"#MeToo has made it clear that no one – parents, teachers,
co-workers, women or men, young or old – can stay silent about what we
know about how ubiquitous sexual harassment and abuse are. The Bystander Moment
tells us how to intervene. It’s not just speaking up once in the heat
of the moment. It’s about speaking up all the time against a culture
that perpetuates ideas of harmful masculinity. The Bystander Moment lays
out what works, why it works and why we all need to be part of the
solution. It should be mandatory viewing for teachers, coaches, parents,
and in the workplace."
— Gary Barker, Ph.D.
President and CEO, Promundo-US
"The Bystander Moment is a terrific, timely, and necessary
video. Longtime pro-feminist activist and cultural critic Jackson Katz
powerfully demonstrates that silence is a form of complicity, and
passionately and expertly illustrates how and why we must transform rape
culture. This video needs to be screened in classrooms and communities
far and wide."
— Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., creator of the award-winning Killing Us Softly video series
"The Bystander Moment is a must-see documentary. Urgent and
timely, Jackson Katz take a deep dive into what we must do in this
moment to move towards gender equality. We owe a huge debt to Jackson
for using his voice, intellectual firepower and cutting-edge cultural
critique to offer us real tools to transform rape culture at its roots.
I’ve screened it in my class at Harvard Law, and intend to show it every
semester moving forward!"
— Diane L. Rosenfeld, JD, LLM
Lecturer on Law
Director, Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School
"At a time when our nation and the world are witnessing
unprecedented levels of courageous women willing to share their stories
of victimization and increasingly expose the prevalance of gender
violence in societies, The Bystander Moment: Transforming Rape Culture at its Roots,
offers us hope and a path forward. Jackson Katz's challenge for all of
us to operationalize our own leadership and influence within known peer
groups to confront abusive situations before they occur is no simple or
easy task. At times, leading to prevent can include falling short of our
desired outcomes. Thankfully, the bystander approach makes us stronger
in this moment together."
— Alan Heisterkamp, Ed.D.
Director, Center for Violence Prevention, University of Northern Iowa
"The Bystander Moment sets itself apart in its honest
approach and its commitment to tackling the root causes of violence. It
moves away from the ‘rape whistle’ style of prevention education, which
only teaches skills to intervene right before an act of violence occurs,
and seeks to stop violence at its core by addressing problematic
cultural norms. The advocates and educators we work with will benefit
immensely from this resource."
— Amanda Grady Sexton
Director of Public Affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
"Rape culture isn’t going to disappear on its own. Resistance takes courage, thought, and practice. The Bystander Moment
invites us to dig into the social roots of sexual and domestic violence
and to consider what each of us can do to challenge the words and
behaviors that normalize oppression. This film is an empowering
contribution to the conversation about where #MeToo can take us."
— Kristin L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology at Western Washington University
"The Bystander Moment is a great documentary film that
builds on the momentum of the #MeToo movement and sheds light on what is
needed to prevent gender-based violence. It unpacks how we are all
bystanders, and often silent observers/contributors, to the pervasive
culture of rape in our society. With examples of various sectors taking
action, from sports to military, the film emphasizes that we all have a
role to play in reshaping social norms in our communities."
— Alisha Somji, MPH
Associate Program Manager at the Prevention Institute
"The Bystander Moment is a tremendous addition to our
current dialogue on gender equality and gender-based violence. The film
clearly, accurately, and powerfully explains why it is imperative that
we address peer-group and cultural norms if we want to prevent sexual
harassment and sexual assault. Hopefully this will quickly become a
go-to resource for higher education, sports, and military audiences.”
— Kevin Swartout
Associate Professor of Psychology and Public Health, Georgia State University
"The Bystander Moment demonstrates how the bystander
approach averts and thwarts sexual violence and re-embodies masculinity
by upending forms of masculinity that underpin sexual violence —
bystander intervention peacefully constructs masculinity in a new and
affirmative way. The film is perfect for classroom use as it provides an
example of practicing dissident politics within a particular
personalized and positive masculine practice. Another superb achievement
by Jackson Katz!”
— James W. Messerschmidt
Distinguished University Professor of Sociology, University of Southern Maine
Author of Hegemonic Masculinity: Formulation, Reformulation, and Amplification
"How did we get to #MeToo? What were the steps we followed as a society to nurture and feed a culture of violence and sexism? The Bystander Momentprovides a critical insights into these questions. The spotlight is
placed where it must be: men. We are encouraged to look beyond the
individual actions and the reactive work of each of us should do,
especially men. It creates an opportunity to reflect critically on the
systems, the cultural norms and the role they play into justifying,
minimizing and celebrating the use of male violence against women, other
men and gender and sexual minorities. This is a moment that should
become a movement. Jackson Katz brings a sense of urgency and action
that is needed, timely and founded on decades of experience challenging
men’s violence against women.”
