Shira Tarrant: Men Speak Out

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Shira Tarrant is currently Associate Professor in the department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at California State University Long Beach. When Professor Tarrant was teaching women’s studies at an East Coast college, she realized her readings primarily focused on the female approach to sexism and feminism.
The number of male students in her classes was constantly increasing, and Tarrant hoped to find a book that offered a different approach to the issues she was teaching.  Her search for such a book was unsuccessful, and thus she was inspired to publish Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, and Power. The book offers unique perspectives on masculinity and feminism from the voices of men around the world.

Shira Tarrant: Men Speak Out

Shira Tarrant is currently Associate Professor in the department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at California State University Long Beach. When Professor Tarrant was teaching women’s studies at an East Coast college, she realized her readings primarily focused on the female approach to sexism and feminism. Shira Tarrant sat down with Mike Walters to discuss men’s roles in society, and why feminism is an issue for all genders.

Men Speak Out also brings men into change-inciting conversations surrounding gender based issues.

“One of the things I was really concerned about was, if I’m teaching a class and I’m talking about sexual violence and rape and sexual assault, and I’m talking to only female students, then we’re on board having a conversation,” says Professor Tarrant. “But we need have men involved in this conversation in order to really prevent the problem.”

And while her classes are focused on gender studies, Professor Tarrant hopes to teach her students that men can use their position in society to redefine women’s roles, rather than conform to their stereotypes.  Gender expression, Tarrant posits, has a range, and masculinity and femininity do not need to remain tied to their traditional definitions.

Shira Tarrant sat down with Mike Walters to discuss men’s roles in society, and why feminism is an issue for all genders.

Follow Shira Tarrant on Twitter: @shiratarrant