2015 35 min 1-932869-95-6 This film has subtitles English

Guyland

Where Boys Become Men
A Lecture with Michael Kimmel

or

Synopsis

In this powerful film based on his bestselling book, sociologist Michael Kimmel maps the troubling social world where boys become men -- a new stage of development he calls "Guyland." Arguing that the traditional adult signposts and cultural signals that once helped boys navigate their way to manhood are no longer clear, Kimmel provides an astonishing glimpse into a world where more and more young men are trying desperately to prove their masculinity to other young men -- with frequently disastrous consequences for young women and other young men.

Guyland offers a way for all of us -- parents, young men and women, community members, and professors and administrators -- to envision new ways to support young men as they navigate this often perilous world.

(Viewer discretion advised: Contains profanity.)

Release Date:2015
Duration:35 min
ISBN:1-932869-95-6
Subtitles:English

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Praise

"The film, and Kimmel's work, provide important food for thought about changes in the lives of young men and young women and how to understand them. This film would be excellent in undergraduate courses in masculinity/femininity, changes in 'sex roles' and so forth."
Judith Wittner
Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Loyola University, Chicago
"In this important new film Michael Kimmel explores the meaning of masculinity today and why so many young men are struggling in coping with the demands of adulthood. Insightful, provocative and illuminating, Guyland probes the complex issues facing young men today and helps us to understand why and how things have changed."
Pedro Noguera
Professor of Education at New York University
"Guyland is much more than a critique of traditional masculinity. It's a 30-minute resource for 16-24 year-old guys who want to figure out just what kind of a man they want to become. Michael Kimmel's insights and lots of poignant media clips combine to explain how so many young males seem to be "deer in the headlights" of historical changes in gender relations, work, family, and sexuality. Guyland reveals how conformity to traditional masculinity can hurt both men and women, and better still, it will help male viewers rethink and reshape their life and identity."
Don Sabo
Founder and Director of the Center for Research on Physical Activity, Sport & Health (CRPASH) at D'Youville College
"Guyland is current, relevant and very thoughtful. It portrays issues of gender and masculinity with insight and humor. This short 30+ minute film should be shown in gender classes, intro-sociology classes, and social problems classes. I am confident it will be a big hit in the classroom. Students will love it."
Dudley L. Poston, Jr.
Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University
"Michael Kimmel is the great communicator of masculinity studies, and this devastatingly spot-on film should be required viewing from junior high through college. Full of great examples from movies, television, sociological studies and real-life experiences, Guyland will engage, stimulate and inspire discussions that need to happen. A pitch-perfect introduction to what it means to be a guy -- and the consequences for girls -- in 2015."
Susan Bordo
Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Kentucky
Author of The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private
"Michael Kimmel's candid video creatively weaves social science research on gender and sexuality with popular culture images centered on 'adultolescence,' a new stage of life between teen years and adulthood. Many contemporary film and television clips persuasively illustrate how young guys today continuously attempt to prove their masculinity in a society still perpetuating gender inequality. Kimmel's provocative lecture based on his book Guyland will generate many powerful classroom discussions about a wide-range of gender issues facing most colleges today."
Peter M. Nardi
Professor of Sociology
Pitzer College/The Claremont Colleges
"Michael Kimmel electrifies, mixing pop culture references with gender theory to make this lecture a rare and invaluable resource for college students everywhere. Captivating and informative, this is a video that all college students need to see. I will definitely be using it in all of my courses."
Dana Berkowitz
Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies at Louisiana State University
"Michael Kimmel has been a champion not only for women's rights, but also a strong advocate for redefining manhood in positive ways. Guyland is a powerful exploration of what it means to be a young man today."
Michael Kaufman
Co-Founder of the White Ribbon Campaign
Co-Author of The Guy's Guide to Feminism
"In turns amusing and disturbing, Guyland offers glimpses into how many young men navigate the treacherous waters of 'adultolescence.'"
Christopher E. Forth
Professor of History & Howard Chair of Humanities & Western Civilization at the University of Kansas
Author of Masculinity in the Modern West
"In Guyland, Michael Kimmel has captured the dynamics, dangers and possibilities of a new stage of development among young people. Rich with popular culture imagery and insightful analysis, this film is sure to provide just the right sort of provocation for passionate discussion and critical reflection. I can't wait to use Guyland in the classroom."
Michael A. Messner
Author of Some Men: Feminist Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women
"MEF's Guyland documentary combines a historically- and theoretically-grounded look at the changing norms of adolescence and young adulthood while illustrating its points with the latest popular films. The combination is a potent message that achieves instructors' goals while hailing students with recognizable analysis of the worlds they live in."
Amanda Lotz
Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan
"Guyland reveals the pressures on young men to prove themselves to their peers -- often with dangerous consequences for young women, and for the guys themselves. Kimmel is an empathic tour guide to a hidden landscape of post-adolescent posturing and predation."
Gloria Steinem
Writer, Feminist Organizer and Co-founder of Ms. Magazine and the Women's Media Center
"Guyland brings Michael Kimmel's bestselling book to the big screen in a concise and accessible way, exploring the perils of masculinity for men in their late teens and early twenties -- and the women with whom they interact. Kimmel is especially astute in his exploration of the ways that hook-up culture, despite its proponents' claims of egalitarianism, ends up perpetuating gender inequality."
Nicholas L. Syrett
Associate Professor of History at the University of Northern Colorado
Author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities
"Guyland offers a searing look at the contemporary world where boys become men on college campuses today."
Amy L. Best
Professor of Sociology and Chair in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University
"This is a unique, timely and immensely insightful look at the state of gender in the early 21st century. Michael Kimmel has produced the most telling examination of the world of compulsory heterosexual masculinity. While presented with some humour, no one who views this video can remain under any illusion that there is something drastically amiss in 'guyland' today. One step to redressing the ongoing tragedy of modern masculinity would be to make this video compulsory viewing in every school in the country."
Stephen Whitehead
Visiting Professor in Gender Studies at Shih Hsin University
Author of Men and Masculinities