New masculinity class introduced at state college

Submitted by Mastodon on Wed, 2014-09-24 23:04

Story here. Excerpt:

'There is a new class at Keene State College [link added] this semester and it is all about men. Patricia Pedroza Gonzalez, a KSC professor of 15-years, introduced the class Men and Masculinity. Pedroza Gonzalez said her goal is to change students’ perceptions of social media’s presentation of men.

“In a very basic gender education we are still thinking and feeling and perpetrating symbols like ‘Boys don’t cry,’” Pedroza Gonzalez said.

Pedroza Gonzalez explained that there is a certain danger in encouraging traditional gender-norms of the “macho man.”

“We educate men to hide their feelings and vulnerability. They hide emotional stuff, which is totally allowed to women—women can cry and a woman can be emotional,” Pedroza Gonzalez said.
...
However, that is not true. According to Pedroza Gonzalez there is a modern-day misconception that men are violent. “I want to show people that men are not violent. I want to deconstruct that because what we see in media is that men are violent.  One girl asked me in my class if I thought men were oppressed and I said yes.  I think men are oppressed [and] women are oppressed,” Pedroza Gonzalez said.

An article from Michigan State University Today affirmed Pedroza Gonzalez’s statement.  “The researchers report that, throughout history, men have been the primary aggressors against different groups as well as the primary victims of group-based aggression and discrimination,” Andy Henion, Carlos Naverrete and Melissa McDonald stated.'

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Comments

First, it isn't man-hostile from the get-go. Second, it's at a state college. State schools are under 2 layers of judgment instead of just one. Private schools are typically overseen by a Bd of Trustees. State colleges by the state gov't and whatever board of oversight is assigned to them (trustees, etc.). Even if the state school's bd. is appointed by the state, it can still have its funding reduced/increased by the state legislature. In this way, state gov't aside from any state-appointed trustees or overseers can influence the school's direction. There may be other levels of influence beneath the legislative level that can directly affect its direction, too. So that this kind of course is being established in a state school is itself significant.

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Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2014-09-25 14:51

We must take what we can get until more men and women rise up.

I just sent her an email thanking her.

Yes, she could have said more about how men cannot be violent because we created most of the art, music, and literature.

She could have pin pointed how boys are the subject of killing in the Middle East.

But she did speak up.

And to get her to speak up more, she must be encouraged.

Her email is

ppedroza@keene.edu

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Submitted by ThomasI on Thu, 2014-09-25 16:30

Yes, I wrote to her and she responded.

She does have many brothers and she loves men.

While she may not say exactly everything, she understands much.

She is also the CHAIR of the department so she has sway.

Please consider writing to her to thank her.

Her email is above.

We need her help.

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Submitted by ThomasI on Thu, 2014-09-25 18:14