POR CRISTINA BONILLO Ciudad de Guatemala

Sergio Morales, Procurador de Derechos Humanos presentó ayer el informe que evalúa los dos años de aplicación de la ley contra el femicidio, a la Oficina de la Alta Comisionada de Naciones Unidas para los derechos Humanos (Oacnudh), el cual será trasladado directamente a la relatora de ONU contra la violencia contra las mujeres, Rashida Manjoo.

El informe platea cambios importantes respecto al Código Penal explicó Lesbia Tebalán, asesora del procurador en temas de impunidad.

Explicó que en dos años apenas hubo 64 sentencias en base a esta ley (no todas condenatorias), y que las agencias del Ministerio Público especializadas en temas de femicidio tenían hasta el día de ayer y desde la aprobación d e la ley 395 investigaciones en marcha de las que solo 8 se tipifican como femicidio.

Tebalán explicó que los jueces y fiscales aplican en muchos casos el precepto de homicidio según establece el código penal, o el de asesinato, que contempla las mismas penas que el femicidio, sin embargo permite medidas sustitutivas y conmutabilidad de la pena, algo que no perite el delito de femicidio.

Entre las recomendaciones, está que el estado comprenda que el problema del femicidio “va más allá de la persecución penal hay que atacare una cultura que va contra la mujer, el femicidio demuestra odio contra la mujer”, dijo Morales. El procurador instó a que instituciones como el Ministerio de Educación o el de Cultura se involucren más en temas educativos y de concienciación para atajar el problema de la violencia contra la mujer. “Tiene mucho que hacer todo el estado”, apuntó.

El representante de la OACNUDH, Alberto Brunori, explicó que se enviará este documento a la relatora y según los procedimientos a seguir en estos casos posiblemente puede pedir al estado algún tipo de aclaración sobre las denuncias presentadas en el informe. Además señaló que servirá de insumo para la oficina y para realizar su informe anual acerca de la situación de los derechos humanos en el país.

http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/justicia/Jueces-renuentes-aplicar-ley-Femicidio_0_301769908.html

Hoy fue entregado el Informe sobre Femicidios por parte de la Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos (PDH) al representante del Alto Comisionado de Derechos Humanos, donde se manifiesta que el Gobierno no ha cumplido con los acuerdos suscritos con las leyes decretadas.

Sergio Morales, procurador de los Derechos Humanos, manifestó preocupación por el incremento en las muertes de mujeres. “En los últimos seis años se ha reportado un aumento del 79 por ciento de muertes de mujeres. Sólo en el 2009, se informó, hubo setecientos veinte asesinatos, que da como resultado que dos mujeres mueren diariamente”.

Asimismo, Morales comentó que entidades como la Policía Nacional Civil no están capacitadas para atender los casos de mujeres que solicitan ayuda, “cuando las féminas llegan a poner denuncias, los cuerpos policiales las cuestionan, no las toman en serio y eso no es así, ellas asisten a ellos para ayuda no para que las culpen por los hechos”.

http://lahora.com.gt/notas.php?key=70379&fch=2010-07-19

Asociación Guatemalteca Morazanecos Ausentes en USA (AGMAUSA), Red por La Paz y el Desarrollo de Guatemala (RPDG), Mujeres Iniciando en las Américas, Mujeres Abriendo Caminos, Alianza de Organizaciones Guatemaltecas de Houston, Texas: Consejo Comunitario Guatemalteco, Comité Guatemalteco, Posadas Guatemaltecas, Unity Soccer League, Voces Unidas por los Inmigrantes, Congarigua, Juventud Garifuna, La Nueva Juventud con Fé, the Bronx, NY, América Calderón, Washington, DC, Leonor Hurtado, San Francisco, Dora Pimentel, Denver, CO, Lic. Marvin Pinto, Los Angeles, CA, Oscar Sandoval, Chicago, IL, Casa de los Migrantes, Las Vegas, NV, Alas de Justicia, Los Angeles, Fundación Sobrevivientes, Guatemala, UDEFEGUA, Guatemala.

URGENT ACTION: SUPPORT REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) FOR GUATEMALANS LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES

Dear Friends of the people of Guatemala, Guatemalan immigrants need your support to request Temporary Protection Status (TPS) due to the devastation and state of emergency declared in Guatemala in the aftermath of the passage of tropical storm Agatha. Guatemalan immigrant organizations sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to consider the current state of emergency and recommend granting TPS to Guatemalans living in the United States. The Government of Guatemala has officially requested a Temporary Protected Status for Guatemalans.

