The Observer, November 16, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 11
Campus workshops to counter gender violence
The Flora Stone Mather Center for Womenâ€'s fifth annual project on Men and Gender will be held this Sunday and Monday. The Project is open to men on the Case Western Reserve University campus and in the surrounding community.
â€"Issues of gender violence reach far beyond an incident of rape,â€" said Emily Newman, programming intern for the FSM Center for Women. â€"They extend through the belief that women are not as capable as men, and that men who show emotion are feminine. We hear and see examples of this mentality everyday, and yet there is little to no attention being paid to this pressing topic.â€"
According to Newman, the Project on Men and Gender began â€"to remedy the lack of responsiveness on campus and to spark dialog concerning issues surrounding gender stereotypes.â€"
This yearâ€'s event will be facilitated by a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization called Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR). MCSR has traveled around the world, and its workshops and strength campaign have reached over 2 million students and youth-serving professionals. The California Coalition against Sexual Assault called MCSR â€"the most compelling and promising social marketing campaign to engage young men in the prevention of sexual violence.â€" MCSR does not blame men for gender violence. Instead, it emphasizes the power men have to become aware of and campaign against sexual violence and a gender-biased climate.
â€"Those in attendance to this yearâ€'s Project will be given the tools necessary for peer education and for bringing awareness to action in their everyday choices,â€" says Newman. â€"The opportunity will be given to identify positive male role models, challenge harmful aspects of traditional masculinity, and learn to value alternative visions of male strength.â€"
On Sunday, MCSR will hold a full- day intensive training session from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Nord 310. Attendees will learn about MCSRâ€'s work as well as how they can help prevent menâ€'s violence against women. MCSR will also demonstrate how men can spread awareness of this issue. With this training, these men can take the education they receive during the Project on Men and Gender and apply these lessons to their lives and to their communities.
Mondayâ€'s event will be divided into two workshops conducted simultaneously in Nord 310 A and B from 6-8 p.m. One workshop, â€"Menâ€'s Role in Gender Violence Prevention,â€" will examine the meaning of what qualifies as being a â€"manâ€" in todayâ€'s culture. The other, titled â€"The Language of Rape Culture,â€" will analyze the impact of vocabulary upon society, either in promoting or discouraging violence. Both workshops will show how even men who are not abusive can learn about behavior that may unconsciously encourage gender stereotyping or lead to violence.
â€"Weâ€'ve all seen the posters and we know the statistics â€" 90 percent of all sexual assault cases reported on college campuses are those of men against women, and 60 percent of those cases take place in residence halls,â€" Newman says. â€"It is time that we take responsibility for not only such ubiquitous crimes, but for the general lack of emphasis of promoting positive aspects of both masculinity and femininity and the further cultivation of healthy relationships.â€"
Space is still available for these workshops. To RSVP, e-mail ern4@case.edu or call (216) 368-0985 and indicate workshop preference. More information about Men Can Stop Rape can be found at www.mencanstoprape.org.
