I have read with sadness and anger the many media accounts of the various
shootings in schools, most with the story being about "our kids killing
kids" or "children killing children." This neutralization of the issue,
which IS a gender issue, is outrageous. What is really happening is boys or
males are killing kids (often girls, as in Paducah, KY)! To keep
conversations in the media and elsewhere in our communities focused on
things like 'what can we do to teach our kids not to be violent' is missing
a vital point! We have to speak about 'what can we do to end male
violence - to keep our boys and young men from being violent because this is the
real issue!
To take this thinking further, we also must gender the discussion about
'violence against women' when we talk of rape and domestic violence as what we
are really speaking of is MEN'S violence against women. To say "violence
against women" without naming who is doing the violence lets men off the hook
and does not help them see themselves as having a stake in being responsible to
end it. It also makes it less real, as in "violence just happens." Kinda like
tornadoes? As people with a vision of equity we must include gender discussion
in our work on issues of violence.
I live and work in Southern Oregon and have been privileged for the last
year to have Jackson Katz in the area as a visiting scholar at Southern
Oregon University. Jackson, for those of you who don't know him, is a
feminist, pioneer and national advocate in the field of ending male
violence. I have learned a great deal from him, including learning to
further incorporate what I have written above into my thinking, actions, and
discussions with students and professionals I work with. Jackson is the
founder and director of MVP Strategies, an organization that provides gender
violence prevention training to colleges, high schools, sports teams, community
groups, corporations and the U.S. Military.
Jackson Katz has a video soon to be released talking about these issues that is
appropriate for young people and adults called "Tough Guise." The flyer about
the video states ..."While femininity has been widely examined, the dominant
role of masculinity has until recently remained largely invisible. "Tough Guise"
is the first program to look systematically at the
relationship between the images of popular culture and the social
construction of masculine identities in the U.S. in the late 20th century.
In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that there is
a crisis in masculinity and that some of the guises offered to men as a solution
(rugged individualism, violence) come loaded with attendant dangers to women, as
well as other men. Extensively illustrated with examples from popular
culture...."Tough Guise" will enlighten and provoke students (both men and
women) to evaluate their own participation in the culture of contemporary
masculinity.
For more information on ordering the video, call; 1-800-897-0089.
To contact Jackson, here's his email address: jacksonktz@aol.com
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