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Praise for The Macho Paradox "An honest, intellectually rigorous and insightful work that challenges readers to truly engage in a political discourse that can change lives, communities and nations." --Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes "Jackson Katz is an American hero! With integrity and courage, he has taken his message--that the epidemic of violence against women is a men's issue--into athleticterms, the military and frat houses across the country. His book explains carefully and convincingly why--and how--men can become part of the solution, and work with women to build a world in which everyone is safer." --Michael Kimmel, author of Manhood in America, spokesperson, National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) "If only men would read Katz's book, it could serve as a potent form of male consciousness-raising." --Publishers Weekly "This book leaves no man behind when it comes to taking violence against women personally....After reading this book you can see how important it is to be a stand-up guy and not a standy-by guy, no matter what race or culture you come from." --Alfred L. McMichael, 14th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps and now serving as the Sergeant Major of NATO "A candid look at the cultural factors that lend themselves to tolerance ofabuse and violence against women." --Booklist "These pages will empower both men and women to end the scourge of male violence and abuse. Katz knows how to cut to the core of the issues, demonstrating undeniably that stopping the degradation of women should be every man's priority." --Lundy Bancroft, author of Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men… (more)
User reviews
Katz does this by
I think Katz was best when it came to talking about how male culture was a deterrant against speaking out against gender violence, the problems men face when speaking out (e.g. being called pussywhipped or accused of being gay, peer pressure and male solidarity), guilt over mild to severe forms of past behavior, and how to engage male culture in activism. He used examples of his work with marines, and athletic organizations. He also touched upon some issues of how male activists are unused to women run and dominated organizations, and how that can cause tension, and also whether chivalry is helpful or at cross-purposes with anti-gender violence activism.
Some criticisms were that there were passages where the language he used was biased towards his own conclusions, and where the causal links were a little weak. I am sympathetic to his position, and there are parts where he was preaching to the choir, but I would have liked Katz to have taken the time to clarify how he got to his conclusions. This could be done either by tying in his case studies more strongly with the statistics he gave in Chapter 2, especially when he was talking about the influence of the media in gender violence. Then again, perhaps his focus was on giving a broad overview of the topic, and rebutting common counterarguments.
I do like how he addressed different aspects of the issue: how it isn't about male bashing, how race and ethnicity can play into it, who runs gender prevention presentations in schools, how a man's status within a male hierarchy influences his decisions, various strategies, how children are influenced by society, the psychology of bystanders, how gender neutrality covers up problems, even women who argue against gender violence as a societal issue, and the pros and cons of collaboration with organizations not generally known for their ant-gender violence stance.
I think this book is good for the framing of gender violence as a men's issue, and trying to engage bystanders into helping/preventing gender violence, its strategies, and overview of the subject. I'd say it was readable and engaging for someone who wasn't already familiar with the topic. I'd want to look over the theoretical arguments more carefully, and the language he used in some places. (But I'm not willing to invest the time in a reskimming the book, and it's borrowed.)
Note: Katz compares misogynistic behaviors and remarks to racist behaviors and remarks, to argue the former shouldn't be done. This only works if the audience is anti-racist, or if they recognize those behaviors or remarks as racist. For example, the equation of misogynistic jokes with racist jokes.
Starts off well and then flags towards the end, with the last third being a bit repetitive and lacking the energy of the beginning.
Should be required reading for most men and most leaders. I suspect a lot of what I have just read will take time to settle and come to terms with.
If you're a