According to this author, "masculinities scholarship can be understood as providing the basis for a critique of feminist legal theory. This approach begins with the allegation that feminist legal theory generally and incorrectly treats men as a monolithic group when there is in fact a multiplicity of male identities. Masculinities scholarship, in this framing, could be categorized as the male-focused companion to critiques that have been made over the past thirty years that feminist legal theory is excluding and essentializing. It is this understanding of the significance of masculinities to feminist legal theory that prompted this Essay."

Interesting article, though it's on the geeky gender theory side of things.

Full Citation:
Fineman, MA. (2013) Feminism, Masculinities, and Multiple Identities (2013). Nevada Law Journal, Vol. 13, No. 101; Emory Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-238. Available at  SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2255182

Feminism, Masculinities, and Multiple Identities

Martha Albertson Fineman

Emory University School of Law

2013

Nevada Law Journal, Vol. 13, No. 101, 2013

Emory Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-238

Abstract:

Masculinities scholarship could be seen as distinct from and complementary to feminist theory — an independent and parallel companion theory, developed by men. In this regard, from a feminist’s perspective masculinities scholarship might be thought of as ethnography, helpfully providing insights into the operations and assumptions of a distinct masculine culture. This approach would seem to validate the notion that there are significant differences between men’s and women’s experiences and perspectives, and consideration of both is necessary to form a complete legal theory picture. Feminist legal theory and masculinities theory are thus seen as both contrasting and complementary in nature.

On the other hand, masculinities scholarship can be understood as providing the basis for a critique of feminist legal theory. This approach begins with the allegation that feminist legal theory generally and incorrectly treats men as a monolithic group when there is in fact a multiplicity of male identities. Masculinities scholarship, in this framing, could be categorized as the male-focused companion to critiques that have been made over the past thirty years that feminist legal theory is excluding and essentializing. It is this understanding of the significance of masculinities to feminist legal theory that prompted this Essay.

I. INTRODUCTION

It has been suggested that feminist legal theorists might productively use the scholarship on masculinities that has been developed over the past decade. There are several ways in which masculinities scholarship might interact with feminist legal theory. Masculinities scholarship could be seen as distinct from and complementary to feminist theory—an independent and parallel companion theory, developed by men. In this regard, from a feminist’s perspective masculinities scholarship might be thought of as ethnography, helpfully providing insights into the operations and assumptions of a distinct masculine culture. This approach would seem to validate the notion that there are significant differences between men’s and women’s experiences and perspectives, and consider-ation of both is necessary to form a complete legal theory picture. Feminist legal theory and masculinities theory are thus seen as both contrasting and complementary in nature.

On the other hand, masculinities scholarship can be understood as providing the basis for a critique of feminist legal theory. This approach begins with the allegation that feminist legal theory generally and incorrectly treats men as a monolithic group when there is in fact a multiplicity of male identities. Masculinities scholarship, in this framing, could be categorized as the male-focused companion to critiques that have been made over the past thirty years that feminist legal theory is excluding and essentializing. It is this understanding of the significance of masculinities to feminist legal theory that prompted this Essay.

I begin with summarizing some of the recent work on masculinities and reflect on the relevance of masculinities scholarship to feminist legal theorists. Specifically, I am concerned with the role of identity-based approaches in critical legal theory (feminist or otherwise critical), particularly how they often result in unnecessarily vigorous, overly broad, and ill-conceived accusations about exclusion and silencing that have otherwise similarly oriented individuals at odds with each other. That form of academic criticism may build individual careers, but it also negatively channels energy and resources away from a comprehensive critical legal project in which the demand for social justice is a universal one.

This objective of universality is important. When we deal with the law and the relationship between legal institutions and the structuring of power and authority, as well as their allocation among the individual, the state, and societal institutions, we employ a system dependent on the process of classification, generalization, and universal applicability. My reservations about masculinities theories, and other identity-focused approaches to law, reflect my belief that the most important task for those interested in a social justice project at this particular time in legal history in the United States is to construct a legal subject with which to replace the abstract liberal subject with its accompanying and unrealistic constructs of autonomy, self-sufficiency, and independence. This new legal subject must be based on an appreciation of the human condition in order to effectively displace the rhetoric of personal responsibility, small government, and condemnation of state intervention. The liberal subject is a universal construct and, so, must be its alternative. This is not an argument that discrimination on the basis of categories such as race, gender, or sexual orientation is no longer a problem in the United States. Nor do I suggest that stronger remedies for discrimination are needed. My question is, as interesting as the deconstruction of traditional legal categories such as “woman” and “man” might be, how does the fragmented multiplicity of modified legal subjects that remain after such deconstruction aid a legal theorist in constructing an approach within the confines of our imperfect system to address problems, such as poverty and lack of social mobility, that transcend those fragmented identities?

You can download the whole paper from the link above.

Peter Lawler & Nina Easton - Perspectives on the Economic Struggles of Men

In his column at Big Think, Peter Lawler breaks down an article from CNN Money on why men are falling behind economically. First the original article and then the response from Lawler.

