Boston Humanists May VIRTUAL Talk: "Are Men Animals?" by Matthew Gutmann

Hopefully this finds you all safe! We are pausing our usual physical community get-togethers, as we help each other in this time of mutual care.

We're having our first Zoom meeting as GREATER BOSTON HUMANISTS, at our usual Sunday afternoon time, 1 pm, on May 24. So you can attend from home!

May Talk “Are Men Animals?”
Professor Gutmann will join us to discuss his new book "Are Men Animals?: How Modern Masculinity Sells Men Short" (Basic Books, 2019). Gutmann's timely work explores the topic of masculinity, toxic and otherwise, on a global scale. Through his anthropological research of "maleness" and "masculinity" in various cultures and countries, Gutmann demonstrates the complexity of gender by tackling the prevailing myths such as the role of testosterone and its relation to violence.

Gutmann convincingly argues that assessing maleness means looking beyond biology, since biology alone cannot explain these variabilities. "Biological extremism about men and boys is nonsense," he writes, stressing that the expression "boys will be boys" gives males a free pass to engage in bad behavior. The real-world consequences of such thinking, writes the author, include the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the 2018 confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Matthew Gutmann is Professor of Anthropology at Brown University. His books include The Meanings of Macho: Being a Man in Mexico City; The Romance of Democracy: Compliant Defiance in Mexico City; Fixing Men: Sex, Birth Control and AIDS in Mexico; and Are Men Animals: How Modern Masculinity Sells Men Short.

RSVP here to get the Zoom information link.

USING ZOOM and SAMPLE
If you are unfamiliar with Zoom, please see this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsy2Ph6kSf8&feature=youtu.be
(note the Zoom software has been improved for security in the past weeks, AND you do not need to download the software to join the meeting; it can be done via phone or a web browser, and it is MUCH easier than you might fear!) VIA COMPUTER, PHONE OR TABLET
PHONE: +19294362866, meeting number 154575482# US

If you go to our web link for this meeting (visible when you RSVP) you can click on the link at the bottom of that page to 'If you cannot download or run the application, join from your browser."