Granting TPS to Guatemalans does not correct the underlying injustice in economic and immigration policies, but is an acknowledgement of the enormous humanitarian crisis caused by tropical storm Agatha.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• ENDORSE THE LETTER: You can sign online at: The Petition Site. If you or your organization would like to sing on to the letter please respond via e-mail to Erasmo Morales (631)786-7048 erasmo@agmausa.org with the following information:

NAME OF ORGANIZATION:__________________________

CONTACT PERSON:_______________________________

Address:________________________________________

Phone:____________ E-mail:________________________

This first letter will be sent on Monday, June 14th with copy to Attorney General Erick Holder. DEADLINE TO SUBMIT YOUR NAME TO SIGN INTO THE LETTER IS Sunday, June 13TH. If needed a second letter will be sent by Wednesday July 7th However if you or your organization do not want to sign into the letter, you can use the same format provided and send your own letter.

DONATIONS:

MUJERES INICIANDO EN LAS AMÉRICAS is collecting money donations. M.I.A. is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation and all donations are tax deductible, where applicable.

You can mail your contribution to: MUJERES INICIANDO EN LAS AMÉRICAS, 1256 Conway Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626 — U.S.A.

• CONTACT YOUR SENATOR/CONGRESS REPRESENTATIVE

Send them a letter requesting they support the petition of a Temporary Protected Status for Guatemalans.

Contacting the Congress in English? http://www.contactingthecongress.org/index.html

¿Quiere ponerse en contacto con miembros del Congreso en Español? http://www.contactingthecongress.org/index.es.html

Letter proposal to the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

July 7, 2010

Ms. Janet Napolitano

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, DC 20528

Dear Ms. Napolitano:

We are writing to you to fully support the request by Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry, presented to the United States Government on June 4, 2010, that in the wake of tropical storm Agatha, Guatemalans in the United States be granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). We urge you to positively respond to this petition as early as possible.

As portrayed in the media, on the last week of past May, extremely heavy rainfall caused by tropical storm Agatha fell over Central America and southern Mexico. Guatemala was most affected by this disaster, with loss of life, widespread damage to infrastructure, and agricultural losses.

In Guatemala, there are more than one hundreds confirmed deaths, and many other persons are missing, with entire communities buried. We have been informed that more than 120,000 people have been displaced, and that some 700 communities have been affected. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, and tens of thousands have been damaged.

According to the Washington Post article on June 2, 2010, Guatemala suffered“… huge losses in the agriculture sector. The country’s association of exporters reported a 75 percent drop in production in the vegetable and shrimp industries, while the National Coffee Association forecast a loss of 122,000 bags this season.”

The government statistics so far of the damage caused by Agatha are: 88, 971 homeless people; 142,959 persons were evacuated, and 152,488 affected; 497 schools and 107 towns were damaged, and damage to 400 bridges has made communications difficult. The Pan American Health Organization has issued a health alert due to different illnesses that can affect the population from diarrhea to dengue. Last year, because of a drought 136,000 families were affected with malnourishment. The Pan American Health Organization reports that Agatha just increased the risk of this population due to the loss of crops, and that famine will affect the area.

As you are well aware, Guatemalan communities and citizens here in the United States send more than $4 billion a year in remittances that help maintain social stability and provide basic needs to relatives in Guatemala. These remittances take on added importance while Guatemala recovers from the storm. We recall that when TPS has been granted in the past to nationals of other countries, remittances immediately increased by not less than 25%. This would amount to the most significant aid to recovery and reconstruction, and it would be provided by our own nationals.

Therefore, until the country can get back on its feet, we believe that granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Guatemalans in the United States will help to ameliorate the desperate situation of those victims that may benefit from funds sent by relatives in the United States. We also believe that it is in the interest of this country not to return people so soon after this natural disaster, because that action may generate further instability in a country where poverty was already very high before the storm. Such a grant would certainly not be without precedent, as Nicaraguans and Hondurans were granted Temporary Protected Status after suffering widespread destruction from Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

We believe that the conditions that justify this request for TPS –a significant calamity in a country, high risks for nationals of that country if they are forced to return, and an official appeal from the government of the affected country—have been satisfied. Therefore, we strongly support granting TPS to Guatemalans, and we ask that you give this request your most serious consideration.

