Kaufman, M.

Laker, Jason A

English

San Jose State University

Masculinity in the quad

SJSU ScholarWorks

San Jose State UniversitySJSU ScholarWorksFaculty Publications Counselor Education2-1-2007Masculinity in the quadM. KaufmanJason A. LakerSan Jose State University, jason.laker@sjsu.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/counselor_ed_pubPart of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons, Civic and CommunityEngagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based ResearchCommons, Educational Sociology Commons, Education Policy Commons, Gender and SexualityCommons, Higher Education Administration Commons, International and Comparative EducationCommons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of EducationCommons, Sociology of Culture Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel ServicesCommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Counselor Education at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in FacultyPublications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@sjsu.edu.Recommended CitationM. Kaufman and Jason A. Laker. "Masculinity in the quad" Academic Matters: The Journal of Higher Education (2007): 16-17.• Two young men go to the movies together and ensure there isan empty seat between them. But the same two will give eachother a boisterous hug from time to time.• A gay man lives in a campus residence, enjoying his experiencewith straight roommates and floormates without harassment.• Friends of a male student chide him for refusing to drink afourth shot, calling him “little girl” and “Mary.”• A male student is berated by some male and female friends forrefusing to wear a white ribbon on December 6. It is a complex and contradictory time to be a guy on a uni-versity campus. Almost 40 years since the modern wave of femi-nism first arrived on Canadian campuses, the shift has beenremarkable: in the ratio of male and female students (and,increasingly, faculty), in the range of courses in women’s and gen-der studies (and the inclusion of much more content withinmany disciplines), and in the attention given to issues such asviolence against women.Men arriving on a campus come into an environment wherethere is an assumption of women’s equality, even if reality doesn’talways match. These men also know they can’t rely on the 8,000-year-old affirmation action policy that once determined theywouldn’t have to compete for jobs with the female half of theplanet. These men also tend to have very different expectationsabout their own career paths compared to a couple of generationsago, in particular, in striking a balance between work and familylife. Most enter relationships and will eventually leave universitywith an assumption they will someday be taking on significantresponsibilities (and, in some cases, even primary responsibility)as parents and as individuals who share domestic work.And yet, for all these changes, a significant minority of malestudents engage in a range of violent behaviours, including sexu-al assault and physical violence of a girlfriend; many more engagein forms of controlling behaviour. Far too many young men willnot feel comfortable interrupting a misogynist comment or sayingsomething to a friend who is joking about rape. In spite of anacceptance of sexual diversity, homophobia (often in disguisedforms) remains alive. In the movies and TV shows they see, inthe music they listen to, in the video games they play, thereremains a vast edifice of images that celebrate traditional defini-tions of masculine power and domination. And yet these areimages that are constantly contested around them. Perhaps it’s true of all people, but many men traditionallylearned to thrive in patriarchal cultures where their roles andgender relations were clearly defined, and they could focus onworking hard to master them. Of course, even when this role wasrigidly defined, it wasn’t actually achievable, and it had costs notonly to women but, paradoxically, to men as well (in spite of theprivileges men enjoyed). Now, there are multiple roles that mencan take on, multiple demands, changing expectations, and rulesthat sometimes seem to change moment to moment.Even fellow men, and indeed women, differ in how they validateor criticize any given choice or behaviour made by a man. Sadly, itis still a minority of male students who consciously explore this con-test of meanings or consciously question the meanings of beingmale. And yet, part of what is going on all around them, and part ofwhat they are engaging in, is this very challenge. Those young menwho do make an effort to confront sexism receive both compli-ments and criticisms from other men and from women. For manyyoung men we talk to, there is a feeling they just can’t win.What lies underneath the reluctance to consciously challengethe remaining edifice of oppressive gender relations or to con-sciously question their own take on masculinity? What gets in theway of challenging sexist words and behaviour? In part, it is the16 February/février 2007   ACADEMIC MATTERSMasculinity in the quadThe dominant forms of masculinity