in brief: male studies course ‘not endorsed’ by the university of south australia
Image: Cathy Wilcox/SMH
Just a few days ago, we were all shocked to discover that the University of South Australia was going to be offering an online course on male studies, lead by a group of lecturers who associate themselves with anti-feminist organisations, websites and groups.
It is the first course of its kind in the world, and UniSA was praised and scorned all over the inter-webs for opening its doors to a course that seemed to be all about retaliating against an apparent feminist ‘control of the agenda.’
Professors on the list for teaching the course include Miles Groth, Roy Den Hollander and Gary Misan, all of whom have some connection with anti-feminist activism. However, Dr. Misan stated that none of them ‘are extreme or anti-feminist’ and furthermore, that ‘the aim of the courses are to present a balanced view … [because] it’s very difficult for anybody who has opposing views to get a word in.’
A balanced view, eh? Well, I think we’d all love a bit of that. How about a course that features that same amount of female and male writers, philosophers etc. in its repertoire? When that happens, we can all finally take a big breath of relief. Until then, we have this to deal with – a course that seems to be going backwards in time, quite literally, as Hollander likens ‘the position of men today to black people in America’s south in the 1950s … and blames feminists for oppressing men.’
However, just yesterday news broke that UniSA ‘did not endorse views of the suggested lecturers’ and that the course had not actually been officially approved. The National Union of Students president Deanna Taylor spoke about her concerns on a course such as this that made it through most of the approval process before being canned, stating ‘it’s not long before proposals like the ones that were rejected actually get approved.’
So thankfully, this course will not go ahead with these lecturers at its helm. However, it did get me thinking – is a male studies course a necessity? Is it perhaps a good idea to teach young people about the role of males in society – through a critical and analytical lens, run by people who do not favour one side of the coin? What do you think?
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Personally, I think we should keep it at ‘Gender Studies’, but with an equal and balanced analysis of both genders, and intersex, transgender, transsexual and other identities, in the courses. You can’t have a thorough look at a male’s role without having a look at a female’s and vice versa, surely?
Jennifer
Jennifer, I agree with you. For me, feminism has revealed how gender roles and expectations repress both sexes, albeit in different ways.
However, the course that the Advertiser originally wrote about is about men’s health – a certificate for health professionals to investigate health problems individual to males. The University dismissed the Advertiser’s version as ‘contrived’ controversy (see this article : http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/mens-course-about-health-not-anti-feminism-unisa/story-e6frgcjx-1226800934189)
I think the Advertiser ran the misinformation as front page news because they know how the internet works. It’s clickbait central.
I agree that instead there should be courses offered that focus on both genders equally – for instance, I would have loved it if my English courses had equal parts male and female authors on the curriculum. Because that is not so, I had to take specific courses about feminism and gender studies so that I could read books and theories by women. I find it all a bit ridiculous that by now, this sort of thing is still on such an uneven keel.
I didn’t pick up on that piece of information Lou, and that just goes to show how great the internet is at hiding facts that people want hidden! I wonder if a course such as men’s health will ever run, or maybe now with all the controversy the university will want to push something like that to the back burner.