Sincerely,

Signatures of sponsors and endorsers

CC: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,  Attorney General Erick Holder

…

]]> http://miamericas.info/2010/06/09/mia-supports-tps-for-gua/feed/ 0 http://miamericas.info/2010/06/09/trip-report-on-establishing-the-hombres-contra-feminicidio-program-in-guatelinda/ http://miamericas.info/2010/06/09/trip-report-on-establishing-the-hombres-contra-feminicidio-program-in-guatelinda/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:24:15 +0000 MIA http://miamericas.info/?p=891 Twelve Weeks in Guatemala City

I arrived in Guatemala on Feb 20, and dove straight into starting programs. Was very fortunate to find a a place to live right smack in the middle of the action, zona 1. I am subletting a room at a friends house. I wanted to stay in zona 1 for many reasons. 1st to not have to wake up to traffic every morning to zona 1 where all the networking needs to be done and almost everywhere I need to go to work is within easy walking distance.

In Guate I felt the need to walk with the pueblo and bump into people and talk to them. It was a surreal experience for me. It was almost like going back to the 3 years i lived in Guate as a teenager.

We did two 4 day workshops at USAC. Sadly, during the course of the workshops two of the students were killed while getting snacks near the university. So sad.

We also started our annual programs at the all boy’s school in Zona 8.

You may remember that we did workshops in the PNC academy in 2009. Since then, they had a complete change of leadership both at the academy and in the PNC overall. Thanks to our work nurturing relationships, we were able to get in again this year. This year we are year round. Remember MIA”s goal is to get in the curriculum and this time we actually are in the midst of signing an agreement to be part of the curriculum on an ongoing basis. This is HUGE!!!

The PNC is in the middle of construction, there is a interium director who does not have the power to sign anything, but does have the power to allow us in every other Friday. We go in 5 classes per Friday and each class has between 40 and 60 students. I feel very optimistic that we wil be signing an agreement with the PNC Academy to adopt our campaign. I have been sitting with instructors and all of them want our manuals. It is a matter of time for the academy to have a stable director and then i think we be able to get a contract.

We’re finding that there are plenty of places ready to take us in to give the workshops. The biggest challenge for us is to find funding to make our work happen. I want to share with much pride that we were also able to get in with an agreement adopting our campaign. The department of health at USAC has welcomed us to their programs. I signed the agreement only days before my departure last May 15. This means that every single student that signs up to go to college will have to go through our classroom *as a requirement*. I am so new inside the USAC system that I still dont understand how this is going to unfold, but during my time here i am in constant contact with their personnel that we are are going to plan it out. USAC is the model and when MIA is able to hire permanent staff, we will be moving in to some of the satellites of USAC. We will become a BIG movement within the university.

I’ve also been dealing with the challenges of getting MIA recognized at a nonprofit in Guatemala. The latest was that my name was misspelled on some paperwork and I had to get it corrected and resubmitted, adding two weeks to the process. In addition, I had to get an ID card at the Guatemalan DMV, and in the process learned that my fathers name on my birth certificate was some stranger, a name I’d never heard of before. This opened up an old wound, my not really knowing who my birth father was. During this trip, I also was spending some time tracking down my birth father. Apparently I’m the result of an Immaculate Conception, which sounds better than not knowing who my father is. My blood father, according to the latest story I hear, was a boss in a bus company where my mother’s then-ex-husband worked. My father had been a bus driver and worked his way up to being the boss. Later, he was killed when returning home from work.

Also met with the Association of Widows of the bus drivers killed while working. As you may know, there have been hundreds of bus drivers killed on duty in the last few years. A reporter asked me why I was getting involved with the bus driver widows and I started crying: I realized right then it was through what happened to my blood father that leaves me feeling so closely connected with the widows.

We are working on a program to help the widows get into small businesses by creating micro loans. In a micro loan program, we would sponsor the women to get basic training on how to make a business work, and a small amount of funding, about $100, to get the means to make their business happen. This is the newest cause MIA adopted, and stuggled with it, because we barely have money for the campaign, but to see the widows going in circles trying to help themselves I could not look the other way. When I visited their little whole in the wall there were five women that for some reason I connected stongly and asked if they would be willing to attend a workshop on Sundays at Jenny’s house. They all come from a distance, one comes from a 2 hour and a half distance and tends to be the one who arrives first. They have been meeting for four Sundays in a row except last Sunday because of the Pacaya volcano and Tropical Storm Agatha. Through Jenny we were able to find them counseling for free on Saturdays too. These women have had no time to grieve. They were forced over night to pick up the pieces for their children and have not had the chance to be swallowed by their pain., and allow themselves to grieve.

