Northwestern lets fainting couch feminists tattle on men with "restrictive masculinity"

Students are told to tattle on peers who have "restrictive masculinity" or who promote "rape culture"

A Chapel Where Men at Northwestern University Can Confess Their Sins

A Northwestern University department is offering students the chance to tattle on their fellow male peers who need help with their “restrictive masculinity.” But this isn’t the only anti-male program at Northwestern.

The Northwestern University MARS program — short for Masculinity, Allyship and Reflection and Solidarity — is recruiting students to fight “rape culture” on campus by reflecting on the actions of themselves.

“MARS is dedicated to combating rape culture and ‘restrictive masculinity’ while also promoting ‘healthy masculinity’... through self-work and peer-led discussions. MARS exists as a space to openly…form healthy self-images through exploration of masculinity,” the website says.

Said Hill Ph.D is the advisor of Northwestern’s program according to the MARS website. He recalled his first time working for Northwestern in an interview published just a few years ago.

“I had just moved to Chicago the year before and took a job at Northwestern University doing violence prevention and health masculinity work in their violence prevention department,” he told Division 51.

SAED HILL’S PHILOSOPHY ON MASCULINITY

“In my current work I supervise an all men/masculine-identifying peer education student group and train them to do violence prevention programming and retreats across campus and in the Chicago
community.

“I also teach a psychoeducational course at Northwestern on deconstructing masculinity as a means of violence prevention as well as… help them create curricula, social norms campaigns, and other programming to promote healthy masculinity at their organization.”

“I just want all of us to feel free and liberated from the pressures of rigid gender norms,” said Hill.

Meanwhile, this isn’t the only program that Northwestern offers that views masculinity as prima facie “restrictive”. Their NU MEN program —also advised by Said at some points — views men in a similar way.

Almost every year since spring 2016, “NU Men” has offered 12 male students a six-week program where they can learn how “oppression is impacted by their male or masculine identity” and “describe the relationship between masculinity and violence.”

As I previously reported, the NU Men was launched by Paul Ang, the school’s Director of Men’s Engagement, immediately after the university received a $300,000 “violence prevention” grant from the Department of Justice.

“It’s a masculinity dialogue group focused on providing men a space to explore, rethink and challenge their own masculinity and learn about some of the systemic links between masculinity and violence,” Ang said.

THE NU MEN PROGRAM, A LEGACY PROGRAM ON HIATUS?

Students can tattle on their peers who they think have “toxic masculinity” by nominating them for the NU Men program, the website adds. If this sounds similar, it’s because it’s basically like “bias response team” for fainting couch feminists who get offended by the mere presence of men.

“If you would like to nominate a student to participate in NÜ Men, please use the nomination form, or email care@northwestern.edu directly. Please provide the student's name, email, and whether or not you'd like the nomination to be anonymous.”

The learning goals of the program include that:

1. Men will define what masculinity means to them; male students will also create a “personal counter-narrative for masculinity”

2. Men will learn least one way that power and oppression is impacted by their male or masculine identity, and conversely, how to promote social justice

3. Men will be able to identify the four main characteristics of consent or describe what is necessary for consent to be present

Student David Gleisner, a member of the inaugural class, praised the program in an interview with The Daily Northwestern.

He said: “It was a really good space to be able to share in those conversations that you normally wouldn’t have with other men—talking about emotions, talking about rape culture, talking about how masculinity relates to the patriarchy.”

Currently, CARE is hiring a work-study student to help with both masculinity programs. Not that anyone asked, but I checked if they have don’t have any resources for men (or women!) who are falsely accused of assault. They had none.

This report was brought to you by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair and a journalist based in Delray Beach, Florida. Would you mind following her on X @Toni_Airaksinen and Instagram?