Hemans, that should be their prerogative.

Anyone have anything else to add? Leave us a comment, drop us a line, or talk to us on Facebook and Twitter.


Filed under: Stuff Mom Never Told You Tagged: Gates Foundation, Listener Mail, male studies, Stuff Mom Never Told You, women's studies

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