In 2004, bell hooks wrote:
"Everyone needs to love and be loved—including men. But for men to understand love, we must be able to look at the ways in which patriarchal culture keeps them from understanding themselves."
Crises of masculinity have been proclaimed periodically, and we are now arguably facing another. Among those reaffirmed by the current crisis are domineering, predatory men of a type that many had hoped to see relegated to history. However, reactionary and more aggressive forms of masculinity are instead being resurrected.
Those advocating for their return have managed to attract large followings thanks to social media and the validating aura of Trumpism. In the wake of #MeToo, it’s as if a perverse reversal has occurred: perpetrators have been recast as victims, and through this “victimhood” are now able to reassert their presence.
Of course, at its core, little of this is new: patriarchy is perhaps one of the oldest systems of all. Yet still the question is: how to respond?
This one-day conference invites us to consider the possibilities, and to explore masculinity, patriarchy, sex, and love from multiple perspectives.
“What we need is an angel,” Simone de Beauvoir said, “neither man nor woman—but where shall we find one?"
11:00, Welcome, Jorinde Seijdel (Studium Generale Rietveld)
11:15, Melanie Bühler, Introduction
11:45, Reba Maybury, I Come in Peace
12:30, Lunch
13:30, Asa Seresin, The Object of the Object of Desire
14:15, Amanda van Hesteren, I Want to Go Higher
15:00, Break
15:15, Eisa Jocson, Corponomy