I want to end with telling you a little about our facilitators. They are six young men who come from different schools within USAC. Two are artists, who are studying to become music teachers. Our longtime friend Randy from Colectivo Rogelia Cruz is going to school to become an archeologist. William is going for a teaching degree, Gary is going for business administration and Derick is about to graduate as a civil engineer. They are all volunteering and we give them a small stipend for their time and expenses. We meet twice a week.

Our chapina volunteer from Canada, Maria Luisa, is working with them while i am here to support the facilitators in their readings on gender issues and to train them to become strong facilitators.

When the academy called me, I was not prepared with facilitators and told the interim director that MIA was ready to go. I walked out of there with Randy who is a long time supporter, and asked him what to do. He said we (volunteer facilitators) have to go forward and MIA has to train us overnight. We started calling people we have worked with in the past and 5 accepted immediately. I feel I have been training a little too rapidly, but I had no choice.

When we met with the academy they wanted to start that same week I said we couldn’t start that quick, but to give us 2 weeks and we would be ready. Never told them it was because we didn’t have workshop facilitators trained yet. It was exciting to make this happen over night. The facilitators are loving the work and the hands-on training / workshops. We all read and discuss the readings. Then, the next day they train to present, and they all facilitate to the rest to make sure they understand the curriculum.

I can go on and on about the facilitators, I am very fond of them. Because we are meeting so often we have become like a family. They look forward eating together while exchanging ideas on how else they can contribute to a Guate without violence and day dreaming when we have an office. We are meeting at my friends house where I sublet a room, but sometimes we can get loud and we don’t want her to kick us out. I am hoping come next year we can get some serious donations and can have an office and employ them full time.

Unfortunately we were not able to get funds from the private company we were hoping from. As a matter of fact, it was them who prompted my trip in February and decided to stay for so long. But it is all good, we were able to network and find us BIG place to work in where we have a captive audience and helps us from running around all over the city. This private company asked that we revisit the project in July., wish us good luck.

Lastly, we were able finally meet with close people to the first lady again. As you may remember, we met with the first lady last July. She delegated the job of assisting us to certain subordinates, then her words were forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind. Being there for so long, allowed me to sit on it and finally got a person with the power to remind the first lady to revisit our conversation. I will be meeting soon with someone in a position to make this happen, to discuss the national school system adopting our curriculum. This reconnection with the first lady talk from last July delegation happened thanks to assistance from Norma Cruz. Norma picked up the phone and put us in contact with the right people within the Avocado House (Palacio Nacional).

Helping girls in the path of education is an on going project. Because of limited fundsy we are presently only helping 5 young girls. Please help us help them keep them on track.

And now to end, I want to announce that I will be going back to Guate for at least another 3 months if not more. Maybe till the school year ends., that is in October. Chris and I have been talking for the last two years and finally both us are o.k. with me living long period of times in Guate. He will be visiting me a lot .

Don’t forget that we are a 501(c)(3) non profit, and so all donations are completely tax deductible.

ABOUT THE HOMBRES CONTRA FEMINICIDIO CAMPAIGN

Hombres Contra Feminicidio is an educational campaign in Guatemala which objective is to train teachers, students and people in power on how to prevent and erradicate violence against women. M.I.A. strive  to bring the campaign to teachers nationwide in order to bring the topic into the schools curriculum.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration status granted to eligible nationals of designated countries or parts thereof.

During the period for which a country has been designated for TPS, TPS beneficiaries may remain in the United States and may obtain work authorization. However, TPS does not lead to permanent resident status (green card).

When the Secretary terminates a TPS designation, beneficiaries revert to the same immigration status they maintained before TPS (unless that status had since expired or been terminated) or to any other status they may have acquired while registered for TPS. Accordingly, if an immigrant did not have lawful status prior to receiving TPS and did not obtain any other lawful status during the TPS designation, the immigrant reverts to unlawful status upon the termination of that TPS designation.

TPS is not granted to persons that try to register after the first registration period ends, so if a person of a country that is currently under TPS did not register the first time TPS was assigned, then that person does not qualify for TPS.

