We will be involved with some of the events and you can check them all out on their blog.

The following event is coming up right away and I really encourage any Toronto readers to attend if they can. If you can't be there you can still find out about all the participants and their work if you keep on reading and follow the links.

How To Be A Good Man – A Discussion Amongst Men of Faith and Creed

Wednesday, March 10: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
ENG 103 in the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street, Ryerson University, Toronto

As part of 'White Ribbon Pledge Week at Ryerson University from Monday March 8th - Friday March12th

A dynamic panel of speakers will be coming to Ryerson to reflect on male role models they had or did not have, how their teachings and path helped them define what being a man truly is, and share stories from their experiences.

Moderator - Tuval Dinner, Youth Programs Director at the White Ribbon Campaign.

Keynote Speech by Imam Khalid Latif

Imam Khalid Latif is Chaplin for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Executive Director and Chaplain (Imam) for the Islamic Center at New York University (NYU). http://www.icnyu.org/

DJ Danforth

DJ is a proud 25 year-old Native young man from the Oneida Nation. He is currently the Youth Cultural Coordinator for the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, and sings with drum groups Elk Soldier and Tha Tribe. DJ has also written for masc!

Brandon Hay

Brandon is Executive Director of the Black Daddies Club.
BDC adresses issues facing the Black Community as a whole. The main goal is to change the image of the black father in the media, from a neglectful figure to a responsible, involved and loving role model. www.blackdaddiesclub.com/

On that note, send us your suggestions for the best educational resources on masculinity and gender that you know about or have used. You can also send us your questions and interests and we'll either connect you with a resource or start the process of seeking one out. Deal?

To start things off, did anyone see the new Dove Men Care commerical during the Superbowl? This example could be made into a rich resouce on masculinity with teaching strategies on the following questions:

• what parts of this commercial seem more true or more false?
• what are the highs and lows of manhood?
• what are men doing or likely feeling during this commercial?
• how are manhood and masculinity different or the same?
• how is masculinity being packaged by commercial culture in general and by Dove in particular?
• should masculinity be more simplified or complicated?
• how could portrayals of masculinity be more complicated?
• what else does this commercial make you think about or want to do in terms of gender, sexuality, and media?

More to come on all of this and please jump in where you can.

Social networking such as facebook allows men of so many backgrounds to come together, keep up with one another, write, and form communities, imagined and real.

Online forums such as mascmag.com and the many links listed on the side bar of the mascmag webpage(look to the right >)  are there to give people a chance to connect with each other and share their experience of gender.

More and more colleges and universities are offering courses on critical masculinity studies through Women's Studies or Gender Studies programs.

The exploding popularity of documentary film making gives men a chance to tell their stories, and examine masculinity through an empowering lens.  These films can now be shared online and through "iphone apps" such as the NFB.

Both shows are about men with secrets. Draper keeps a drawer full of photographs and documents from his former life tucked away at home. Turns out his marriage, as well as his icy-cool competence, hinge on it remaining under lock and key. Meanwhile, Draper’s colleagues at the fictional 1960s ad shop Sterling Cooper have secrets of their own—homosexuality, extramarital affairs, babies born out of wedlock.

The show doesn’t gloss over the consequences of living in a radically repressed era. But it does cast a vaguely nostalgic light on a more tight-lipped time, when even presidential dalliances (JFK) and disabilities (FDR, a few decades earlier) were treated with discretion. Everyone loves Draper because, as one character put it, “he’s beautiful and he doesn’t talk too much.” In Med Men, secrets are generally safe.

Finally catching up on some reading which often results in the need to share with the masc community.

First up, an examination of 'dude culture' in it's most (beer) saturated form. Edward Keenan writes about Tucker Max and the making of the modern man as seen in movies such as I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Keenan doesn't waste his time on Tucker personally, but on the fantasy and fan-base fueling Tucker's success. Oh, and i just learned that this media genre is now called fratire.

Echoing themes from Michael Kimmel's book Guyland: the perilous world where boys become men, Keenan compares the values of personal responsibility and social contribution of his father's and grandfather's generation to today's celebrated man-boys who just want to play with their new toys, hang with their bros, and chase and score with women they have no respect for (interesting choices).

While women have taken on traditional masculine roles in higher education, home buying, career seeking, and family starting, many men seem unable (and I would argue unwilling) to -- well let's face it, adapt. Some men would rather be children than take on stereotypical feminine roles.

Let me start off by saying that I do not watch American Idol. I do not follow the careers of its performers and really don’t care for pop music, which is why I am surprised to be tracking the exploits of recent alum Adam Lambert.  But circumstances around a recent performance of his at the American Music Awards plays right into the hands of MASC readers.

