Fostering Healthy Masculinities among Men and Boys
First, let’s define ‘masculinity’: The socially learnt roles, behaviours, and attributes that are seen as appropriate for boys and men in a given society.
There are diverse versions of masculinity in different contexts.
1/13 But in many contexts, masculinity is defined in terms of dominance over women, sexual entitlement, homophobia, aggression, rigid stoicism, etc.
There are various terms for this form of masculinity: Hegemonic. Sexist. Traditional. Toxic. Patriarchal. I’ll go with the last of these

French mass rape trial: I have been glad to see men speaking up on social media and elsewhere about their anger and despair at the actions of the 50+ men who raped Gisèle Pelicot and the other men who colluded in this or stayed silent about it.
1/9 Some commentators, however, have described these men as monsters, perverts, etc. While that’s true in one sense, in another, these men are *normal* men. *Ordinary* men. Men whom others know, like, and love.
2/9

Domestic and family violence’s impact: Of people who had hospital stays because of DFV, 68% were female and 32% male. Females were more likely to have multiple hospital stays. Most females were hospitalised by partners, but most males hospitalised by *other family members*.
1/4 Of females in hospital because of DV, for 75% this was due to an intimate partner. But for males, only 29% was due to an intimate partner, and 71% due to another family member or parent. See the AIHW report, p. 39. @aihw
2/4aihw.gov.au/reports/domest…

Sexism (attitudes and behaviours that support men’s dominance over women):
Four reasons why it is particularly important to address sexism among *men*, not women
1/5 Yes, both women and men may hold sexist attitudes and act in ways that prop up patriarchal gender inequalities.
At the same time, there are good reasons to target men in particular.
2/5

The problem of focusing on what women can do to avoid becoming rape victims
Responses to my tweets on men’s sexual violence against women, particularly by men, often focus on what women can do to avoid or escape this violence. There are 5 problems with this:
1/10 1) Women are told throughout their lives what to do to try to avoid rape.
2) If this is *all* we do, this is victim-blaming.
3) Women already use a whole range of strategies to try to lessen their risk.
4) This focus does nothing to hold perpetrators to account.
2/10

Men and violence against women: Some men think that if they themselves are not perpetrating domestic or sexual violence against women, the problem has nothing to do with them. But it does. A consistent predictor of men’s use of domestic and sexual violence is...
1/5 A consistent predictor of men’s use of domestic and sexual violence is their *perception of peer support*: the extent to which they think that the men around them condone, support, and themselves use violence against women.
Male peer support is a key risk factor for perpetration.

One key reason many men don’t recognise our roles in preventing and reducing rape is that we don't realise that most rapes are by men known to the victim, in a familiar location, without serious physical injury, and that rapes are common. Many men have a mistaken idea of rape
1/6 Men often imagine some crazed guy, in a park, violently raping a passing woman.
Men often don’t think of what’s far more common:
A man pressuring his date into sex.
A man expecting that his wife will have sex whenever he wants to.
A man taking advantage of a drunk woman. Etc.
2/6

Violence and gender: Men’s rights advocates (MRAs) like to cherrypick findings that show or seem to show that domestic violence against men is more common than DV against women. The latest example comes from a multi-country study of university staff’s experience of violence.
1/5 MRAs claim the study shows more men than women have experienced physical domestic violence.
Two problems:
1) The study *is not* about DV. All the questions ask about violence by someone connected with the institution – other staff or students - not about intimate partners
2/5

Fostering Healthy Masculinities among Men and Boys
First, let’s define ‘masculinity’: The socially learnt roles, behaviours, and attributes that are seen as appropriate for boys and men in a given society.
There are diverse versions of masculinity in different contexts.
1/13 But in many contexts, masculinity is defined in terms of dominance over women, sexual entitlement, homophobia, aggression, rigid stoicism, etc.
There are various terms for this form of masculinity: Hegemonic. Sexist. Traditional. Toxic. Patriarchal. I’ll go with the last of these

Sex and housework: In heterosexual couples with children, when women do more of the household labour than men, they have lower sexual desire, for two reasons: 1) they are more likely to see their partners as dependent on them, and 2) they see the division of labour as unfair
1/3 Implications: Women's sexual desire is constrained by gender inequities. Low desire in women is not located in women, their bodies or minds. Instead, it is a symptom of a broader problem, of inequalities between men and women, including in the division of household labour.
2/3

