Who’s the Man? Panel Defines Gender

What does it take to be a “real” man? Four panelists sought to answer this question last night in a discussion called “Reflections on Masculinity,” hosted by the Black Men’s Forum (BMF) and the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR).

Slides showing commercial depictions of masculinity, including a juxtaposition of the scantily-clad and violent hulks of today’s wrestling rings with the “zany and comical” wrestlers admired in the 1980s and early 90s, opened the event, which drew an audience of over 40 men and women to Emerson Hall.

But moderator Gordon Braxton, a prevention specialist from OSAPR, pointed out that today’s depictions of masculinity are both contradictory and complex, citing movies as having “uber-heroes” who “show a greater deal of emotional range than their predecessors.”

Braxton said he organized the talk because he believed masculinity was neglected in discussions of gender and sexuality, a sentiment shared by most of the panelists.

“I believe it was the feminist movement in the 1970s and its challenge of gender roles that has caused us to challenge traditional ideas of masculinity,” said Juan Carlos Arean, of the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

“I think the gender role strain affects men, but it can also be a strength,” said panelist Jason Leatherman.

When asked his opinion of Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53, who has questioned the acceptance of a genderless society, Leatherman said that men are very different and that “masculinity is a positive thing.”

“Left alone, there will be a lot more male engineers and a lot more female homemakers, because that’s what they’re more comfortable at, and more biologically wired to do,” he added.

Leatherman represented the National Coalition of Free Men, an organization which “looks at the ways sex discrimination affects men and boys.”

Other panelists were less supportive of Leatherman’s perspective.

“I think assigning roles based on biological divergence gets to assigning privilege to some and disadvantage to others,” said panelist Bryan C. Barnhill II ’08, a BMF officer.

After the talk ended, several groups formed circles outside the lecture hall to continue the debate.

“There’s a lot of discussion about women and minorities but I want to discuss who I am,” said Yakir A. Reshef ’09.