Abstract
In the “post-feminist” era many popular gender narratives reinforce essentialist and biological understandings of gender difference, pit the genders against one another in a zero-sum game of social power, and posit that men have become the real victims of gender discrimination. The currency of these narratives presents both a challenge and a pedagogical opportunity in the classroom. Focusing on deconstructing the narrative of male victimhood offers an opportunity to engage male students by considering the ways that men suffer from patriarchy without abandoning a consideration of the power dynamics that provide the context for that suffering. An approach is presented in which students are encouraged to build empathy and solidarity through a process in which they identify dichotomous gender constructions, link them to the gendered distribution of power represented by patriarchy, discuss the harm such constructions pose to both men and women, and use these discoveries to rewrite gender narratives that re-interpret the subjective experiences underlying the male victimhood narrative.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Berkowitz, D., Manohar, N., & Tinkler, J. (2010). Walk like a man, talk like a woman: Teaching the social construction of gender. Teaching Sociology, 38(2), 132–143.
Blake, M. (2015). Mad men: How a feminist once hailed by Gloria Steinem launched the men’s rights movement – and inspired an army of haters and trolls. Mother Jones, 40(1), 16–23, 62.
Chamallas, M. (2011). Backlash, covering, and the state of feminist legal theory. Issues in Legal Scholarship, 9(2), 1539–8323.
Connell, R. W. (2005). Change among the gatekeepers: Men, masculinities, and gender equality in the global arena. Signs, 30(3), 1801–1825.
Durkheim, E. (1979/1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. New York: The Free Press.
Elam, P. (2010). If you see Jezebel in the road, run the bitch down. A voice for men. http://www.avoiceformen.com/2010/10/22/if-you-see-jezebel-in-the-road-run-the-bitch-down/ Accessed 26 Jan 2015.
Faludi, S. (1991). Backlash: The undeclared war against American women. New York: Crown.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000). Crime in the United States, 1999. U.S. Department of Justice. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/1999 Accessed 3 Feb 2015.
Kimmel, M. (2013). Angry white men: American masculinity at the end of an era. New York: Nation Books.
Messner, M. (1998). The limits of ‘the male sex role’: An analysis of the men’s liberation and men’s rights movements’ discourse. Gender and Society, 12(3), 255–276.
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (2014). National report on hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and HIV-affected communities. www.avp.org/storage/documents/2013_mr_ncavp_hvreport.pdf Accessed 3 Feb 2015.
Sommers, C. H. (2000). The war against boys. Atlantic Monthly, 285(5), 59–74.
Valdivia, A. N. (2010). Feminist scholarship in the new decade: Three challenges to steer us through turbulent times. Women & Language, 33(2), 109–112.
White, H. (1980). The value of narrativity in the representation of reality. Critical Inquiry, 7(1), 5–25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jollymore, A.D. (2016). Make Us Whole!: Deconstructing Gender Narratives to Build Solidarity. In: Haltinner, K., Pilgeram, R. (eds) Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30364-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30364-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30362-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30364-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)