University students flooded the EMU Ballroom last night for the much anticipated lecture “More Than a Few Good Men” by Jackson Katz. Katz, a Boston-native and renowned anti-sexism speaker, addressed the concept of masculinity and how it directly relates to violence against women.
Campus groups such as the Women’s Center and the Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team have attempted to bring Katz to the University for several months.
“There has been a group of community members, faculty, students and campus leaders trying to get Jackson Katz here for a while now,” University senior McKenna Hynes said, addressing the audience. Hynes works as the Women’s Center sexual violence prevention and education coordinator.
Katz’s lectures are in high demand because of what audience members call a unique and powerful message. Instead of dismissing rape and sexual assault as women’s issues, Katz encourages men to accept them as men’s issues, too.
“In terms of traditional approaches to sexual violence, which focuses on the victim and risk reduction, this event is focused on both how men can help survivors of sexual assault and how they can change their behavior to help women,” University junior Jennifer Busby of SWAT said.
“Ninety-nine percent of rape is perpetrated by men, but it’s a women’s issue? The root cause of the issue is men and boys,” Katz said. “I think we need to raise the bar for what it means to be a good guy in 2010.”
Katz believes the social definition of masculinity is partly responsible for the occurrence of gender violence. He said men and boys absorb messages from media and culture that communicate a violent, sexist image of masculinity, which can manifest itself in sexist jokes or even the most extreme form of misogyny: rape. One of the ways men can protect women is by standing up for them among their peers.
“Men need to confront and challenge sexism from other men,” Katz said. “Imagine how the world would change if men challenged them in that way.”
The presentation concluded with three video clips, including a segment from Katz’s 1999 documentary “Tough Guise,” which explores the changing image of masculinity in the media.
One scene from Tough Guise compared an image of Humphrey Bogart armed with a gun in “The Maltese Falcon” with another of Arnold Schwarzenegger holding several guns in “The Terminator.” The two films were made about 40 years apart, but Schwarzenegger’s body and guns were much larger, which Katz said was a sign that the ideal of masculinity has developed into something much more violent.
Applause erupted during several parts of the talk, and student reception was generally positive. However, several people left during the middle of the two-hour lecture. Also, a row of seats reserved for University athletic department coaches went unfilled.
“I personally thought it was great,” University freshman Sam Brazil said. “I thought part of his message might have turned off some audience members, though.”
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