areabout power and fear, write MichaelKaufman and Jason Laker, and youngmen are muddling through uncertain gen-der terrain. But universities can help them ACADEMIC MATTERS February/février 2007 17privileges men still enjoy in a male-dominated society:  why buckwhat seems to work for your half of humanity? But it’s muchmore, and it is the story of what one of us has described as “men’scontradictory experiences of power.” As much as anything else, itis fear. Fear of not being one of the boys. Fear of breaking whatare assumed to be  the norms in what men believe. Fear of beingridiculed. Fear of not being a real man. Fear of other men, medi-ated within all-male environments. Fear that is a constituent partof our dominant forms of masculinity. This fear explains many of the paradoxes we witness. In spiteof the presence of women students as academic equals, in spite ofa 40-year-old discourse on women’s equality, in spite of theexpressed belief among most men that women should be and areequal, in spite of the breakdown of some of the physical taboosamong men, many young men still haven’t figured out how toshed their armour. They are too scared to take the risk of beinggenuine with each other. When this does happen, when ourbrothers are genuine with us, we often miss an opportunity bychanging the subject or teasing them. We continue to be afraidof each other, despite wanting—sometimes desperately—to beclose. If our fellow men get too close, perhaps they will seethrough this armour, and we will be exposed as a fraud. The dom-inant forms of masculinity are about power and fear.Critiques (by both women and men) of sexist behaviours andoppressive gender relations called on men to question essentialistnotions of masculinity. Such notions influenced us in ways thathurt women through the acceptance of violence, systematicexclusion, and belittling treatment. While giving men compara-tive advantages and not, in the same sense, being oppressive tomen, these notions  robbed us of elements of our own humanityas well. Today, young men come to campus with conflictingdemands and ideas about masculinity—the new meeting the old.They get confused but still have precious little permission toadmit to that confusion. More senior men, whether professors orstaff, are not always ready to engage in thoughtful discussionabout this topic, having their own confusion to deal with. (Or,where faculty and staff will deal with sexism, such discussions canbe abstracted from the lived realities of their lives: while theymay well agree that “the personal is political,” discussing theirown personal engagement and struggles may well seem off limitin an academic context.)Young men muddle through uncertain times. Faculty and staffcan lend a helping hand:• Those working in student services, residence life, sports, healthservices, and as academic mentors do well to acknowledge thatwhat passes for certainty among young men is more often adefense against a fear of not making the grade as a man. Wemust support and encourage the creation of spaces for youngmen to gain awareness and to learn to challenge both theirunacknowledged fears and the extant privileges of males.• Male professors can learn to take some of the same personalrisks as a previous generation of women academics did by find-ing appropriate ways to be open about our own experiences asmen. This can help create safety for male students to exploretheir own realities.• Male and female faculty and staff can encourage male studentsto become active in issues promoting gender equality, challeng-ing homophobia, and challenging men’s violence againstwomen. Our point is simple: while most of our male studentsare not responsible for committing acts of violence or promot-ing homophobia, we need to encourage all men to take respon-sibility for ending these affronts to basic human rights, safety,and dignity.• Male and female professors can encourage and validate theexploration of issues concerning men and masculinity as a validpart of research, not only within gender studies per se, but alsoas a dimension of all social relations and part of what informsour approaches to a wide range of disciplines, including thenatural and applied sciences. On campuses across Canada, as in communities around theworld, the fantastic changes in gender relations can be difficult tonegotiate. But more and more men are struggling with thesechanges. Our institutions can play a positive role in helpingyoung men understand, negotiate, and embrace gender equalityand equity, but also embrace changes that will improve not onlythe lives of women, but will improve their lives as well. Our institutions can play a positive role inhelping young men understand, negotiate,and embrace gender equalityMichael Kaufman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, works internation-ally as an educator and policy advisor promoting gender equality and workingto end violence against women. Jason Laker is  associate vice-principal anddean of student affairs at Queen’s University, and holds a cross-appointmentin women’s studies.AM

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