Monday, November 1, 2010

Dads Unplugged - 1 on 1 with Professor Harvey Mansfield of Harvard

I'm not a fan of Harvey Mansfield (he's an essentialist and I am more of a social constructionist), but he is a respected scholar and a big name in male studies, so I am sharing this conversation with from Dads Unplugged. The interviewer, Todd, doesn't share his views either, by the way.

1 on 1 with Professor Harvey Mansfield of Harvard

1 on 1 with Professor Harvey Mansfield of Harvard

Well, he certainly may be the smartest man I have ever interviewed. His bio reads like the Holy Grail of all educators: the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships and has been a Fellow at the National Humanities Center; he also received the National Humanities Medal in 2004 and delivered the Jefferson Lecture in 2007.

His name came up while I was reading the “Man Up” cover story from Newsweek a few weeks back. I saw a line in the story that said “he advocated action and aggression.” I had to call him up and ask him what he meant by that because it wasn’t even a quote and it was the only reference to him in the story. He elaborated and more. We talked Aristotle, Feminism, Manliness, and what he believes separates men and women.

Laura, my wife, is our Chief Visionary Officer and I am our Executive Producer and I believe that we get more done sharing the duties and our children get more from us that way, even as frustrated as I do get sometimes. So you can see that I do not subscribe to his core beliefs, but it is a conversation that is important for any man to hear and I would suggest sharing it with your wife. Though you may want to do it on a date night, because she will want to talk this one through when she is done. Enjoy and thank you to Professor Mansfield for sharing his time with Dads Unplugged.

The podcast below is supposed to be with Harvey Mansfield, but it sounded a lot like Michael Kimmel to me - which is much better to me.

Talking Manliness with Professor Harvey Mansfield of Harvard

Talking Manliness with Professor Harvey Mansfield of Harvard

Did you read Newsweek’s “Man Up!” cover article? Men’s Lib is the title of the article, and if you are more liberal you probably loved the article. If you are on the other side, not so much. Either side you fall on, you will want to listen in to Mr. Harvey Mansfield, one of the most distinguished Professors at Harvard. He feels men are meant to be Manly, while women are not. That they are made that way. Seems simple enough but he has rubbed some people the wrong way with his words. I don’t know if he could exist in today’s world as a 20 or 30-something. But he does exist in our world and has some very interesting beliefs. I loved interviewing him. I hope you enjoy it as well.

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