6 reasons why men are falling behind women

Readers weigh in with their personal observations about why American men are struggling economically

By Nina Easton, senior editor
May 8, 2013

FORTUNE -- There is a growing consensus among scholars on the right, left, and center that the state of median-income men in America is in distress.

They've endured a three-decade drop in earnings. Even before the financial crash, prime-age men were dropping out of the workforce altogether, and the problem has only worsened since. Meanwhile, women are far outstripping their male counterparts in the area that's most important for a 21st century global economy -- education.

The big question remains -- why? On this, the research still falls short. So the outpouring of reader feedback on my column in the April 29 issue of Fortune -- "America's Wayward Sons: Why They Can't Carry On" -- offers some valuable on-the-ground perspective.

The focus of that column was an MIT study showing the sharp rise in single-parent households hurts boys more than girls. Other scholars have blamed a rise in more readily available government assistance, making aid checks more appealing than paychecks. The decline of well-paying manufacturing jobs, combined with fast-paced technological change, also factors in.

Here's what readers, reporting on what they see in their own backyards, had to say:

Flight of fathers. There was broad agreement with the MIT study's conclusion that the rise of single-parenting has set back achievement levels. "My father was a small-time white-collar criminal that fled the country prior to a court date when I was just a few months old," Adam C. Dudly writes. "Even now, in my 30s, I struggle with laziness, sense of identity issues, figuring out who I am or what I want to be, and what kind of man I'm supposed to be ... I would have to assume most young men are not as proactive as I am."

"While this may seem glamorous for those who admire movie stars and athletes, such family arrangements in the real world often doom children to lead lives of emotional and material privation," writes Jason DeSena Trennart. "It is a clear and present danger to the fabric of our republic. Senator Moynihan spoke honestly about this problem in the African American community as long ago as 1965. Sadly, the phenomenon of single-parent households has only grown."

A rise in autism and ADHD. "Unfortunately, the current debate is being waged by social scientists and psychologists who are quick to blame the issue on vague societal trends (globalization, decline in manufacturing) and of course, single mothers and the lack of a male role model," writes Michelle Linn. "I suggest you consider exploring how biological (real) science may be playing a role in this alarming issue. The generation of children born since 1988 are by many accounts the unhealthiest on record. The rates of ADHD, asthma, autism, bipolar disorder, diabetes, and allergies have skyrocketed in the last two decades. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control published a rate of 1 in 5 children having a behavioral disorder or chronic disease.

"It is well known that neurological disorders affect boys more frequently than girls (for autism, the rate is fivefold)," she continues. "Could it be these illnesses and diseases of the central nervous system are actually affecting our economy? It is very easy to blame the lost potential of up to 20% of our youth on social stereotypes and psychology 101 blithering."

Video games. "As the mother of two boys ages 14 and 15," writes Chris Olofson, "my biggest fear is that it's the video gaming, in addition to the factors you mentioned in your article, that is causing the lack of motivation and initiative to work and thus get a firm hold on the economic ladder.'' She wants to see more research on how video games lead to a decline in reading and thereby college performance.

A K-12 education system biased toward girls. As Rob Ritzenthaler bluntly put it: "Who was the nut that thought that boys should sit at a desk for 6-8 hours a day while they were growing up?" Some readers also criticized the emphasis on obtaining college degrees.

Microbiology professor Pinghui V. Liu cited Japan's system of vocational schools for high school students who can't afford college -- offering engineering and mechanics, commerce and accounting, schools of agriculture and forestry, and even schools of fisheries. With this kind of schooling, teenagers "can start looking for jobs at the age when American students are just beginning to worry about how to pay for their college education," he writes.

Likewise, writes Dave Danson, "the constant message to your our young people that they are going to be a failure in life without a four-year degree is the wrong message to send to parents and young people ... The food in your grocery store was delivered by a trucker who most likely did not have a degree. The store mechanicals are maintained by someone without a degree ... Post-secondary training is vital ... But please try to look at the bigger picture."

Several readers noted that in school, boys and men still outpace women in science and math. And they still dominate in high-paying industrial jobs. Corey Planter, who graduated with a paper-engineering degree, notes that men mostly fill factory jobs as millwrights, pipe fitters, welders, and ironworkers -- paying up to $28 an hour. "You may be thinking that these jobs are rapidly disappearing, however they are not," he writes, noting one machinist shop that was on a nationwide search for enough machinists to keep up with his orders.

The financial gains of women. Gustavo A. Duran makes clear he supports the recent economic gains of women -- his own daughter has a masters from Stanford -- but he sees more and more men taking a backseat. "I am now seeing many women in their 40s being the main breadwinners while their husbands diddle [around] daily in odds and ends," Duran writes. "I think this trend will just get larger as we move on the next two to three decades unless we as a society become more demanding of our male children to be disciplined and accountable ... Men need to be equally responsible for themselves so that they can contribute to taking care of their children and their spouses."

Affirmative action. "I was surprised, however, not to see any mention of affirmative action as a contributor," writes T.J. Wilsson, echoing a number of readers. "With so many major employers obliging 'guidelines' pressuring them to, effectively, discriminate against males ... For example, I read that a major employer in one state had guidelines that some 80% of its newly hired veterinarians be female." Ron Goddard complained that "every step of the way my sons and I were put on notice by corporate America that we were their second choice."

