Steven A. Schapiro

Issues of what it means to be a man, masculinity, issues with his wife. Around race and gender and interconnected areas while he was doing his doctoral work. He now teaches in Fielding Graduate University with other middle-age men.

He is working on a model that cuts across various issues, such as Freire’s notion that people’s vocations is to become more fully human.

The slides were a bit difficult to read, as they has white text on a light background.

How can we connect personal limitations to larger issues.

Michael Kaufman, who wrote about finding a link between our power and our powerlessness. A reproduction of patriarchy is continued through this. If we can understand the pain through these issues,

An integrated model of an anti-sexist pedagogy for men

T group, Freire’s education for critical consciousness, and anti-oppressive education

Anti-oppressive is social justice education, which

Also used Kegan with defending, surrendering, and reintegrating - with holding environments needed to support those functions. 

This work is about phases and different learning environments from a course he developed and  teaches over a semester or through short-term intensives.

He causes disequilibrium first, rather than just tell people that they have to be fixed or have to change. After this experience and the freezing / unfreezing happens, he then works with support and action groups to help maintain the the changes and to prevent reverting once they get back to the initial settings.

National Association of Men against Oppression of Woman

There was a question about taking this model outside the classroom

All kinds of masculinities, and he looks at the intersection of gender and race and class. Homophobia and heterosexism. He spoke about homophobia as holding the glue of sexism together.

Breaking through and experiencing our own pain, then allows for the ability to then do something with this.

MY QUESTION -  can you clarify some of the assumptions you make about the men you work with?

• he never knows who he will get and what their issues may be when they begin. One assumption he makes is that all men are raised in a society that is sexist, and that is in the air we breathe and is everywhere. People do not want to be told they are bad and should be changed. It is important for people to get in touch with gender roles and how they keep them from the relationships they want and how those toles are linked to structures of sexism.

Another question was about how he does not undertsnad what he would learn in the course and to be more the life of the person he wants to be when he is done. How or what would be learned? Have to give people the tools for how to change.

SOmebody asked if he uses appreciative inquiry in this issue. Once people think about what it means to be a man and some positive experiences of this, then that is part of the creatring part to be a model or vision.