Michael Kaufman

Anti-Sexism | Feminist Movement | UN Fourth World Conference on Women - Bejing, China | GLBTQ | INCITE | Men's Liberation | Conclusion| Anti-Sexism Sources

"The essential question for us is not whether men are predisposed to violence, but what society does with this violence" ( Kaufman, 32).

Michael Kaufman's The Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Men's Violence highlights violence and masculinity. Kaufman calls these secotrs of violence "corners" in the triad that operates in most aspects of social , economic, and poilitial life. Each corners also overlaps and relates to other corners. Kaufman says, "The first corner cannot be confronted successfully without simultaneously challenging the other two corners of the triad. All this requires is dismantling of the social geeding ground of violence: patriarchal, heterosexist, authoritarian, class societies... And together, we surmise, they will fall" ( Kaufman, 31)

The 1st- Violence Against Women- From Kaufman we can "understand that this violence is an expression of the fragility of masculinity and its place in the perpetuation of masculinity and male domination" ( Kaufman, 40).

The 2nd- Violence Against Other Men- We see fights and put downs between men often in public, sports, and media. Kuafman calls this "a discharge of aggression and histility" but also believes these acts "reinforce the reality that relations between men, whether at the individual or state level, are relations of power" ( Kaufman, 42).

The 3rd- Violence Against Yourself- Kaufman explains how there is the formatin of a masculine ego which teaches men to keep aggression and other emotions internalized. After this formation men become "pressure cookers" filled with emotions and it is directed towards oneself and also at women and other men. This then transfers masculinity into an object. Kaufman says that "men's preoccupation with genital power and pleasure combines with a desensitzation of the penis...it becomes his tool, his weapon, his thing"( Kaufman, 45).

Kaufman uses a quote from Emmanuel Reynaud that brings together violence and masculinity together, "What he loses in enjoyment he hopes to compensate for in power; but if he gains an undeniable power symbol, what pleasure can he really feel with a weapon between his legs?"

All quotes taken from PDF file [1]