Whatever their perspective, most of the readers who responded wanted more discussion, more research, and more attention to this vital conversation.

* * * * * *

And now the response - and an alternate viewpoint.

Men Fading Badly?

by PETER LAWLER
MAY 10, 2013

Here’s a good article that offers six explanations for why “median-income men in America” are “in distress.” Their incomes are dropping. Lots of “prime-age men” have been “dropping out of the workforce altogether.” Maybe most importantly, men have been disappearing from our institutions of higher education. If our future leaders are to be those who graduate from our colleges in the most serious programs and with the highest levels of achievement, then most of our future leaders will be women.

At my college, which is fairly typical, we've been worried about the “man dearth” for a while now. We can get filled up pretty easily with solid students, but recruiting men is a challenge. We just started up intercollegiate football, which did reduce the “gender gap” for next fall. But everyone knows that that remedy is temporary.

Where are the men who should be in college? The credential of a college degree, of course, is more important than ever, given the “decline of well-paying manufacturing jobs.” Everyone talks about picking up flexible skills and competencies outside the formal academic structure, but it’s not like that’s so easy for the ordinary guy to do. Peter Thiel ain't offering his entreprenurial grants to guys like that.

I’m not talking about my college now: It’s pretty clear that many or most colleges now have a kind a covert affirmative action for men. They’re knocking themselves out looking for them, and (perhaps) they’re compromising standards just a bit on their behalf. But the various schemes just aren’t working that well.

I’m not complaining about having to teach a disproportionate number of women: While I had a good number of really fine male students this spring, there’s no denying that women, in general, are more mature and have better personal discipline at 18 (or 19 or 22). They also have much better social or relational skills, and so they are much better at flattering (someone might say playing) me. Given my self-esteem “issues,” I really appreciate that.

I want to talk about all six causes of the decline of the middle-class man. The somewhat mysterious epidemic of autism is above my pay grade, but I do see it with my own eyes. And then there are video games, which really do cause some young men to exhibit another kind of asocial behavior.

Whatever I might want to do (eventually), I’m just going to put forward for your consideration what might be the most controversial cause.

I call your attention to the “MIT study showing the sharp rise in single-parent households hurts boys more than girls.”

The “flight of fathers,” for one thing, creates “identity issues” for young men. They haven’t been given guidance—or role modeling—about “who I am and what I want to be.” The result is “achievement levels” suffer.

I would add that fewer young men are either being responsible fathers or thinking of themselves as fathers in the near future. Surely one powerful incentive for personal achievement is parenthood. And parenthood isn’t what it should be if the father isn’t present at home and doing his part.

Because most single-parent households are headed up by women, the toll on motherhood just hasn’t been as great. We might even say that moms seem more noble than ever. Maybe one powerful incentive for the personal achievement of women these days is the knowledge that they can’t and shouldn’t rely on men.

So it’s very possible to speculate that the achievement level of our men fades as their participation in genuinely responsible relational life fades. Or at least we can say that the two forms of fading are interdependent.

by PETER LAWLER

Billy Johnson II - Traditional Gender Expectations May Contribute to Rising Suicide Rates in Men

This is not surprising. In a world where traditional male gender roles are no longer valued economically, where macho behavior is seen as cavemanish, and where gender roles in general have become more confusing, it's no surprise at all that men who feel they have to live up to traditional definitions of masculinity might feel hopeless and depressed about their future.

This article comes from the Good Men Project - and they are seeking stories by those affected by suicide (not sure if their deadline has passed).

Traditional Gender Expectations May Contribute to Rising Suicide Rates in Men

MAY 8, 2013 | BY BILLY JOHNSON II

Feeling trapped between a traditional masculinity and a progressive one can contribute to depression and suicide in men.

Despite strong national efforts, completed suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. According to the CDC, in 2010 there were 38,364 suicides in 2010 in the United States, a daily average of 105 each day.

Furthermore, these statistics are thought to under-exaggerate the total number of completed suicides as the data can be difficult to gather and this behavior often goes unreported.

Adolescent suicidal behavior has received the bulk of scholastic and media attention because suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. However, the New York Times reported significant increases in suicidal behavior among middle-aged individuals, in particular middle-aged men: specifically completed suicides by persons aged 35-64 increased by nearly 30% from 1999-2010.

The gendered nature of suicide has been well documented with males being three to four times more likely than females to die by suicide. Men’s use of fire arms, tendency to stuff emotions, and low likelihood of seeking help are a few of the variables listed as responsible for the contrast in suicide rates between men and women.

But how do we account for the significant rise in suicide among middle aged men?

The New York Times article listed several possibilities for this trend including access to fatal drugs and the impact of the current economy, one of the consequences of this being higher unemployment rates. Furthermore, this generation may feel financially and emotionally burdened by the task of taking care of their parents or older family members while ensuring their own financial stability.

Depression and anxiety are often at the center of suicidal thoughts, and research by Samaritans, a U.K. charity which aims to lower the number of suicides, revealed that middle aged men who experience divorce or relationship separation, unemployment, and poverty are more likely to experience depression and consider suicide.

