University News

WIU Women's Center to Offer 'It's On Us' May 1

April 27, 2017

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MACOMB, IL - The Western Illinois University Women's Center and the "It's On Us" campaign will offer a free men's engagement event at 6:45 p.m. Monday, May 1 in the Multicultural Center.

Geared toward cis-male identified students, this program will include a showing of the 2013 documentary "Tough Guise 2," a free dinner and an interactive discussion about male gender identity development and what it means to be a man in modern culture. The goals of the program include addressing the lack of programing on men and masculinity and involving more male-identified students in the Women's Center through activism.

The film argues "the ongoing epidemic of men's violence in America is rooted in our inability as a society to move beyond outmoded ideals of manhood." The film critically analyzes masculinity in relation to race, ethnicity and social class. The purpose is "to empower a new generation of young men -- and women -- to challenge the myth that being a real man means putting up a false front and engaging in violent and self-destructive behavior."

The film's creator, Jackson Katz, is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the fields of critical media literacy and gender violence prevention education. He has lectured on hundreds of college and high school campuses and has conducted hundreds of professional trainings, seminars and workshops in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.

Katz is the co-founder of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and was one of the key architects of MVP's innovative and influential bystander approach. MVP is the leading gender violence prevention initiative in college and professional athletics, and has been implemented in all major branches of the U.S. military.

Katz is also an internationally acclaimed lecturer, the creator of a number of educational videos for college and high school students and the author of two books, "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help" (Sourcebooks, 2006) and "Leading Men: Presidential Campaigns and the Politics of Manhood" (Interlink Books, 2013).

For more information about Katz, visit jacksonkatz.com.

To register for the event, RSVP to Josh Fredrickson at JC-Fredrickson@wiu.edu by April 30.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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