— Sebastián Molano
Founder of Defying Gender Roles
"This video offers critical insights into the bystander phenomenon
relative to rape and sexual assault. In the typical style and quality
that we have come to expect from Jackson Katz, it is extensively
documented with events and images from past decades (1970s and 1980s) to
the present. Most men (and boys) do not rape but many “good men” do
little to stop other men from doing so. Katz addresses the reasons
behind this failure pointing out that fear of “social disapproval” from
one’s peers is a powerful deterrent. The video also addresses the many
different ways that women are harmed by the failure on the part of good
men to call out and challenge the few men who do engage in assaultive
behavior. In Katz’s view, being willing to step up and stop an instance
of sexual misconduct, while important, is not going to solve the
problem. Rather, societal norms must be changed. For real change to
occur, the sexist attitudes and beliefs that people have about men,
women, and sexual encounters must be exposed and challenged. If active
bystanders challenge those basic attitudes and beliefs, improve behavior
will follow suit."
— Patricia Yancey Martin
Daisy Parker Flory Emerita Professor of Sociology at Florida State University
"True sexual violence prevention is not just one method, and this
documentary gives a glimpse into why approaches should be layered. An
amazing video!"
— Krystal George, MPA, CHES
Interim Director of the Women's Center at Duke University
"The Bystander Moment is a great tool for all of us working
with men and boys to overcome a culture of violence and misogyny that
translates into violence against women and girls. I will use it in our
training as we implement our new Sexual Harassment Policy."
— Oswaldo Montoya
MenEngage Alliance
"The real benefit of the The Bystander Moment is how
effectively it reinforces the message that we all, at every moment, have
the opportunity – and responsibility – to help dismantle the rape
culture we live in. The work of preventing men's violence against women
and girls needs to happen every day, in all of our social environments
and interactions, not just during the 'moment' of an assault... and we
need more male-identified folks to take up this work urgently in ways
that are accountable to women and girls."
— Brian P. Heilman
Senior Research Officer at Promundo
"In this most recent powerful piece, Jackson Katz pushes audiences
to grapple with the pervasiveness of gender based violence on our
campuses and in our lives. Katz encourages us to rethink and reframe how
we understand bystander intervention in a way that advocates not merely
for intervening when situations occur, but rather, pushing us to shift
the culture because it is the foundations of abuse that are getting
neglected. He offers us a solution that is focused on encouraging a
shift in both the focus and power of peer culture that does not rely
solely on potential abusers. Katz is using this current social moment
amidst high profile cases of gender based violence and advocacy to
encourage us all to redefine how we see strength, masculinity, and the
nature of our social interactions. He is challenging us to do better and
to make visible the silence that surrounds these environments of
complicity. Like his previous work, The Bystander Moment sheds
light on how we have come to this place and provides tangible solutions
as to how to move forward. It is really excellent."
— Sarah Prior, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University
"In The Bystander Moment, Jackston Katz skillfully
synthesizes the variety of approaches to working with bystanders, some
of which are more effective than others. Acknowledging that there is no
'one size fits all' solution, Katz demonstrates that those which are
most effective emphasize intervention not at the point of attack but
rather address the underlying attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that
serve as the foundation of gendered violence. In doing so, this film
arms us all with the understanding, background, and knowledge needed to
break our complicit silence."
— Amy Blackstone, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology & Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine
"Katz challenges us to focus on the foundation of rape culture,
which is the attitudes and behaviors that we encounter on a daily basis.
He pushes us to be bystanders everyday, and warns us about the danger
of ignoring the role masculinity plays in rape culture. Through this
film, Katz is calling on everyone to infuse concepts related to
masculinity norms in sexual assault and bystander prevention work. I
plan to use this film in my campus sexual assault course in order to
energize students and help them recognize the immense power they have in
their day-to-day lives to shift rape culture. A broad range of
audiences will benefit from this film, as the use of real-life examples
are relatable and inclusive of issues relating to race/ethnicity,
gender, and sexuality. Katz reminds us that not only is it possible to
change social norms, but that norms have continuously shifted over time
in this country. None of this is set in stone. Katz leaves us feeling
inspired for social change, and helps us to see that the change we long
for starts within ourselves."
— Victoria Burns, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies at
Florida International University
Chair of the Committee on Violence
Against Women for the American Psychological Association
“The Bystander Moment is timely, powerful, and accessible,
while rooted in both research and practice. Jackson Katz insists that
men have to be leaders in the movement to challenge and resist the norms
surrounding both rape culture and toxic conceptions of masculinity.
This is the only way real change will occur. This is a message that we
do not hear often enough, especially from men. Everyone should see this
important film.”
— Amy Leisenring, Ph.D., Sociologists for Women in Society
"Feminists have long asked men not only to listen to women, but also to not be afraid to challenge other men’s sexism. The Bystander Moment: Transforming Rape Culture at its Roots is
a great example of how we can do just that. As many men look for
guidance to transcend patriarchy, Jackson Katz helps us understand how
the “good men”—men who don’t harass or rape women—have a crucial role to
play in holding other men accountable for abuse. Katz’s analysis
embraces the best of contemporary critique of power and violence, and
his suggestions for how men can rise to the challenges in this #MeToo
moment can be put into action immediately. Hats off, once again, to the
Media Education Foundation for making another film that speaks to our
struggle to create a safer and saner world."
—Dr. Robert Jensen, Emeritus Professor, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin, author of The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men
