Why isnt there a "gender & men's studies"?

Question

Why isnt there a "gender & men's studies"?

Answer 1

I always hated the idea of  a course on womens studies. However, when I studied art history, I began to understand the idea better. I studied the role of women as artists and this was a real eye opener. The subject matter of womens' paintings in the 19th century, early 20th century for instance, was so restricted to the domestic scene, to the extent it was only acceptable to paint children or still life and many paintings are views from a balcony etc. They were not allowed to socialise in the outside world the same way as men. Had it not been for those such as Pankhurst trying to get us the vote etc, we would still be confined today to domesticity only. Sewing and playing the piano at best! Maybe many men would like this- but that is another debate.  I am glad I was able to have an education like men and the hope of equal pay.  Studying this helps us realise how we marginalise certain people in society.

Regarding men's studies- this should be considered as a topic for debate- it is not just about a gender divide. If it simply highlighted testicular cancer as an issue- there would be no harm. Also, the role of men as contributing to crime figures would be an interesting issue- why do they commit most of the crime? This is not a downer on men or women, but can be useful to view as a field of study to understand society better as a whole in general.

Answer 2

cos men aren't really into this sort of thing.

Answer 3

Gender Studies and Women's Studies are legitimate academic disciplines.  Men's Studies isn't.  There is no need for a Men's Studies because men, as a group, have not been disenfranchised and oppressed like women have.  

For the same reason, many colleges have African American Studies but few, if any, colleges have White Studies.

Answer 4

this has always kind of bothered me. are women not a gender?

Answer 5

Because there seems to be no such thing as Mens Studies.

Plenty for women though.

Answer 6

Because men are not self obsessed and, at least in the past, have not regarded themselves as a victim group. Mind you, militant feminists are changing that, and totally s******g up the country at the same time.

Answer 7

I first signed up for this site in July of '06; during this time, I've also spent some time in the Forum, for discussing this site.

I'm here to provide historical background.

This category used to be called "Women's Studies."

There were numerous requestions to either rename it Gender Studies, or to add a Men's Studies or Men's Issues category.

When I saw posts on the Forum arguing for things like Men's Issues, there would be staff replies to this effect: There are already appropriate categories for the kinds of questions you've listed, such as Men's Health and (bunch of other categories, that's the only one I remember, specifically).

So, at some point, they did change the name of this category, to be more inclusive; they've rejected the notion of adding a category specifically for the guy-folks.

If you want to read more about all this, including YA staff input, you could go to the Forum and do some searches.

Answer 8

Because no one loves zee men.

:P

Answer 9

I wonder how many times this question has been asked.