Unbecoming a Man
The Militarization of Men and Societies
#checkyourboys
Features
HIV Treatment: Where Are the Men?
Like the hundreds of thousands of men who die of AIDS each year in Africa, Reuben, and Sonwabo’s lives and early deaths remind us of the urgent need to address an enduring blind spot in our collective response to HIV and AIDS—our failure to adequately reach men with gender equality education and life saving HIV services, especially testing and treatment.
Can a Good Man Rape? (Spoiler Alert: Yes)
A recent headline wants to know, “Can We Save Cliff Huxtable from Bill Cosby?” In other words, can we find a way to separate in our minds the “bad” man who rapes from the “good” man who never would?
How Men Benefit from Rape
Although few men commit sexual assault, all men derive some benefit from the social advantages it brings.
Man Enough?
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity
Gender has always been a crucial factor in presidential politics. In Man Enough? Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity (Interlink Books, forthcoming 2016), longtime Voice Male contributing editor Jackson Katz argues that in recent decades presidential campaigns have become the center stage for an ongoing national debate about manhood, a quadrennial referendum on what type of man—or one day, woman—embodies not only our ideological beliefs, but our very identity as a nation.
Feel the Bern
At first glance, Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders does not project the kind of masculine persona that so many men—white men in particular—seem to be looking for in their would-be presidents.
The Militarization and Men and Societies
ABAAD is presently conducting a study asking women and men how gender roles have changed in the last 30 years. Keedi believes it is important to transform society’s cultural understanding of what it means to be a man into an understanding of masculinity that is beneficial to men and women and aligned with the principles of human rights.
Dismantling Patriarchy in Namibia
An Interview with Bience Gawanas
During the global symposium Men and Boys for Gender Justice, Bience Gawanas spoke to journalist Anita Katyal about the importance of reaching out to men, the status of women, and the women’s movement in Namibia.
My Girlfriend and the Bathroom Door
I was 25 years old and knew I had to make a change. But I had no clue what to do other than to write.
Reproductive Health and Rights Under Attack
“Inflamed by heavily edited videos attacking Planned Parenthood, the hostility to reproductive health and rights has reached a fever pitch in the past year,” according to Robert Walker, the Institute’s president. “There has been an avalanche of legislation—both proposed and enacted—to restrict clinic access and reduce funding for Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers.”
Unbecoming a Man
Some time ago, I was in a small men’s group, the four of us meeting every few weeks over dinner to talk about our lives. I had known each of them for years. One night we stop at a liquor store to buy beer to go with dinner at a restaurant that doesn’t have it on the menu.
#checkyourboys
A new initiative wants to give people a way to call out sexist remarks by their friends. The idea, called #checkyourboys, came from an episode of “That’s What He Said,” a web series by Soul- Pancake. The series features personal, honest, and engaging roundtable discussions among a diverse group of men on a range of topics spanning masculinity, self-esteem, sex and dating, and women.
The Afghan Vampires Book Club
In a new novel that Jane Fonda described as “a marriage of American Sniper and Heart of Darkness,” The Afghan Vampires Book Club takes place in the 25th year of the US-Afghan War.
Columns & Opinion
From the Editor
Dear Donald
While I was working on my column for this issue, I received an email with the subject line: “Can you publish this for Me?”
Notes from Survivors
Report from Planet Nine
Recently it was announced that a new planet had been discovered in our solar system. It was given the inelegant but sensible name Planet 9. Among its characteristics was its atypical orbit. A large part of the reason it had gone undetected was the inability of scientists to see the limitations of their assumptions about the forces at work holding the system together. I believe that, with all the best intentions, our mapping of the dynamics of sexual violence has ignored what our assumptions blinded us to, and with the same need now to reassess our understanding.
Men’s Health
Why Performing Conventional Masculinity is Bad for Men
To answer the question why women in nearly every country outlive men, public health researcher Ben Spoer discovered that many of the behaviors traditionally associated with being “manly” are disastrous for men.
Books
Gentle Men: May I Have the Next Dance?
Scholarly work on the body often overlooks men’s participation in feminized practices. Maxine Leeds Craig helps close this gender gap by studying both men who dance and men who “refuse to move.” She shows masculinity to be an embodied undertaking by looking at what sorts of men dance, as well as where, how, and why they do so.
Poetry
Arrival
