Guy Taking a Women\'s Studies

¶ … guy taking a women's studies class?" A number of my friends have asked me this question. Of course, no one asks a woman "why are you studying guys" when they take a class in English or politics that is focused mainly on male authors or historical subjects. Other friends, male and female alike, have praised me, saying that my presence in the class is an indication of my sensitivity and concern for women's issues. However, I regard taking a women's studies class as an act of personal exploration -- to study the place of women in modern society is also to study the place of men. And both men and women are often confused about what is expected of them, in terms of their roles and life aspirations. Women's studies classes allow both women and men to critically view the role of gender in their society, and to give gender the attention it deserves, as it many be ignored within the context of other classes.

On a very simple level, the question of roles and responsibilities of the genders arises constantly in daily life. I often ask myself: does the fact that I am male mean I have to hold the door for my date? Pay for both of our meals? Assume the role of the breadwinner when I marry, especially after my wife and I have children? To live in this modern society, one could argue, is to constantly grapple with the questions raised by a women's studies class. Conventional gender-related expectations are continually challenged by modern life, not just by academic or political debates, but also by shifts in world circumstances. For example, many men were 'downsized' in the current recession, and found themselves at home, caring for their children, while their employed wives bought home the family paycheck. No stereotype, however ingrained, could deny the need of the family to make a living. The fact that so many men were let go from their jobs in a relatively short period of historical time has challenged the idea that a man is what he earns -- and also the idea that a woman needs a man's income to survive. Men have had to re-focus and re-define themselves as men, just as women had to do during the beginning of the Second Wave of the feminist movement in America.

Women make up a greater percentage of college graduates than their male counterparts, a woman is Secretary of State, the most recent appointment to the Supreme Court was a female -- yet many of the women in my life, girlfriends and friends alike have struggled with issues of self-worth in relation to their appearance and confidence in their own abilities. Clearly, there is still a need for a women's movement for economic, political, and social reasons. And I am struggling to answer what my role is in this movement: a son of a strong woman, and a future husband and father.

Although this is a women's studies class I think what we are ultimately studying is what it means to 'be' human. How does being labeled male or female affect the way we relate to others and see ourselves? We are studying our relationships -- with the same and with the opposite gender, and also our self-perceptions. I was taught from an early age to be respectful of women, not in a patronizing way, but by stressing the need to pull my weight around the house -- sometimes by cooking and cleaning, other times through more stereotypically masculine activities. I also had to show consideration and respect for everyone's opinion, male and female. My mother considered herself a feminist because she believed in equality. She believed in treating others fairly, and demanded not to be treated as a second-class citizen. By setting this role model of strength, she enabled me to have a strong sense of self-worth, but also made me capable of respecting strength in others, both men and women.

In this class, I particularly look forward to studying what feminism means in the context of other cultures. Different cultures have assigned different roles and responsibilities to men and women, and what feminist liberation means in one culture is not the same in all cultures. For example, many women in Muslim nations find covering their hair to be empowering. They think this enables them to be defined in a way that is not centered upon their sexuality. Others see the veil as discriminatory, because it focuses so much on a women's potential to be viewed as a sexual being. Studying gender in a cross-cultural context enables us to better understand the limits and particular nature of our own cultural perspective.