2. Who is eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status?

You may be eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) if:

• You are a national of a country designated by the Attorney General for TPS. You may also be eligible if you are a person who has no nationality but last habitually resided in a designated country

• You apply for TPS during the specified registration period. The registration period is stated in the Federal Register notices of designation and is also generally noted in USCIS press releases

• You have been continuously physically present in the U.S. since the TPS designation began, or since the effective date of the most recent re-designation

• You are admissible as an immigrant and are not otherwise ineligible for TPS

• You have continuously resided in the U.S. since a date specified by the Attorney General

Note: This date is listed in the Federal Register notice of designation and may be different than the date TPS became effective.

3. Who is ineligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status?

You are ineligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) if you:

• Have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the U.S.

• Are a persecutor, terrorist or otherwise subject to one of the bars to asylum

• Are subject to one of several criminal-related grounds of inadmissibility for which a waiver is not available

For a Spanish version, see this link.

Reports from my own family and friends In Guatemala City say that they are well (thank goodness) following the Pacaya volcano and quakes caused by the volcanic explosion four days ago. However, the down pours by tropical storm Agatha has made the clean up efforts almost impossible. News reports on independent networks say the devastation has hit those marginalized by poverty the most.

Also see: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/31/guatemala-first-volc.html

On my trip to Guatemala last December I saw thousands of makeshift homes on the side of cliffs just below the foothill of the Pacaya volcano. Most of these people are probably now homeless and/or unaccounted for.

I am writing to you in an effort to raise relief funds for the victims in Guatemala City. You are welcome to make a donation here or go directly to miamericas.info/contacts or our Causes page on Facebook.

Other places you can also go to donate are AmeriCares.

I truly hope you find it in your heart and wallets to send a few dollars to help those communities affected the most by these natural disasters.

In Solidarity,

Shirley Aldana-Schwarz

Representative for Mujeres Iniciando en las Americas

Please do not forget the women, the victims and survivors of the Feminicide still going on in our beloved Guatemala.

…

Pablo Molina, facilitador del taller.

El taller impartido fue “La Vida Dentro de una Caja” y fué cofacilidado por Pablo Molina y Daniel Velásquez.  Ver las fotos que a continuación presentan el desarrollo del taller.

Los participantes fueron divididos en grupos de trabajo para así discutir los temas que se trataron en el taller.

Entre las sugerencias de temas futuros a tratar, estuvo el de conocer más de cerca la situación de Guatemala y el feminicidio.

El local para el taller fué prestado gracias al apoyo del Comité de Justicia Social y el YMCA Centre-Ville.

Por la noche se llevó a cabo un evento para conmemorar la vida de Mons. Gerardi. Puede leer sobre este evento AQUÍ.

La violencia puede ser física, sexual, psicológica y económica.

¡No te vistas así! ¡No salgas! ¡No trabajes! ¡Estás gorda! Estas pueden ser palabras que inician un círculo que, aunque no incluye golpes, es considerado como violencia de la que mujeres y niños son víctimas frecuentes.

Según Mayté Fernández, psicóloga de la Fundación Sobrevivientes, la violencia de los hombres hacia las mujeres tiene sus orígenes en las relaciones de desigualdad de poder, es decir, los hombres han sido educados para ser los proveedores y las mujeres para el trabajo en el hogar, situación que ha alejado de aquellos de su lado sensible.

“La violencia tiene que ver con el dominio de una persona que quiere que se hagan las cosas a su manera. Lo que han hecho todos los convenios es poner en evidencia que es una situación cultural y de mala educación”, explica la experta, quien agrega que es algo que se debe cambiar.

En Guatemala, según Fernández, los crímenes contra mujeres evidencian odio hacia la persona por el simple hecho de ser mujer, a lo cual se le llama misoginia. En la actualidad el país ostenta el segundo lugar en el ámbito latinoamericano en feminicidios, que en 2008 y 2009 sumaron 877 casos, de los cuales el 97% quedó en la impunidad.

Del total de muertes de mujeres el 32% se dio en el hogar, 43% fuera de este y el 25% en otras circunstancias.

Mecanismo de denuncia

Cuando hay situaciones de violencia hay que poner la denuncia en el Ministerio Público lo antes posible para que haya pruebas físicas de las agresiones. También ayudan los testimonios de vecinos. Las secuelas devastan psicológicamente. Es por ello que se tiene que procurar tratamiento profesional. La denuncia es importante. Los desacuerdos son necesarios, pero lo que hace la diferencia es cómo se van a resolver. Se debe tener respeto hacia la pareja.

