By Charmella Williams




For ages, masculinity has been defined in terms of brawn over brains, sheer aggression and no emotion, and of course, getting the girl. Well, speaker and activist Jeffrey Bucholtz, Director of We End Violence, challenged those social norms that he deems unacceptable.

On October 24, UM hosted "Man Up", an in-depth cultural analysis of masculinity representations in
pop culture. From movies to music and advertising, Bucholtz deconstructed society's version of masculinity one trait at a time, rebelling against unhealthy social standards.

During his presentation, he quoted famous feminist Gloria Steinem: "We've begun to raise our daughters more like sons...but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters." With this, Bucholtz implied that in this culture, all things "feminine"--nurturing, loving, understanding, emotional intelligence--are villified and considered weak, and not manly.

"If we keep making feminine things sound bad," asserted Bucholtz, "if we keep making the feminine unhealthy or wrong, broken, weak or soft, then men are kind of S.O.L. We're in trouble because there's no way for us to connect with these positive things."

Bucholtz has provided hundreds of presentations on the topics of sexual violence, masculinity, violence prevention, and popular culture. to learn more about his organization, We End Violence, visit their website.