Say No to Patriarchy

                  

                  How men envision themselves begins at a very young age and media plays a key role.  We are endlessly taught to be tough, hold our emotions in and various other unhealthy practices.  These are the some of the elements that fall into the mold that is given to us in the United States about how to be a “man”.  Logical people and those who think critically can take a look at our media, the ideologies it carries, and the irrationality of all of it.  Training starts early but teenage boys in junior high school and high school learn that expressing yourself from the strict mold of what a man should be can have very negative impacts on their ability to make friends or be socially accepted.  This would have not happened to that young boy; he may have grown up to respect women and seen them with equality if he had the proper education on media images.  The first step for any change to occur is in opinion, through education.  We need more programs with in our public school system to help young kids; both boys and girls; learn the dark side of media and its effects.  This begins with the use of social media to advocate education material without sounding like a textbook.  We need to be able to relate to younger men to show them how they are molded and open their eyes to how they are being misled about their own identity and in turn about the identity of women.  The movement I have begun online is called Say No to Patriarchy and this is my first step into educating young men.  YouTube videos are not enough, there needs to be a forum where young men can go and talk about and discuss their identities.  I hope to begin this online and one day moves this into our public education system.  The structure of this program will rely on the creation of new media created by young people to fight against “hegemonic masculinity” as discussed in the article, Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept, by Connell and Messerschmidt.  

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Website:  www.saynotopatriarchy.org 

Sources:

1.     Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept
R. W. Connell and James W. Messerschmidt
Gender and Society 
Vol. 19, No. 6 (Dec., 2005), pp. 829-859
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27640853

2.     Bernays, Edward L., and Mark Crispin. Miller. Propaganda. Brooklyn, NY: Ig Pub., 2005. Print.

3.   Boys to Men: Are You Listening?

4.   Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity

5.   60 Minutes II - TurboChef & Dr. Rapaille Interview