Guest Lecture, November 18th, 2011, History of American Men and Survey of Men & Masculinities Research. Introduction to Feminist Philosophies (PL526), Taught by Dr. Marina McCoy, Boston College, Philosophy Department

1. Danny Zepp
Assistant Director, First Year Experience
Resident Minister, Walsh Hall

2. Self Made Man
“The men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly
surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of
education; who are what they are, without the aid of any of the
favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world
and achieve great results.” – Frederick Douglass (1859)

3. Self-Made Wilderness Man
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden Pond (1845)

4. Turn of the Century Crisis of Masculinity
Scarecrow (farmer with no brains), Tin Woodsman (the industrial worker with who
has lost independence of farmer), Wicked Witch of the West (manufacturers and
bankers), Lion (lacks only the courage to be powerful)

5. Exclusion as Masculine Retreat: Reclaiming Virility
“Racism, antifeminism, and nativism fed off these fears, as though by excluding the
‘others,’ gender identity could be preserved.” (Kimmel 90)

6. –
Blue Collar vs. White Collar
“Dirty job” – work seen as
a “noble sacrifice”
™ Work is unpleasant
painful, difficult, and
cruel – a dirty job that
someone has to do
™ Dirty work is unfit for
women
Professionalization of the
Academy
™ German research
university became
popularized
™ “Science is a vocation” –
Max Weber
™ Rationality, predictability,
and controlling one’s
environment and
outcome would advance
society

7. Masculinity Vicariously Enjoyed
“As men felt their real sense of masculinity eroding, they returned to fantasies that
embodied heroic physical action, reading novels of the Wild West and cheering the
exploits of baseball and football players” (Kimmel 118)

8. The Promise of a “New Frontier”
“We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier -— the frontier of the 1960's, the frontier of unknown opportunities and
perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats. ... Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space,
unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of
poverty and surplus.” – John F. Kennedy Presidential Acceptance Speech 1960

9. End of Meta-Narrative

10. –
™ Developed in the 1970’s – mixture of a social
movement and a psychological self-help manual
– An effort to take to heart the critique of Self-Made
Masculinity first voiced by the women’s movement
and later by the gay liberation movement
– Men began to understand themselves as a burden, and
form of oppression
– Key Texts
™ “On Male Liberation” – Jack Sawyer (1970)
™ Liberated Man – Warren Farrell (1974)
™ The Myth of Masculinity – Joseph Pleck (1981)
Men’s Liberation
Movement Literature

11. –
™ Developed in the 1990’s – psychological self-help
™ Believed that men need to run off into the woods,
and escape the world of women in order to “bond”
and validate one another’s manhood
™ Key Texts
– Iron John: – Robert Bly (1990)
– Fire in the Belly: On Being A Man – Sam Keen (1992)
– King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – Robert Moore and
Douglas Gillette (1990)
Mythopoetic Movement
Literature

12. –
™ While much of student development theory in the 60’s
and 70’s was derived from exclusively male samples,
there studies were based on men, but not explicitly
concerned with gender (Davis & Laker, 2004)
™ Because of men’s historical dominance and structural
determinism, gender-related initiatives over the past 40
years have been justifiably geared towards women
™ Such important work, however, has led to the
manufacturing of a major erroneous assumption: that
everything is just fine with men (Harper & Harris, 2010)
Studies of Men,
not about Men

13. –
™ Five flawed assumptions about college men:
– 1) Every male student benefits similarly from gender
privilege
– 2) Gender initiatives need not include men unless they are
focused on reducing violence and sexual assault against
women
– 3) Undergraduate men do not encounter harmful
stereotypes, social and academic challenges, and differential
treatment in college environments because of their gender
– 4) Male students do not require gender-specific resources
and support
– 5) Historical dominance and structural determinism ensure
success for the overwhelming majority of contemporary
college men
Model Gender Majority Myth
(Harper & Harris, 2010)

14. –
™ New men’s literature is advocating a two-sided treatment
of gender:
– 1) It needs to be more widely understood that men have
gender too
– 2) Because gender is relational, the status of women cannot
be improved without a corresponding emphasis on tending
to the social forces that misshape men’s attitudes and
behaviors and helping them develop productive
masculinities (Bannon & Correia, 2006; Connell, 2005)
™ Not arguing for a reducing in or the elimination of women’s
courses and initiatives; in fact, there should be more
A Fresh Approach to
Men’s Studies

15. –
™ Argue that men have separated too much from the mother,
causing men to lack sensitivity and emotionality
™ Believe feminism will make it possible for men to be free
™ Men need to stand up against injustice based on
difference, embracing feminism, gay liberation, and
multiculturalism as a blueprint for the reconstruction of
masculinity
™ Men will only be healed when there is full equality
™ Common literature of Women’s Resource Centers at
American colleges and universities
Pro-Feminist Literature

16. –
™ Key Contributors to the Field
– Sociologist Michael Kimmel – anti-violence, believes
men act out of powerlessness in accordance to “Guy
Code”
– Activist Jackson Katz – anti-sexist, highlights media
misrepresentations
– Sociologist Michael Messner – anti-violence, and
gender in sports
Pro-Feminist Literature

17. –
™ Believe that we need to research and engage men as men,
and encourage more productive conceptions of
masculinities
™ Gender equality is one of many desired outcomes
– The most important outcome is for men to find the
deepest and most authentic expression of themselves
– Believe pro-feminist scholarship is one-dimensional,
focusing on narrow sets of problems and issues (violence,
sexual assault, abuse, etc.)
– While such inquiry is warranted and continue to be
important, other dimensions of male gender identities are
not adequately explored
Men’s Studies Literature

18. –
™ Key Contributors to the Field
– Psychologist William Pollock – gender straightjacket
– Psychologists Dan Kindlon & Michael Thompson – need for
emotional literacy in boys
– Sociologist Tracy Davis – gender role conflicts lead to higher
levels of anxiety and lower capacity for intimacy
– Political Philosopher Harvey Mansfield – believes men are soft,
and have lost their thumos (“spiritedness”) and role as protector
– Higher Education Experts
™ Shaun Harper – leading gender studies scholar, interested in
outcomes for African-American men
™ Frank Harris III – productive conceptions of masculinities in
African-American men and male student-athletes
™ Peter Folan – colleague at BC, researching outcomes for college men
coming from all-boys schools
Men’s Studies Literature

19. –
™ Contribution to men’s studies literature
– There is a gap in the research in terms of inquiry about
men’s interior life, specifically religious and spiritual
pursuits
– Recent research on the “inner” lives of college students
claims that students who engage spirituality and
religion during their undergraduate years experience
enhanced outcomes in their academic performance,
psychological well-being, leadership development,
and satisfaction with college (Astin, Astin, &
Lindholm, 2011)
My Research Interests
To Be Masculine is To Be Secular?

20. –
™ College age men who engage in university-sponsored
faith-driven initiatives which ask existential questions
about identity, i.e. spiritual as well as intellectual, are
more able to free themselves of hegemonic notions of
masculinity that enslave them
™ Through effective programming and role modeling,
which challenge, nurture, and cultivate the interior lives
of young men, colleges and universities need to be a place
where men can engage and critique issues of identity, by
offering the community, ideals, and skills which empower
men and create an alternative to broader cultural
understandings of masculinity
Men of Faith