Sexual violence: It is comforting, but wrong, to think that only a tiny proportion of men ever commit sexual violence. 29.3% of male university students in the USA and Canada have perpetrated some kind of SV - systematic review of studies over 2000-2017 among 25,524 men.
1/4 International studies, similarly, find that significant proportions of men, from 2%, to 10%, to 51%, have ever used sexual violence against a woman. This survey (2011) finds that men’s lifetime reported use of SV was around 9% in most countries. 2/4 https://t.co/gNyen0g4eTicrw.org/publications/e…

Boys, pornography, and sexual violence: A multi-country European study finds that young men who use porn regularly are more likely than other young men to perpetrate sexual violence (Stanley et al. 2018). Survey of 4,564 young people aged 14 to 17 in five European countries. 1/4 Boys were far more likely than girls to regularly watch pornography. Among boys, regularly watching pornography was associated with increased probability of being a perpetrator of sexual coercion. 2/4

Privilege: Can be defined as “systematically conferred advantages individuals enjoy by virtue of their membership in dominant groups with access to resources and institutional power that are beyond the common advantages of marginalised citizens” xyonline.net/sites/xyonline… 1/7 Three features of privilege. Privilege typically is a) invisible, b) normalised, and c) based on a sense of entitlement among privileged groups. Journal article by Bob Pease and Michael Flood (2006), in full text at xyonline.net/sites/xyonline… 2/7

Wellness is not women’s friend. It’s a distraction from what really ails us
By Kate Seers and Rachel Hogg. 1/4
theconversation.com/wellness-is-no… Neoliberal feminist notions of wellness emphasise that idea that women’s health and well-being depend on our individual choices. They are a seductive distraction from what’s really impacting women’s lives.
Wellness blames women and hides structural and cultural inequities 2/4

Sexual assault is not primarily a crime of ignorance, and consent education should not focus only on providing knowledge. By Sophie Shead. 1/6
abc.net.au/religion/sophi… @Usyd_Philosophy @ArtSS_Sydney @Duncanivison @Sydney_Uni “Sexual assaulters may sometimes simply be ignorant. But more often, they are sexist, entitled, and unafraid. They view other people’s desire and personhood as less real than their own." 2/6

When Male Allyship Fails
Rosie Xing criticises the men who loudly proclaim themselves as “feminist allies” but who use the movement as a shield for their misbehavior, the men who view their support as conditional, who pay lip service to feminism. 1/6
upennfword.com/2021/03/28/whe… “The list of men who use the veil of feminism to harass and assault women is long, and they inject a certain hopelessness to the notion of triumphing over a misogynistic society.”
But, "There is and will always be ample room for men in the feminist movement, men who..." 2/6

#HaveAWord with yourself, then your mates. A powerful video and campaign from
@MayorofLondon, here: (1:52 min. video). With more information at london.gov.uk/have-a-word. There are 8 things I think are important about this campaign. 1) The campaign rests on the fundamental insight that men have a vital role to play in preventing and reducing men’s violence against women. That preventing and reducing violence against women must not be women’s job alone. That would be simply unfair.

Participation in sports focused on violence, power, and strength (boxing, weightlifting, etc.) *increases* boys’ and young men’s involvements in violent and antisocial behaviour. That's the finding of a longitudinal study among boys aged 11-13, over two years. 1/10 Some people claim that participating in sports based on aggression *releases* aggression (has a cathartic effect), making aggression outside sport less likely. This longitudinal study finds the reverse. It finds that such sports *increase* violent and antisocial behaviour. 2/10

The Poison of Male Incivility: The degradation and dismissal of women — as disgusting, crazy, infantile, incompetent, irrational, and stupid — has been key to the building and maintenance of disproportionately male power in American political, economic, social, & sexual life 1/4 Powerful men’s “reduction of their would-be female peers — their ideological and electoral adversaries and competitors for power — has helped clear away potential impediment to their own professional trajectories.” 2/4

Good guys and bad guys. We have to let go of a comforting illusion that there is some bright line between men who rape and men who don’t rape, between the bad guys and the good guys. Many men don’t rape, but do contribute to the problem. feministcurrent.com/2017/11/06/goo… 1/4 We should not let the worst and most egregious cases of men’s violence against women derail the analysis of how a wide range of men’s intrusive and abusive sexual behaviours against women and girls are woven into the fabric of patriarchal society. 2/4

Porn Makes Men Terrible in Bed. “I hate porn because f**king men who have watched a lot of porn is the worst. The absolute worst… Most porn is about watching women pretend to enjoy sex acts that are unpleasant to them.” medium.com/@emmalindsay/p… 1/5 Pornography: “Men who watch this type of porn are basically being taught sexual practices that will not work in real life. […] the only moves you’re learning are moves that will leave your partners miserable.” medium.com/@emmalindsay/p… 2/5