(RE)WRITING MASCULINITY
From an early age, men are taught to do everything we can to avoid being vulnerable. We learn, as bell hooks put it, “that [our] core feelings cannot be expressed if they do not conform to the acceptable behaviors sexism defines as male.” And so we too often hide those feelings. We deny we even have feelings. We force others to deal with the feelings we deny we have. Very little of this, in the era of #metoo, needs to be explained. It just needs to change.
(Re)writing Masculinity is a memoir workshop geared toward male-identified writers. To participate, you don’t need to consider yourself a capital-W Writer. You just need to be interested in telling better, deeper, more curious stories about your life, and more specifically, about your experience of masculinity.
Over eight weeks, we’ll read essays and stories that comment on and/or ask questions of masculinity. We’ll use these pieces as fodder for discussions about the craft of writing and the stories we tell about masculinity. We'll write, share, and discuss our own writing. And we’ll explore how to extend all of this—reading, talking, writing, sharing—beyond class.
Some may wonder why we need another space set aside for men. A few reasons:
It’s on men to explore how patriarchy harms us and protects us when we do harm.
We can best do this work in a space where we can be honest and raw, and where we won’t risk retraumatizing women and nonbinary people.
The memoir workshop is exactly that sort of space.
Too few men sign up for memoir workshops, or the work of exploring masculinity.
(Re)Writing Masculinity will have a maximum of eight students. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to an organization working on behalf of women and nonbinary people.
Workshop Details
When: Tuesdays, January 21 to March 11, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: In-person, North Portland, details shared after registration
Fee: $625 **
How to apply: Email Brian with a writing sample* of up to 2,500 words and a 250-word statement of purpose. Applications due on Sunday, January 5.
Questions? Email Brian.
* You needn’t be a seasoned writer to join this course. Your writing sample can be an email, a particularly profound journal entry, a note you dash off just before the deadline. The point of the sample and statement of purpose is to offer a sense of who you are and how you write, or hope to write, about masculinity.
** If the fee is a barrier, be in touch; there’s a good chance we can work something out.
Photo credit: Yale Joel