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Michael Kimmel presents ‘Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men’
April 2, 2012
Michael Kimmel
Michael Kimmel, a leading researcher and writer on men and masculinity, will present "Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 16, in room 264, Quadrangle Building, Saint John's University.
The lecture, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the SJU President's Office and the Gender Studies Department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.
Kimmel will be speaking on his book Guyland (2008), which is based on more than 400 interviews over a four-year span with young men, ages 16-26. Kimmel's study shows that the guys who live in Guyland are mostly white, middle-class, totally confused and cannot commit to their relationships, work or lives. Although they seem baffled by the riddles of manhood and responsibility, they submit to the "Guy Code," where locker-room behaviors, sexual conquests, bullying, violence and assuming a cocky jock pose can rule over the sacrifice and conformity of marriage and family. Obsessed with never wanting to grow up, this demographic, which is 22 million strong, craves video games, sports and depersonalized sexual relationships. In the end, Kimmel offers a highly practical guide to male youth.
Kimmel, an American sociologist, earned a bachelor's degree with distinction from Vassar College, a master's from Brown University and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. The author or editor of more than 20 volumes, his books include Changing Men: New Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity (1987), Men Confront Pornography (1990), The Politics of Manhood (1996), The Gender of Desire (2005) and The History of Men (2005).
The Gender Studies Department at CSB and SJU offers an interdisciplinary course of study that examines gender and sexuality from social, cultural and biological perspectives. The program is founded on close collaboration between academic departments, enabling students and faculty to utilize the perspectives and methodologies of gender and women's studies across traditional disciplines.