Male College Students and Hegemonic Masculinity

Many men on college campuses express their masculinity in a hegemonic way due to the influence of institutions such as fraternities, ROTC, and sports teams. 

Fraternities are made up of insecure men who bond through homophobia and by getting sex. The pledging process reinforces this by teaching men that women are to be devalued. Because of this 70 to 90 percent of all gang rapes on college campuses are perpetuated by fraternity members.

ROTC also reproduces hegemonic masculinity in order to create warriors. This occurs through cadences that talk about degrading women and insulting cadets who are unable to perform with insults that are usually used for women. 

Sports teams also reproduce hegemonic masculinities by encouraging men to overcompensate their masculinity due to how close their bodies are to other men on the sports field and in the locker room. 

The degree to which hegemonic masculinity is expressed depends on a man's class and his geographical location. 

The Pain felt by Man due to Shifting Gender Roles

After seeing the video below, I'm starting to think what happened at Yale University is in response to the pain men are feeling as the role of women in our society has changed and their role as men have stayed the same. If this is the case, our goal then is to show men how to acknowledge their pain without taking it out on women.

Are the acts described below just reflective of Sexist Men?

As I've been thinking about the two acts described below, I'm starting to ponder if they are just reflective of sexist men or if as I'd like to argue that they are reflective of men as a group. To answer that question, I think I need to explore how men are stereotyped and what the normative man looks like if their is such a thing. 

What will it take for No to mean No, and Yes to mean Yes

On Wednesday October 13^th, an event occurred at Yale University that is troubling to those of us who care about gender equality. Fraternity boys were recorded chanting outside of a women’s dorm, “No mean’s yes, and yes means anal” (see below video). Even though this and other misogynistic incidents occur throughout the united states, many men believe that the goals of the feminist movement has been achieved and some men even think that they as a group are now more oppressed than women. This event shows us the difference between precieved equality and actual equality. I am interested in finding out what it would mean for no to mean no, and yes to mean yes and what this event tells us about the role of women and men in our society.

While working to discover how actual equality can occur, I believe that it is important to look at male studies scholarship to further understand why some men think they are oppressed when in reality they are not (or even why some men think equality has been achieved). I preliminarily believe that events like what occurred at Yale University occur due to the fear men have of losing their male privilege. Men are more fearful now then they were in the past because the role of women has changed while the role of men has stayed the same. Maybe then events such as this partially occur since the role of women in our society has changed while the role of men has stayed the same. When looking at any  male studies scholarship I need to remember that it lacks the intersectional approach found in Women's Studies. Male studies scholars need to remember the groups (Women of Color, Lesbians, Jewish Women, etc...) that criticized feminism during the second wave and work towards incorporating the concept of intersectionality into any male studies scholarship. 

I am ready to embark on this journey and will record my thoughts on this blog on the way.