The researchers add that these individuals may also feel stuck between traditional masculinity, with its focus on emotional stoicism, and the more recent and progressive gender politics of expressing emotions openly.

Finally, they report that the ineffectiveness of some approaches in curbing suicide lies in the lack of a strong social conversation on the role of inequality in suicidal behavior. Men with low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely than more affluent males to complete suicide; therefore, any approach for reducing the prevalence of this behavior must also include an analysis of the impact of poverty. This begs the question: how can suicide rates be lowered in a declining economy with such differing opinions of masculinity? What is in our power to do to help lower suicide rates among men of all ages?


In Canada and the U.S., the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

In the U.K., ring the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90.

We’re looking for stories of people who have been affected by suicide. Please email lisa@goodmenproject.com if you would be willing to write about the experience.

Photo: ChrisHConnelly/Flickr

Read more:

• New Study: Male Suicide at All Time High
• 7 Types of Self-Care to Help Prevent and Heal Depression
• We’ve Got To Learn To Talk About Men

KATHRYN DEHOYOS - NEW STUDY: Macho Advertising Encourages Hyper-Masculinity

From The Good Men Project, a brief report on how macho advertising leads to hyper-masculine behaviors in men. The research, published in the May issue of Sex Roles, found that “print ads targeting men also encourage them to aspire to an unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity,” what is often referred to as hyper-masculinity, defined in the paper as “gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man.”

Nearly all advertising aimed at men is essentially "macho," so this problem is so pervasive that it seems unlikely that it will change any time soon.

NEW STUDY: Macho Advertising Encourages Hyper-Masculinity

MAY 9, 2013 BY KATHRYN DEHOYOS

Hyper-masculine advertising has been found to encourage men to an “unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity.”

A new study published in the most recent issue of Sex Roles suggests that sexist advertising aimed at men is just as damaging as that aimed at women. According to the report, researchers found that “print ads targeting men also encourage them to aspire to an unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity,” otherwise known as hyper-masculinity, which the paper defines as “gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man.”

Psychologists from the University of Manitoba studied the ads in 8 US men’s magazines which were published in 2007-2008, the publications were “differentiated by readership age, education, and household income,” and the ads were analyzed for any “hyper-masculine depictions.” What researchers found was that at least 50% of the ads in most magazines, and as many as 90% in some promoted one or more of the following hyper-masculine beliefs:

• Danger is exciting.
• Toughness is a form of emotional self-control.
• Violence is manly.
• It’s fine to be callous about women and sex.

The study indicates that throughout the ads which were analyzed, “The beliefs that toughness equals control and that danger is exciting were more common than the belief that violence is manly or callousness towards women and sex.” Research also showed that hyper-masculine ads were significantly more common in magazines geared toward “younger, lower-income, and less educated readers.” In other words, those who are most at-risk for “appropriating such beliefs and behaviors.” The study also asserts that the perpetuation of the hyper-masculine images in the advertisements is problematic because it “exposes readers to these beliefs and normalizes them.”

Photo: FontShop/Flickr

* * * * * * *

Full Citation:

Vokey, M,  Tefft, B, Tysiaczny, C. (2013, May). An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements. Sex Roles, Volume 68, Issue 9-10, pp 562-576. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-013-0268-1

An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements

Megan Vokey, Bruce Tefft, Chris Tysiaczny

Abstract

Hyper-masculinity is a gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man. HM consists of four inter-related beliefs, namely toughness as emotional self-control, violence as manly, danger as exciting, and calloused attitudes toward women and sex (Zaitchik & Mosher1993). Adherence to HM is linked to a host of social and health problems in North America, such as dangerous driving and violence toward women (Parrot & Zeichner 2003). Advertising is believed to play a role in constructing hyper-masculinity (Kilbourne 1999). In this study, eight U.S. men’s magazines published in 2007–2008, differentiated by readership age, education, and household income, were analyzed for hyper-masculine depictions in their advertisements. Using a behavioural checklist with good inter-rater reliability, it was found that 56 % (n = 295) of 527 advertisements depicted one or more hyper-masculine beliefs. Some magazines depicted at least one hyper-masculine belief in 90 % or more of advertisements. In addition, reader age, education, and income were all inversely related to the prevalence of hyper-masculine beliefs, with HM depictions presented more often in advertisements targeting young, less educated, and less affluent men. Implications of these findings for the well-being of men and society are discussed.

Mark Sherman, Ph.D. - Mr. President, Our Boys and Young Men Need Your Attention

Over at his Psychology Today blog, Real Men Don't Write Blogs, Mark Sherman offers a letter to President Obama requesting more and better support for boys and young men. Like Warren Farrell, he would like to see a White House Council on Boys and Young Men.

Mr. President, Our Boys and Young Men Need Your Attention

A strong Obama supporter asks for his attention to America's long ignored boys

Published on May 9, 2013 by Mark Sherman, Ph.D. in Real Men Don't Write Blogs

Dear Mr. President,

I am a lifelong liberal Democrat and a strong supporter of your presidency. A friend and I drove two hours to canvass for your candidacy in Scranton, PA during the 2008 primaries; I was overjoyed when you first won the nomination and then the presidency that year, and equally, if not more, ecstatic when you were re-elected last year.