Because all the media conglomerates issued takedown notices for the actual video of the performance in question, I can’t really provide the link.  I really want to focus on an interview Lambert conducted with a CBS morning show thereafter, to which I can link.  Now, in terms of the performance, let me just say that he likely went a little further than anticipated with some simulated sex acts and a pretty hot and heavy make out scene with one of his male dancers.  I don’t have a problem with this, Lambert is openly gay, and that’s how he wants to perform on stage.  I recall everyone going nuts over a Brittany Spears and Madonna make out session few years back on the MTV video awards.   So, I figured same-sex affection is fairly old-hat for American viewing audiences.

Apparently, Lambert’s performance caused quite a bit of controversy, leading to a cancellation of an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America.  Lambert then went on a CBS morning show to counter.   I don’t know what I expected from him, but I was shocked at how reasonable, articulate, and logical his response was to this whole situation.  I must say that I think he is absolutely correct in identifying the double standard regarding same-sex relationships in the United States.

3 out of 36. That’s how many men were in the 2007 Yoga Development Course. I was one of them. We were told that this was a fairly normal ratio. The Yoga development Course (YDC) involves a lot of stretching, writing about our life experiences and beliefs and then sharing them in a big group. I always thought this was a more ‘woman’ thing to do. I guess I wasn’t the only one to think that way. Needless to say, I learned a lot about my feminine side. But this yogic path has really allowed me to get to know my masculine side too.

On the surface Yasodhara Ashram is a very feminine place: visitors are greeted by statues of female deities, the number of women are always greater than men, a woman is the spiritual director, the yoga is very gentle and intuitive, and even the land seems to hold you in a way a nursing mother would. Yoga is a sanskrit word commonly translated as “union” or “to yoke”. We all contain within us the masculine and the feminine: both sides offering their tools and their limitations. Both are needed. In yoga, the practitioner is asked to bring these two sides together in the service of connecting to one’s soul or inner light.

I spent almost 2 years living at Yasodhara Ashram. Needless to say, I couldn’t help but feel like I had lost contact with my masculine side. I felt more loving of myself, more gentle with others, and more connected to nature. I loved the fact that I had cultivated my feminine side, but something was missing.

There have been a few articulate challenges and critiques of this proposal, including Paul's and I don't disagree with much of what's been written but I have to admit that when I first saw the initial headline to this story my mind went to a place of hope and excitement. I'll explain why.

1. While gender might not be the single most significant determinant of student success (another largely ignored one being class), it is definitely important and I think we need to address it on some level. We also have had several reports in recent years about the unacceptable levels of gendered violence in schools and this also needs to be addressed.

2. Male culture is easier to affect if it's isolated. It seems obvious that we can do more to directly address the way boys are socialized if we address boys in a boys-only space. Historically these kinds of spaces (sports teams, etc) have been used largely to reinforce gender stereotypes but they can also be used to affect change.

3. What could a boys school be? Imagine a space where boys are encouraged to explore, express and develop the qualities and characteristics we value in all human beings: compassion, kindness, empathy, generosity, etc, while also allowing them to develop their academic and physical capacities. Rather than thinking about boys-only education as an all-day gym class with lessons, can't we think in broader, more meaningful ways about how to impact boy's lives (and therefore girls and the whole community) for the better?

4. How many boys-only safe/positive spaces are there in the world? Most boys-only spaces that I encounter foster sexism, homophobia and macho stereotypes. It would be groundbreaking if the Toronto school board set out to create a space that supported and challenged boys to live lives beyond the boundaries of stereotypes and cultural expectations.

*****

The TDSB (Toronto District School Board) recently gave the green light to a proposed ‘boy-focused’ kindergarten to grade 3 school that would grow up with the boys.

Initiated by TDSB Director of Education Chris Spence, the plan would open a new school in September of 2010 to address the growing number of problems many see with boys and schooling.  These problems are usually based on statistics for behaviour (many suspensions) and achievement (low literacy and numeracy test scores).

A working name for the school is the Male Leadership Academy and has boy friendly classrooms, male-focused curriculum, and generally a boy-centric approach that supports (what some believe to be) the ways boys learn.

While it might be hard to argue with the statistics, I have several concerns for the TDSB, parents, students, and society at large on strategies that support boy’s success in and after school.

My biggest and most complex concern is the fact that gender roles, expectations, and behaviours are shaped by social factors. A base assumption of this TDSB initiative is ‘boys will be boys’ and that boys are biologically wired to learn, play, and rebel in patterned and predictable ways.

Joey Vottoa, the First Baseman for the Cincinnatti Reds, was in the position of explaining to basbeball fans why he did not play during a difficult time in the season after the death of his father.  It was refreshing to see a man on Sportscentre openly talking about his need for help.

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"What?!  You mean to say you need help to get through a personal issue?  Then what kind of man are you?"  This is an example of the self-regulating that young men often do as they assess the importance of their health problem.  In other words, is the problem important enough to supposedly give up our constructed status as a young health man?  Also, if we do not display emotional intelligence to our loved ones (as so many of us don't), there is an even greater expectation to display physical healthiness.  Still, we men are affected by serious health issues early on.