The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center has developed a series of events designed to explore society’s notions of masculinity.
Healthy Masculinities Week begins Monday, Sept. 14, and is intended as an opportunity to further conversations sparked by the Sept. 10 campus lecture by internationally recognized gender violence expert Jackson Katz. Katz’s lecture was the first this academic year in the university’s long-running Project Dialogue lecture series.
“We expected Jackson Katz to share some provocative ideas about the ways that traditional conceptions of masculinity serve to harm men and wanted to provide a forum for people on campus to explore more deeply the assumptions and stereotypes associated with masculinity,” Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center Director Rory Dicker said.
The Women’s Center worked with campus partners such as the Interfraternity Council, the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Life, the Office of Religious Life and the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center to develop a week of programs that would address masculinity from a range of diverse perspectives.
“Because a university is a place dedicated to critical thinking, having a week devoted to an exploration of masculinity will allow the Vanderbilt community to think about how boys and men are pressured to behave, and to consider that what might be considered masculine norms sometimes harm men, who aren’t always taught that emotional vulnerability, cooperation and sensitivity are valuable human traits.”
The week’s events include:
Maintaining “Bro” Status: Fraternity men discuss masculinity and mental health
Monday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m.
Commons Multipurpose Room
Cosponsored by the Interfraternity Council
Masc 4 Masc: Policing masculinity in the gay and bi communities
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 6:30 p.m.
Buttrick 123
Cosponsored by the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Life
Masculinity XXL? The portrayal of manhood in Magic Mike
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.
Buttrick 123
The Mask You Live In: Documentary screening and discussion
Thursday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.
Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Cosponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center