I contributed by far more to your campaigns than I ever have to any other political candidate.

I continue to be a huge fan of yours -- bravo for your stands on gay marriage and gun control – but there is one thing about which I have been disappointed: your administration’s apparent lack of concern about how boys and young men are doing in America today. It is in this one area that I have found you, to my dismay, entirely silent. I have been concerned about this issue for 20 years. When I started reading and writing about it I had three sons; they have since been joined by three grandsons. I would love to have had a daughter or granddaughter, but I have simply been blessed by boys. (I suspect Abraham Lincoln may have understood my feelings. When 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to him in 1860, suggesting he grow a beard, she included this line, “Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me.” In his reply, the President wrote, “I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons…”)

I am sure you are aware that on so many measures boys are lagging behind girls, and have been for quite a few years now. 0ne of the best comparisons comes from Tom Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, in his oft-cited "For every 100 girls...": Here is just a small sampling of his statistics: 

"For every 100 . . .

• girls diagnosed with a learning disability 276 boys are diagnosed with a learning disability.
• fourth grade girls who watch television four or more hours per day, 123 boys do.
• girls ages 9 to 11 years enrolled below modal grade there are 130 boys enrolled below modal grade.
• tenth grade girls who play videogames for an hour or more a day, there are 322 tenth grade boys who do.
• girls who are suspended from high school, there are 215 boys who are suspended.
• young women who earn a bachelor's degree, there are 75 men who do.
• females ages 15-24 who kill themselves, 586 males do.
• women ages 18-24 who are in correctional facilities, there are 1439 men who are behind bars."

I realize that women have still not achieved full equality -- whether in terms of salary or position. But if one considers Americans under the age of 25 (and probably even going up to 30), there is little question that it is boys and young men who are lagging.

Even Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, who is well-known for his op-ed pieces on the terrible problems facing girls and young women across the globe, has noted and written about the very different situation here in the United States (and it is one that exists in other industrialized nations as well). In March 2010 he wrote a piece titled "The Boys Have Fallen Behind," where he opens with these words:

“Around the globe, it’s mostly girls who lack educational opportunities. Even in the United States, many people still associate the educational “gender gap” with girls left behind in math.

“Yet these days, the opposite problem has sneaked up on us: In the United States and other Western countries alike, it is mostly boys who are faltering in school. The latest surveys show that American girls on average have roughly achieved parity with boys in math. Meanwhile, girls are well ahead of boys in verbal skills, and they just seem to try harder.

“The National Honor Society says that 64 percent of its members — outstanding high school students — are girls.”

There are efforts throughout the country to rectify this, but there is no movement even vaguely comparable to the effort made to help girls in areas where they have been behind. I believe this is because the effort to help girls came as an outgrowth of the women's movement. Women understandably felt that they did not want their daughters to face the same obstacles they did, and both fathers and mothers of daughters have been excited by the ways in which they have excelled.

Until recently, and perhaps even today, mothers of sons have been excited by not only the success of women, but also of young girls. But I have found that more and more mothers – and grandmothers -- of boys are becoming concerned about their sons' and grandsons' futures. A perfect example is Dottie Lamm, former first lady of Colorado, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1998, and a leading feminist in her state. Ms. Lamm, who has three young grandsons, wrote a piece in the Denver Post in April 2010 titled "Our Boys Are Falling Behind in Education." Her opening lines are “What’s the next battle for an aging feminist? Boys.”

Parents of daughters should be concerned about boys as well. Young women typically want to marry men who are their peers, or close to it, in education, ambition, and earning potential, but as the gender gap grows, finding a partner becomes more and more difficult. This situation is particularly pronounced in the minority community.

To parallel the White House Council on Women and Girls that you initiated soon after you took office, might I respectfully suggest a White House Council on Boys and Young Men? In the meantime, if in one of your speeches, comments, or press conferences, you could just mention the fact that America’s boys and young men need our nation’s attention, it would bring to me, and so many others, a great feeling of hope.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Carolyn Kizer - The Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron

BY CAROLYN KIZER


M.A.K. September, 1880-September, 1955
As I wandered on the beach
I saw the heron standing
Sunk in the tattered wings
He wore as a hunchback’s coat.
Shadow without a shadow,
Hung on invisible wires
From the top of a canvas day,
What scissors cut him out?
Superimposed on a poster
Of summer by the strand
Of a long-decayed resort,
Poised in the dusty light
Some fifteen summers ago;
I wondered, an empty child,
“Heron, whose ghost are you?”

I stood on the beach alone,
In the sudden chill of the burned.
My thought raced up the path.
Pursuing it, I ran
To my mother in the house
And led her to the scene.
The spectral bird was gone.
But her quick eye saw him drifting
Over the highest pines
On vast, unmoving wings.
Could they be those ashen things,
So grounded, unwieldy, ragged,
A pair of broken arms
That were not made for flight?
In the middle of my loss
I realized she knew:
My mother knew what he was.

