By Meadow Cupps
Feminist movements can be mischaracterized as anti-man, which is why it is important for inclusive movements to support men as allies.
Plattsburgh State’s Title IX office hosted two events over Wellness Week focused on educating men on feminist ideas. A Zoom meeting was held focused on educated men and boys on bystander intervention Wednesday, Feb 12 and the first of six dialogues on healthy masculinity was held in the H.U.B on Friday, Feb. 14.
The Healthy Masculinity Dialogue will be hosted every other week until April 25, and is led by Plattsburgh’s men’s masculinity group. The Valentine’s day discussion was hosted by the Educational Opportunity Program’s Senior Counselor Taj Ellis and Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student Jonah Nemetez.
The first dialogue was called early due to lack of participants, but the topic remains important to the men’s masculinity group.
The EOP’s assistant director Charlson Joseph partnered with the Title IX head coordinator Kim Irland, Ellis and Nemetez to form a men’s masculinity group on campus last year.
Ellis was inspired by his time on campus as a student where he participated in a women’s group.
“I just thought to myself when I was a student, ‘Why isn’t there a men’s masculinity group on campus?’ So I met up with Kim to get one going.” Ellis said. “The women’s group is great, but masculinity can be such a controversial topic, so it needs a space to be discussed.”
Ellis and Nemetez hope to use the frequent discussion series’ to reinstate on campus what masculinity means and steer conversations to allow students to learn about masculinity in a healthy environment.
“After being a part of both groups, I’ve realized there is no real definition of masculinity. However you identify yourself, masculinity comes along with it.” Ellis said.
Nemetez agreed with Ellis, stating that traditionally masculine ideas like toughness or strength should be practiced by anyone of any gender healthily.
When enforcing gender roles too rigidly, toxic and unhealthy masculinity takes root, both Ellis and Nemetez said. This is why it is important to promote healthy masculinity in everyone.
Irland said the benefits for students who participate in this organization are great, as it allows for a safe space to be seen and heard for anyone on campus who wants to share their voice.
“It’s important to dialogue about because toxic masculinity can put up walls and stop conversations. Talking about how it can be healthy breaks these stereotypes,” Irland said.
Men on campus were asked to share their opinions on masculinity, and over half provided the traditional definition. Some cited masculinity as something held by a head-of-household, providers or cited other paternal familial roles.
As students on campus struggle to understand masculinity in a greater capacity, the dialogue series will continue to be important to host.
“We need a program like this to help men on this campus identify what masculinity looks like, if it has the capacity to be toxic or healthy and in what ways we can support healthy interpersonal behaviors in general,” Ellis said.
