Men Can Stop Rape

The Healthy Masculinity Action Project Blog Carnival

Introducing the one-edition Healthy Masculinity Action Project Blog Carnival!

Starting in June, we asked our HMAP Allies to contribute posts for our first ever blog carnival. For those unfamiliar, a blog carnival is essentially a single blog post with links to several other blogs, all discussing the same topic. In our case, that topic is healthy masculinity. After weeks of preparation, the HMAP Blog Carnival is here! Let’s get started!

Special thanks to those participating Allies and National Partners: National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Women of Color Network, mtvU’s Against Our Will Campaign, and the School and College Organization for Prevention Educators

NSVRC gets us started with a great post entitled “Going to Bat for Healthy Masculinity,” beginning with a baseball analogy to effectively communicate the difficulty of navigating the subject matter at hand. The grand slam, writer Ali Perrotto says, “would be a system that values all people, where privilege doesn’t exist, and gender doesn’t matter. In this system, sexual violence, gender discrimination and oppression would cease.” A particularly interesting aspect of this post is the inclusion of a Facebook screencap, listing some Friends’ thoughts on the one word that needs to be included in the definition of healthy masculinity. Read more at: http://nsvrc.org/blogs/feminism/going-to-bat-for-healthy-masculinity

mtvU’s Against Our Will Campaign maps healthy masculinity onto a set of situations that addressing the commercial exploitation of women and girls. They provide a quick how-to guide for the college-aged, with ways to impart healthy masculinity in some less than healthy instances. The post reads, “Actively taking a stand against pimp culture and commercial sexual exploitation – and, by extension, for healthy masculinity – can be stressful and uncomfortable. To help you out, we’ve got some ideas to help you handle some awkward scenarios.” Check that out at: http://www.againstourwill.org/activity-feed/4743-using-healthy-masculinity-to-take

What else might healthy masculinity look like on a college campus? An intern at Men Can Stop Rape and student at The George Washington University asks and answers that same question in his post. He begins, “What makes an examination of healthy masculinity in the realm of tertiary education such a difficult yet compelling task is the sheer number of elements in the situation. College denotes a unique, almost insular experience, like another world within the world, maintaining its own leaders, priorities, trends, and so forth.” Read the rest here: http://mencanstoprape.tumblr.com/post/27622562024/what-might-healthy-masculinity-look-like-on-a-college

Next, another GW student reflects on her experience as a women’s studies major co-directing The Vagina Monologues, and the surprise she felt with the number of men who attended the performances. She shares in the post, “Healthy masculinity isn’t just about educating men; it’s about all people modifying their attitudes and actions to reflect a respectful, nonjudgmental cultural outlook.” Her story: http://mencanstoprape.tumblr.com/post/27622646995/healthy-masculinity-not-just-for-men

Of course, teaching and learning about healthy masculinity doesn’t begin in college or adulthood. It should be present even earlier. In the following post, another MCSR intern blogs about masculinity, healthy and unhealthy, in the high school setting, and the importance of positive examples in a child’s life. She says, “[Children] need role models who display strength in a way that is not harmful to the people around them. If it is instilled in their minds while they are young, then they will have the tools necessary to be independent thinkers and strong leaders for the future.” Read the post in its entirety here: http://mencanstoprape.tumblr.com/post/27622708867/healthy-masculinity-adolescence

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence reports from the second bi-annual Women of Color Network’s Call to Action Institute and Conference that “thirty-five men from organizations across the country joined [A CALL TO MEN co-founder Tony Porter] to ‘aim for collective liberation in challenging racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, ageism and other forms of oppression and bias.’ After joining together with women of color and white women aspiring allies in morning wellness sessions and meditations, the men began to frame their institute work by discussing the history of the domestic and sexual violence movements, the experiences of women of color in the movements, and the need to engage men and boys.” Read all about their engagement with healthy masculinity on the National Domestic Awareness Month Tumblr page: http://nationaldvam.tumblr.com/post/27480191895/men-exemplify-healthy-masculinity-by-joining-together

SCOPE blogs to emphasize ”how important men’s involvement is to the prevention of sexual violence. In addition to shifting gender norms, empowering bystanders, role modeling for children and being supportive friends and partners, men are personally impacted by violence against themselves and their loved ones.” They later continue, “Reframing what healthy masculinity can be will have a marked effect on sexual violence rates.” We agree. Read more at: http://wearescope.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/scope-and-men-can-stop-rapes-healthy-masculinity-action-project/

Second to last in the carnival, the third of three MCSR interns speaks on his faith in the Healthy Masculinity Action Project and challenges his readers to imagine a community where violence is not the answer. Read what he has to say: http://mencanstoprape.tumblr.com/post/27622889102/the-heart-of-man-plans-his-way-but-hmap-establishes-his

Last but not least, Director of Strategy and Planning at MCSR, Pat McGann shares his thoughts on the upcoming Healthy Masculinity Summit. “We may not be able to immediately mesh all the perspectives and issues tied to healthy masculinity,” he says, “but our first goal at the summit should be to understand and strive to relate multiple perspectives to one another. After we are confident that we have done all we can to make connections, we should take a look at differences.” Read his take on the summit, including how it relates to 80’s sitcom Cheers and more, here: http://mencanstoprape.tumblr.com/post/27622533528/the-healthy-masculinity-summit-where-we-all-can-meet

And that’s it! Thank you again to all of our Allies, National Partners, and supporters, and we look forward to the rest of the Healthy Masculinity Action Project with you all!