O great blue heron, now
That the summer house has burned
So many rockets ago,
So many smokes and fires
And beach-lights and water-glow
Reflecting pinwheel and flare:
The old logs hauled away,
The pines and driftwood cleared
From that bare strip of shore
Where dozens of children play;
Now there is only you
Heavy upon my eye.
Why have you followed me here,
Heavy and far away?
You have stood there patiently
For fifteen summers and snows,
Denser than my repose,
Bleaker than any dream,
Waiting upon the day
When, like grey smoke, a vapor
Floating into the sky,
A handful of paper ashes,
My mother would drift away.


Carolyn Kizer, “The Great Blue Heron” from Cool, Calm, and Collected: Poems 1960-2000. Copyright © 2001 by Carolyn Kizer. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P. O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.coppercanyonpress.org.

Source: Poetry (April 1958).

Straight People Answering A Question Gay People Have Been Asked For Years

Most everyone has seen this video already, but I wanted to make sure it's archived here for posterity - I found it through Upworthy, they found it at Wipe Out Homophobia.

If more straight folk thought about this question and their answer, there might be a whole lot more understanding that being gay (or bi, or straight, or poly) is not a choice or a decision - it's who a person is, at birth, as nature intended.

Watch These Straight People Answer A Question Gay People Have Been Asked For Years

Watching these straight people react to being asked a question that gay people have been asked forever is pretty delightful. If only more people were this empathetic and understanding...

Posted by Rebecca Eisenberg


ORIGINAL: By Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker (follow Chris on Twitter). Found on Wipe Out Homophobia.

From Bookforum's Omnivore blog, here is a collection of links on the state of masculinity in America. There are three links to articles exposing the fraud of the men's rights movement (which is not to claim, or at least I don't, that ALL men's rights activists are a poor reflection on men in general - some are good guys and their issues are important). As a movement, this small but vocal minority is giving masculinity a bad name.

The perils of masculinity

MAY 8 2013

9:00AM

• Dean Laplonge and Kath Albury (UNSW): Doing Safer Masculinities: Addressing at-Risk Gendered Behaviours on Mine Sites. 
• Susan M. Landt (St. Norbert): Books for Boys: Multicultural Literature with Strong Male Characters. 
• From Crisis, Donald DeMarco on barriers to teaching boys how to become men. 
• What being a handyman has taught Andy Hinds about male insecurity: Some guys feel really bad about the fact that they don't know how to hang crown molding. 
• The perils of masculinity and the truth about sex: Jonathan M. Metzl reviews Why Men Fake It: The Totally Unexpected Truth About Men and Sex by Abraham Morgentaler. 
• From Vice, Allegra Ringo on why men’s rights activists are celebrating the Brian Banks case for the wrong reason; and Brad Casey went to a men’s rights lecture in Toronto — and discovered that they’re a bunch of losers. 
• Men's rights activists bombard feminist with death threats — and it's the wrong woman.

Charles Ramsey Helps Rescue Abducted Women, Asks that Reward Money Be Given to Victims [UPDATED]

Charles Ramsey has become an American hero after he helped rescue three abducted women being held captive in Cleveland, OH. When offered reward money, he asked that it be given to the victims - this from a man who works at McDonald's, not exactly a life of wealth.

For his actions, his humility, and his generosity, he is a living example of a masculine heart.

[UPDATE: I guess it was inevitable that there was more to the story - Ramsey served time on multiple occasions for domestic violence, and before that for drug abuse, and other crimes. One can hope that this is a new version of the man, that he has learned his lessons and wants to live in greater integrity.]

Charles Ramsey: I'm no hero in freeing of captive women

By Josh Levs, Phil Gast and Steve Almasy, CNN
Wed May 8, 2013

 

(CNN) -- Within hours of becoming a national hero, a viral video star and the top topic on Twitter, Charles Ramsey talked about having trouble getting sleep. 

It wasn't because of all the excitement that followed his knocking down a Cleveland neighbor's door, freeing three women and a girl who police say were held hostage for years. 

Instead, Ramsey told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, it was about knowing he had lived for a year near the captive women on the city's West Side. 

"Up until yesterday the only thing that kept me from losing sleep was the lack of money," the restaurant dishwasher said on "Anderson Cooper 360." 

Neighbor kicked in door to rescue women

Ramsey to 911: 'She's in a panic'

Women rescued after 10-year nightmare

Neighbor heard scream near Castro home 

"I could have done this last year, not this hero stuff," said Ramsey. "Just do the right thing." 

Ramsey recounted Monday night's drama, when he heard a girl scream "like a car had hit a kid." 

He ran from his living room, clutching a half-eaten McDonald's Big Mac, to the house and helped free a woman identified as Amanda Berry. 

"Amanda said, 'I've been trapped in here. He won't let me out. It's me and my baby." 

Who are the three women freed in Cleveland? 

Ramsey and a man named Angel Cordero broke down the door, CNN affiliate WEWS reported in an earlier interview heard around the world. 

Ramsey told CNN he had never seen Berry before Monday, and at first, he could not place the name. 

