Members of ORL’s six-week Men's Project discuss gender roles in society, stereotypes of men
By Yanting Li
April 28, 2011 1:24 a.m.
The first time somebody asked Peter Lewis if he was gay, it didn’t bother him.
By the fifth or sixth time, even his mom had started questioning him.
“She kept saying, “˜If you’re gay, just tell us, we won’t be mad,'” Lewis said, laughing. “They kept on doing it, and I was like, “˜No, I’m not!'”
Though questions about his sexual orientation don’t bother Lewis now, it is not a topic he discusses often.
But because of the Men’s Project, a six-week program for all those who identify as male, he talks about gender issues with a small group every Tuesday.
At first, Lewis, a first-year chemical engineering student, was hesitant about attending the program.
“I thought it was just going to be bashing on men and the problems they create in society, but it wasn’t like that at all,” he said.
“We talk about a lot of things nobody talks about regularly. I really enjoyed myself, so I stayed with it.”
The Men’s Project explores gender roles in society through readings and discussions. Among the topics discussed are stereotypes of men and bystander intervention skills.
“The goal is to create a safe space for men where they can learn more about masculinity ““ namely, what it means, and should mean, to be a man,” said Sharon Claros, a facilitator for the program.
Claros started the Men’s Project this quarter in conjunction with the Office of Residential Life. Similar projects had been ongoing at other schools across the country, one of which Claros had worked on previously.
Last week, the topic was sexuality basics, educating students on what it means to be transgender.
“We read about an 8-year-old boy who knew he wanted to be a girl,” Lewis said. “It’s interesting how somebody that young could just know.”
Kevin Melara, another facilitator for the program, said such topics are important because they are not usually taught in school.
Another big topic of discussion is how the media portray masculinity.
Movies, music and other media outlets portray men as tough and violent, sometimes even against women, Melara said. In turn, that portrayal flows over to society and is one of the reasons society interprets certain acts as more or less masculine.
The program is restricted to those who identify as men so they would be more open to discussing issues that pertain to gender identification, Claros said.
Lewis said that having girls in the program would not change how comfortable he felt speaking out in discussions. He said having them there would add a different perspective.
But Lewis also said that it might change the focus of the program, because the issues discussed may not be pertinent to women.
For students and facilitators alike, the program is a chance to discuss topics that are not often touched upon in everyday conversation.
Lewis said he enjoys the program because it forces him to think critically about issues and not just take them at face value.
“With gender identity, I don’t think of it as being segregated into different things,” Lewis said. “It’s more of a continuum.”
Melara added that he is educating himself by seeing other people’s mentality and viewpoints.
Claros said she sees the current program as a pilot, and she hopes to make the program into a Fiat Lux freshman seminar, depending on feedback. Though the program’s target number of participants is eight to 10, only about four show up on a regular basis, Claros said.
Melara added that the Fiat Lux, if it does materialize, will also be composed only of men.
“We wanted the initiative to be rooted within the frame of the students’ life experiences and have them reflect on and challenge things that are not socially just,” Claros said.
