Men are Animals: The Perils of Naturalizing Male Violence and Sexuality

Mar 07, 2016

Abstract:This lecture explores popular enthusiasm for putative scientific beliefs that men have minimal control over their sexual and violent “natures” and that they must be managed and restrained, usually by societal restrictions, and by the women in their lives. A folk biological narrative can be compelling when trying to understand gendered undercurrents in biological explanations about human behavior pervasive today in various societies. Nonetheless, the biology of maleness may be more remarked upon than understood. Why and how analytic frames referencing heredity, genes, and hormones hold sway in the popular imaginary in three societies (China, Mexico, and the United States) at this par­ticular historical moment rests on more than simply the credibility of scientific discovery.
Speaker:Matthew Gutmann is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA. His research and teach­ing focuses on men and masculinities, public health, politics, and the military.
Registration is not required. Light lunch to follow. For more information, see the poster.University Centre, Peter Wall Institute, Seminar Room 307, 6331 Crescent Road, Vancouver