"Berry didn't register with me until I was on the phone, like wait a minute, I thought this girl was dead." 

"She's like, 'This (expletive) kidnapped me and my daughter,'" he told the 911 operator, according to WEWS. 

After police arrived, Berry explained there were other women inside. When police came out with them, Ramsey told the station, "it was astonishing." 

Berry was last seen after finishing her shift at a Burger King in Cleveland in 2003 on the eve of her 17th birthday. 

The other two women are Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, who disappeared at age 14 in 2004, and Michelle Knight, who vanished in August 2002, at age 21, according to police. 

Ramsey told CNN he is no hero and should not receive any reward. 

"You've got to put that being a coward and 'I don't want to get in nobody's business,'" he said. "You got to put that away for a minute." 

'I barbecue with this dude' 

While Ramsey's quick action in the largely rundown neighborhood made him a hero, his colorful descriptions to WEWS helped make him dream fodder for the Twitterverse. 

Explaining that he had no idea Ariel Castro, his neighbor, may have had other people inside his home, Ramsey said, "I've been here a year. You see where I'm coming from? I barbecue with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music... 

"He just comes out to his backyard, plays with the dogs, tinkers with his cars and motorcycles, goes back in the house. So he's somebody you look, then look away. He's not doing anything but the average stuff. You see what I'm saying? There's nothing exciting about him. Well, until today." 

Castro "got some big testicles to pull this off, bro," Ramsey told WEWS. "Because we see this dude every day. I mean every day." 

He added, "I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway." 

In one of the top tweets about Ramsey, comedian Patton Oswalt wrote, "Dear Charles Ramsey: I am not a little pretty white girl, but I totally want to run into your black arms. #hero." 

Hodge's restaurant in Cleveland posted a message on Facebook saying, "we're extremely proud of our employee Charles Ramsey for not turning his back on the young women. He's a true Cleveland hero. Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with the women, their families and their friends." 

Three separate cases, one rescue

Ohio cop dispels story of naked lady

The search for Ashley Summers

 Restaurant owner Chris Hodgson told CNN that Ramsey goes above and beyond in his duties. 

"You give him something to do, and he'll do more," he said. "We always look forward to seeing him, because you know he's gonna bring a smile to your face." 

Hodgson said people have offered to raise money for Ramsey, but the employee would end up giving it to the victims and their families. 

The company is working with other restaurants to plan fund-raisers for the families, Hodgson said. 

For its part, McDonald's Corp., on its Twitter account Tuesday, said, "Way to go Charles Ramsey -- we'll be in touch." 

Despite his assertions, Ramsey and Berry were praised as heroes by John Walsh, former host of TV's "America's Most Wanted." 

At an awards dinner for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Walsh said he called Ramsey on Tuesday to tell him that. 

"You are the guy who decided in 30 seconds to go up and spring a woman from a house of hell that she's been in and was desperate to get out that door with her 6-year-old daughter," Walsh recalled saying. 

Ramsey said he was raised to help women in distress, said Walsh. 

Ramsey interview goes viral, gets autotune treatment 

Breathless 911 call 

Ramsey's demeanor comes across clearly in his 911 call.

"Hey bro," Ramsey tells the 911 operator. "Check this out. I just came from McDonald's right? So I'm on my porch eating my little food, right? This broad is trying to break out the f-----g house next door to me, so there's a bunch of people on the street right now and s--t. So we're like, 'What's wrong, what's the problem?' She's like, 'This m--------r done kidnapped me and my daughter ... She said her name is Linda Berry or some s--t. I don't know who the f--k that is, I just moved over here, bro. You know what I mean?"

He then answers the 911 operator's questions about the woman, what she looks like, and what she's wearing. 

Ramsey tells the operator an address which he says corresponds to Berry's location, not Ramsey's home address. "I'm smarter than that, bro. I'm telling you where the crime was, not my house," he says. 

"Are the people that she said did this, are they still in the house?" the 911 operator asks. 

"I don't have a f-----g clue, bro. Like I said, I just came from McDonald's." 

The operator then asks him to check whether Berry needs an ambulance. 

"She needs everything. She's in a panic, bro. She's been kidnapped, so, you know, put yourself in her shoes." 

"We'll send the police out," the operator responds. 

~ CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

C.S. Sloan - Mass Made Easy (or at Least Simple)

Over at C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength blog [A Journey through Bodybuilding, Strength Training, Holistic Fitness, Martial Arts, and Contemplative Spirituality], he has posted an excellent and simple model for building strength and muscle.

If you do not already read his blog (or his frequent articles in the muscle mags), do yourself a favor and check him out - he's a smart guy when it comes to building muscle and strength, and he's a lot more than a training guru.

Mass Made Easy (or at Least Simple)

Posted by C.S. Sloan 

I have been lifting weights hard now for over 20 years—the “training bug” hit me big right out of high school, back in ’92. (I had been lifting even before that, during my last few years of high school, but that training was just to help my martial arts; I more or less just played around with weights during those years.) I devoured every single article that I could come across during my first few years of training. There was no such thing as the Internet at the time—yeah, I know, that’s hard for some of you young ‘uns to believe—so this meant reading every single bodybuilding and fitness magazine that hit the newsstands. And it also meant reading every damn article in each one of those rags. (Luckily I also had an uncle who had a lot of old Iron Man and Strength and Health magazines from the ‘70s and before—I devoured the hell out of those magazines too, and later much of that stuff would form many of my training theories and ideas.)

