Stereotypes Questioned in D.C. Forum On Strength And Masculine Power

Submitted by anthony on Sat, 2009-01-31 19:44

Story here. Excerpt:

'This weekend the Georgetown University Law Center hosted Campus Strength D.C., a two-day training event meant to facilitate discussion about stereotypes of strength and masculine power, as well as the effects these ideals have on society.
...
According to Joseph Vess, consulting and training director for Men Can Stop Rape, the program aims to provide a way for men to redefine old ideas of male strength to create a more inclusive, healthy culture.

“Many men are finding that traditional masculinity is not working for them,” he said. “The old masculine ideal, of always acting ‘tough,’ staying emotionally distant, not being able to have healthy relationships with other men — it really creates a negative effect on a society.”'

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Comments

When we're not broken.

This kind of crap pisses me off whenever I hear it.

And don't get me started on the "rape is about power and control" horseshit.

Gender politics. Complete bullshit-pseudoscience.

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Submitted by Belgorod on Sun, 2009-02-01 00:21

These guys have been so misled by our society that they actually believe that stuff, we've got a good percentage of an entire generation of men who are lost and self-loathing... and that's no way to live. I posted a response, who knows if it'll be up long:

“Many men are finding that traditional masculinity is not working for them,” he said. “The old masculine ideal, of always acting ‘tough,’ staying emotionally distant, not being able to have healthy relationships with other men — it really creates a negative effect on a society.”

Who wrote your "definition of traditional masculinity"... by the look of the quote I'd guess it was a woman.

Strength of character becomes "acting tough". A balanced emotional response becomes "emotionally distant", and out of nowhere comes "not being able to have healthy relationships with other men".

I'm a traditional male, and I have none of the problems referenced in the feminist redefinition of masculinity above. The misleading (and sexist) stereotyping of men that the above article is a just one more sad example of is something that would never be tolerated (and would MOST DEFINITELY never be published) were it about women.

Dave K
A Radical Moderate

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Submitted by Dave K on Sun, 2009-02-01 01:20

Well said, Dave.

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Submitted by Belgorod on Sun, 2009-02-01 19:10

I think these idiots need to move away from the notion that sex specific behaviour is a "social construction". It will help everyone, it's quite sinister to have people who think it's their duty to socially engineer people to make the behave or adopt opinions the engineer/s find acceptable. If men don't like being men there's always suicide.

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Submitted by Broadsword on Tue, 2009-02-03 15:02