Eine männerfreundliche Annäherung an Literatur – und was Studenten davon halten

Auf der männerpolitischen Website "A Voice for Men" berichtet Dennis Gouws darüber, wie er seinen Studenten und Studentinnen im neuen Fachbereich der Male Studies eine Art maskulistischer Literaturkritik (meine Bezeichnung, nicht seine) näherbringt. Dabei berichtet er anhand eines von ihm gehaltenen Kurses über Männlichkeit im viktorianischen Zeitalter auch, welche Rückmeldungen er hierzu von seinen Schülern erhalten hat:

Among the respondents who successfully applied a male-positive approach to the texts and their broader contexts, both women and men commented on the normative gynocentrism they experienced in literature classes.

Janey, for example, marveled that the course enabled her, "to look at gender roles in a different way." Moreover, she noted that "literature … isn’t all about women," that after "analyzing women’s roles in literature for the majority of the time [she] has been studying English, it was refreshing to focus on something new."

Mickey similarly noted that "it is refreshing to have the male gender" studied "in a positive light," that "the texts … read throughout the course … were a refreshing change from the norm."

Both genders also commented on how misandric assumptions pervade our society: Elsie remarked that the course successfully "allowed [her] to see that men shouldn’t always be seen in a negative way as today’s society tells us we should" and Roger noted that Kipling’s advocating for stoicism in the face of adversity in "The White Man’s Burden" "stands for the greater burden of all men [commonly and regularly] portrayed in the media."

Women and men, however, differed in their reactions to this misandry: the former were surprised at the profundity of the social pressures and the responsibilities inherent in the manhood question and the latter felt vindicated that their experience was being afforded dignified recognition.

Ella appreciated learning about the "the duties and pressures different cultures and time periods put on men"; moreover, she came to appreciate that "men have always displayed tremendous effort to help others besides themselves."

Christine acknowledged the inadequacy of her "stereotypical view of men" to account for the complexity inherent in male-positive criticism: she concluded that as a result of examining "the manhood question, and defining manhood," she now understood that "a man is very multidimensional."

Among the male students, Theo remarked on the "enormous pressure on men to live up to [society’s moral] standards"; in addition he appreciated that "respecting these pressures and treating men with dignity" was inherent "in a male-positive approach" to literature.

Sam also noted that "very few people take the time or effort to consider how the men in society are perceived and the pressures that are placed on them"; he was grateful that the course afforded him "a deeper and more cultured understanding of [manhood and masculinity]" — something he "thought" he had "figured out." Sam concluded with satisfaction, "that is all you can really ask for from a class."

(...) Ted recognized how the gynocentric nature of his education had caused him to internalize misandric ways of thinking about men. He remarked that misandry, "is similar to the mindset … present in previous courses [he had taken]"; moreover, he felt, "finally to take a class that focused on the elimination of [misandry] was [both a relief] and enlightening." Ted shared the following reflection: "I was very interested to see how my thoughts about men had been tinted/shaded from past classes, and I was eager to try and eliminate this type of thought process. This aspect of the course educated me on how to look at men and comment on their actions without coloring my thoughts with a bitter tone."

(...) Alex similarly adopted a male-positive attitude to his educational experience and his extracurricular life, striving for a persistent healthy resistance to the gynocentrism he had encountered in class and at home. "Throughout my life I had never really thought about a male positive approach to anything" Alex remarked; "this class has really taught me to look at stories through multiple lenses because I will always read and analyze stories with a slight male-negative view out of habit, but now I know to stop and look at the same story from a male-positive view in classes and in life."

Gouws zieht nach diesen Rückmeldungen seiner Studenten das folgende Fazit:

From this teaching experience I offer two interesting observations: first, men of varying levels of academic preparation and commitment to studying literature (reflected in their final course grades) benefitted from a male-positive approach to Victorian literature. The students who either successfully undertook male-positive readings of the texts and their context or chose to adopt a male-positive philosophy represented various levels of academic achievement (their course grades ranged from A though D+).

Indeed, those male students who had found the concepts taught in this course sufficiently useful to adopt a male-positive philosophy were men who experienced different levels of academic success in the course.

Second, only male students were in the latter category of male-positive adopters. No women in the class demonstrated a commitment to future allied behavior.

This qualitative study suggests that a male-positive approach to teaching literature —and other courses— could beneficially engage men in exploring their identities through literature and in all aspects of their lives; this approach could also help them build the confidence to demand environments that would succeed academically. Doing that would require them to challenge the gynocentric bias they encounter in academic environments. Moreover, adopting a male-positive approach would not disadvantage women students; they performed as well as the men on the assessments in this Victorian Manhood course.

Although none committed herself to male-positive allied behavior, the women in the class gained a better understanding of men’s identities and an appreciation of the costs and benefits inherent in males’ negotiations of the manhood question.

Hier findet man den vollständigen Aufsatz, der zuerst in der Fachzeitschrift "New Male Studies: An International Journal", herausgegeben vom Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies, erschienen ist. (Australien ist Europa und den USA männerpolitisch ein oder zwei Lichtjahre voraus.) Gouws Text wirft einige interessante Fragen auf, darunter diese beiden: Wenn sich die neuen "Male Studies" an Universitäten durchsetzen, haben Studenten dann in Zukunft die Wahl zwischen diesem Studienfach, wenn sie ein positives Männerbild vermittelt bekommen möchten, und den althergebrachten "Genderstudien", wenn ihnen das gewohnte negative Männerbild lieber ist? Und könnte man nicht wesentlich mehr Jungen wieder fürs Lesen begeistern, wenn man diesen männerfreundlichen Ansatz nicht nur an Universitäten, sondern auch an Schulen verfolgen würde?