A couple of years later—once I was pretty sure I was an expert on building muscle (tongue planted firmly in cheek)—I wrote my first article for Iron Man magazine. I don’t know how many articles I’ve written since then, but it’s in the hundreds—I have several hundred articles right now on the hard drive of the computer I’m currently staring at, and that’s just for the past 8 or 9 years. But one of the first few articles that I wrote was a little something called “Mass Made Easy.” It was an attempt to put together all of the best methods, keys, and techniques (that were available at the time) for building the most muscle possible in the shortest amount of time. I can’t recall what exactly was in that article—I can only ever so faintly remember writing it—but I’m pretty sure that if I had to re-write the article, it wouldn’t look anything like it did back then. 

Which brings us around to what you are now staring at on your computer screen. What follows—briefly—are the best methods, keys, techniques, etc. for building (yep, you guessed it) the most muscle in the shortest possible time. Here goes:

Follow the “Big 5”

My "Big 5" program appeared in the July/August issue of PM

No matter what kind of set/rep scheme that you use, no matter whether you train with full-body workouts or with 6-way split routines, no matter whether you train your muscles frequently or infrequently, you should never deviate from the “Big 5.”[1] Here is the Big 5 in brief:

• Squat something heavy
• Press/put something heavy over your head
• Pick heavy stuff off the ground
• Carry/drag heavy stuff for distance
• Eat a lot of good calories

Train as Frequently as Possible While Being as Fresh as Possible 

If you have read a lot of my articles or posts, then, yes, I once again uttered that famous, oft-quoted (at least by me) phrase of strength coach/researcher Vladmir Zatsiorsky. Basically, it means that the more often that you can train, the better. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the more often you do train the better off you’ll be. (You still have to recover between workouts.)

It’s been my experience that the majority of guys (and gals) working out, make the cardinal sin of both overtraining and undertraining at the same time. (This is especially true if they read a lot of American bodybuilding magazines.) Many of them do way too much at each workout (overtraining), which means they then have to take way too many days off between workouts for muscle groups/lifts (undertraining).

Train just hard enough so that you can train the muscle/lift (or a lift similar to it) in another 48 to 72 hours. And then build up your work capacity slowly over the course of many months until you can train both hard/long and frequently. At that point, you will be very big and very strong.

Perform a Lot of Full Body Workouts

Freddy Ortiz and Larry Scott - 2 "old timers" who used full body workouts

You don’t have to always train with full body workouts—in fact, I have a feeling you would get bored as hell if you did it all the time—but at least half of your training career should be spent doing them. (That means 50% of your workouts for those of you who are incapable of doing the math. I say that because I’ve talked and/or corresponded with plenty of guys who claim they do a lot of full body workouts, but their training careers—if you could even call it that—proves otherwise.)

If you use a micro-periodization scheme (my preference), this means that you should be doing both full-body and split workouts in the course of a week or two of training. If you are more of a macro-periodization lifter, then this means you should do this within the course of a year of training.

Also, this doesn’t mean that you have to train your entire body in the same workout. One of my favorite tactics is the full body split workout. One workout might be squats, bench presses, and barbell curls. The next workout might be deadlifts, overhead presses, and chins. A third workout might be power cleans, one-arm dumbbell overhead presses, and farmer’s walks. Split workouts? Yep. Full body workouts? You bet.

Utilize a Lot of High Set/Low Rep Workout Schemes

I think—if you want to get great results in the shortest amount of time—the best thing you can do is combine heavy weight, high set, low rep schemes with full body split workouts. I’m talking about stuff such as 10 sets of 3 reps, 15 sets of 2 reps, 5 sets of 5 reps, 6 sets of 4 reps, 20 sets of singles. Workouts where—for the most part, with the exception of 5 sets of 5—the sets are always higher than the reps. These set/rep schemes allow you to train heavy, to recover fast, to generate a lot of force during the entire session, to take minimum rest between sets, and to get a good full body workout within a short period of time.

Utilize the Two-Barbell Rule

Even though this is something that I just recently “stumbled across”—if “stumbled” is even the right word since I’d inadvertently been doing it for a long time—I think it should be adhered to for the majority of your workouts. The two-barbell rule is easy and simple. Basically, every time that you lift, make sure that you do two barbell exercises before you do anything else. (See my post below for a little more info on the efficacy of this tactic.)

Summary

I guess I could come up with more “keys” and “tips” than this brief handful, but we’ll save that for another article. Besides, I have a high-set, low-rep, full-body workout that I need to perform—just the kind of full-body split workout I do all the time.


[1] For a more in-depth look at the “Big 5” see my previous article/post on this subject. Also, see my Planet Muscle article of the same name from a few issues past. You can probably read that on the brand spankin’ new Planet Muscle website—its pretty awesome looking. (And, yes, I am engaging in a little shameless self-promotion.)