Las penas

La ley contra el feminicidio y otras formas de violencia contra la mujer contempla condenas relacionadas a la magnitud del tipo de daño de que es víctima una fémina.

• Feminicidio, 25 a 50 años de prisión sin derecho a redención de pena.

• Violencia física o sexual, de 5 a 12 años de prisión.

• Violencia psicológica, de 5 a 8 años de prisión.

• Violencia económica, de 5 a 8 años de prisión.

]]> http://miamericas.info/2010/04/19/no-solo-los-golpes-provocan-heridas-permanentes/feed/ 0 http://miamericas.info/2010/04/08/male-studies-vs-mens-studies/ http://miamericas.info/2010/04/08/male-studies-vs-mens-studies/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:47:27 +0000 MIA http://miamericas.info/?p=833 First came women’s studies, then came men’s studies, and now, a new field in reaction to both: male studies.

Scholars of boys and men converged Wednesday at Wagner College, in Staten Island, N.Y., to announce the creation of the Foundation for Male Studies, which will support a conference and a journal targeted at exploring the triumphs and struggles of the XY-chromosomed of the human race — without needing to contextualize their ideas as being one half of a male-female binary or an offshoot of feminist theory. Organizers positioned themselves in contrast to men’s studies, which is seen as based on the same theories as women’s studies and is grouped together with it as gender studies.

More than anything else, the event was a chance for supporters to frame men and boys as an underrepresented minority, and to justify the need for a male studies discipline in a society that many perceive to be male-dominated.

Lionel Tiger, a professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, said the field takes its cues “from the notion that male and female organisms really are different” and the “enormous relation between … a person’s biology and their behavior” that’s not being addressed in most contemporary scholarship on men and boys.

“I am concerned that it’s widespread in the United States that masculinity is politically incorrect,” said Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men.

The culprit, said Tiger, is feminism: “a well-meaning, highly successful, very colorful denigration of maleness as a force, as a phenomenon.”

Paul Nathanson, a researcher in religious studies at McGill University and co-author of a series of books on misandry — the hatred of men and boys — conceded that “there is some critique of feminism that’s going to be involved” in male studies. “There are some fundamental features of ideological feminism over the last 30 or 40 years that we need to question.”

He also decried “the institutionalization of misandry” which, he said, is “being generated by feminists, [though] not all feminists.”

Male studies’ combative tone toward feminism and women’s studies programs is one reason why Robert Heasley, president of the American Men’s Studies Association, turned down an invitation to speak at the event. “Men’s studies came out of feminist analysis of gender, which includes biological differences” — the very thing male studies says is different about its approach.

Heasley, an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, also sees the “new” discipline as an affront to his field, which has been around for three decades. “Their argument is that they’re inventing something that I think already exists.”

Male studies will hold its first conference at the New York Academy of Medicine on Oct. 1 and 2, but AMSA already has an annual convention, which met in Atlanta late last month. The foundation will launch Male Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal next year, but thousands of journal articles on men’s studies have already been published.

Rocco Capraro, an associate dean and assistant professor of history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, said that “men are both powerful and powerless.” Though men and boys as a group may be powerful, “today’s discourse on individual men is not a discourse of power — men do not feel powerful in today’s society.”

Instead, they feel ashamed of their masculinity. While women may perceive pornography as degrading to their gender, men consider it to be a manifestation of “sexual scarcity, rejection and shame,” he said. “Porn falls into a larger structure of masculinity as a shame-based existence.”

Primary and secondary schools, as well as higher education, have been so heavily influenced by feminism, Tiger said, “that the academic lives of males are systematically discriminated against.” If the female-favoring gender gaps in postsecondary enrollment and graduation rates damaged a group other than males, “there would be an outcry.” But because men and boys are perceived to be a powerful group, few academics and policy makers see much of a problem.

Heasley, of the men’s studies group, said that much of what male studies’ supporters are propagating is untrue, or at least not the whole story. “These are really unfounded claims that are being made,” he said. “It’s kind of a Glenn Beck approach.”

Edward Stevens, chair of the On Step Institute for Mental Health Research, said he wants to see male studies search for ways to improve male academic performance. “What are the ethical concerns of devoting 90 percent of resources to one gender?” he asked (though without explaining exactly what he meant). “What are the unintended consequences of the failure of our academic institutions to consider the 21st century needs of males?”

— Jennifer Epstein

Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/08/males