A once-thriving organization on campus is now inactive despite a recent effort to restart the group.

The UNT chapter of Men Against Violence was initially started on campus by male student athletes with the goal of ending violence of all kinds.

“Out of 35,000 students, there have to be some people who see it as a problem and something definitely worth their time,” said Derek Kerl, a member of the organization and UNT graduate. “I would hope so.”

More (link).

Cross-posted on our MySpace Blog.

We could have done anything with our time that evening. So why did we protest? The answer is simple: “Girls Gone Wild,” Mantra Films and founder Joe Francis promote the exploitation and objectification of young women.

Francis claims that he is giving women the chance to empower themselves. They contend that they are doing young women a favor. This couldn’t be further from the truth. How does GGW operate? First of all, many club owners actually pay GGW to come to their club. Mantra producers and cameramen often follow girls around clubs, handing them free drinks and cash in an effort to ‘persuade’ them into their bus to perform sexual acts. If the girls say ‘no,’ they follow them around until they are drunk enough to say ‘yes’ and they film these intoxicated girls signing consent.

Once they enter the bus, girls are given more alcohol until they are drunk enough to be coerced into performing on film. Is this truly consent? If you cannot sign on a loan or drive a car while intoxicated, signing a legal document while intoxicated should be out of the question. This is bad business and incredibly dangerous for women.

In 2006, GGW was fined $2.1 million by a federal court for failing to keep age records of the girls who appeared in their videos. The original charge was filed under a law designed to prevent sexual exploitation of children. The company recently admitted to featuring underage girls in several films. Francis has been accused of rape several times and other crimes. Once again, I think we have done enough ‘research’ to realize that Francis and his producers run a bad business.

The men who buy these films are being sold a fantasy. The problem is that, for women, rape and violence can be a life-long reality. These films give men the idea that there are ‘normal’ young women roaming around bars just waiting for the chance to ‘go wild’ and have sex with them. It does not matter how many times they say no because (according to the video) they want to say yes. Men attend these events expecting sex; a few guys walking into Rockin’ Rodeo told us that rather bluntly. It is not only about sex, it is about domination. GGW is feeding a rape culture; they are creating an unsafe environment and unrealistic expectations for women and encouraging negative roles and behaviors for both women and men.

While we don’t have the power to shut GGW down, we have the power to keep them out of Denton. We do not want them to come back and we suspect that most other people don’t want them here either. They are creating an unsafe environment for women and feeding destructive behavior. This is something that people from all parts of the Denton community can agree on. This debate is not about liberal, conservative or about whether or not some guy has a problem with FMLA. This is about keeping Denton safe.

Men are fueling all of this and supporting Mantra by allowing them to film in Denton when we could easily keep them out. My question is this: what are we going to do about it?

Cross-posted on our MySpace Blog.

I recently saw a television advertisement for Coca Cola’s Full Throttle energy drink that featured different sorts of men chasing after a Full Throttle big rig. And by doing so, each individual mob member reclaimed something that they, apparently, did not have before—the right to be a real man.

At the commercial’s conclusion, the message was clear. The words “Let Your Man Out” remained on the screen, and I began to think. Instead of thinking about how ridiculous or annoying the whole premise was, I started to think about why Coca Cola decided to advertise this particular product this way. There is a growing trend among advertisers to market “masculine” products to men by going over the top, while citing the average American Man’s loss of manhood.

The definition of Masculinity is in flux right now, and advertisers are aware of this. Susan Faludi warned us that the same tricks that were (and still are, on many levels) used by society to force women into strict gender roles during Feminism’s various waves are now being used on men. In an age where few people agree on a clear-cut definition of Masculinity, boys and men can consume a product and be secure in their identity, and women (supposedly) will want these boys and men for their power and dominance. Passionate talk about these advertisements and our society’s push for more dominant manhood is relegated to two categories: people either feel that it’s ridiculous or that there really is a need for more dominant men.

What is almost never discussed in these conversations is what this push for a more dominant strain of manhood is supposed to do. “Letting Your Man Out” could reduce men to merely demonstrating their hyper-masculinity, a man with no real use to our society, a man who doesn’t really do anything. At best, this manliness is solely for decoration. At worst, this ornamental masculinity could produce more aggressive boys and men. In either case, our society does not seem to be concerned with producing men that can take care of themselves or constuctively contribute to our society in any way.

In the push to shed everything that is deemed “unmanly,” these characteristics parallel some aspects of fifties nostalgic feminine gender roles in an ironic twist; the only way to express your gender in the ornamental role is by purchasing accessories to remedy your insecurities. So what happens now?

Are men going to heed the advice of women who have seen and heard the pitfalls and anguish of those who have tried to force themselves into a convenient stereotype so members of the “opposite” sex will want them? Are we, as men, going to continue to sacrifice our creativity, individuality, and emotions to capitulate to a downsizing of our humanity to mindless corporate widget machines? Are you going to stand as a passive by-stander while a few people with power continue to perpetuate a culture that robs almost everyone involved?

What are you going to do about it?

The student group has also been flourishing with new members and events. Meetings are being set up for the semester.

Currently MAV is setting up presentations for the coming months. If you would like MAV to speak at your event, just click ‘Request a Presentation’ under navigation. All inquiries are welcome!

MAV will continue to hold meetings through April and in the coming weeks, we will present at Texas Women’s University and the University of North Texas. As always, you can find more info on the calendar.

Need more information about MAV presentations? Check the about section of our website or check out a few example slides from a recent presentation. If you would like to schedule a presentation, please fill out this form.