Chris Crass has a new essay in response to the recent Isla Vista massacre. In it, he discusses the ways in which men need to begin to confront the cultural violence of misogyny the nurtures the world views of young men such as Elliot Rodgers. Chris calls on men to engage with feminist theory, in particular:
“As men, we must learn from, and join with, feminist movements to redefine what it means to act like a man, so that we can act like many kinds of men, and/or other genders entirely. Some of us can build on our ancestors’ traditions of different kinds of masculinities, and in many cases, we already have models of masculinity around us that we draw inspiration from. But we must collectively, along with women and people of other genders, redefine masculinities in ways that actively replace misogyny and homophobia with love and compassion. We must collectively redefine masculinities in ways that center visions and values of economic, racial, gender, disability and environmental justice. As men, let us work to heal from the training we’ve received to be soldiers in the war against women, and let us join with people of all genders to end all of these wars. Beyond the nightmare of patriarchy is a world of possibilities: Let us be courageous, and go there together.”
At the end of the piece he offers a list of books to help begin this process of study and self-reflection:
• Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
• Men’s Work: How to Stop Violence That Tears Our Lives Apart
• Conquest: Sexual Violence and the American Indian Genocide by Andrea Smith
• Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis
• Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale by Maria Mies
• Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
• The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love by bell hooks
• Boys Will Be Men: Raising Our Sons for Courage, Caring and Community by Paul Kivel
Have any of these books been influential in your understanding of sexism, patriarchy, and/or cultural violence?