Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: Toxic Awesomeness
First, a little mood music:
Carrying on…
Apparently “toxic masulinity” is so endemic, that it must be stopped as soon as the woke educational elite can get their hands on the little Patriarchs…
“A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor is urging schools to implement ‘Men’s Projects’ to fight ‘toxic masculinity’ in children as early as kindergarten.
“In a recently published issue of On The Horizon, Kathleen Elliott argues that ‘finding ways to promote healthy masculinity early and to teach boys and young men to recognize, reject, and challenge simplified, toxic masculinity is essential for creating cultural change.’
“Men’s Projects—which typically probe participants to reflect on the ramifications of masculinity—are increasingly commonplace on college campuses, and Elliott suggests that ‘many of goals and methods can be adopted in k-12 schools.’
“Citing the now-defunct University of Wisconsin-Madison Men’s Project, Elliott explains that such programs educate male students on ‘intersectionality and the complexity of masculinity identities’ while helping them ‘challenge simplified definitions of masculinity.'”
If you can’t get them in Kindergarten, they you’ll have to stop them before they choose video games that those icky #GamerGaters think are spiffy…
“To earn a Master’s degree from Mills College, recent graduate Taylor Sandusky created a ‘nonviolent dungeon crawler’ video game to combat ‘toxic masculinity.’
“‘Plato’s Evil Closet’ is an open-source video game that Sandusky created for a Master’s Thesis in Computer Science, which aims to ‘use video games to challenge white heteropatriarchy.’
“Plato’s Evil Closet, Sandusky explains, is a ‘challenging non-violent dungeon crawler that stars a queer woman of color and acts as a metaphor for fighting white heteropatriarchy—at its core, a system that privileges whiteness, heterosexuality and masculinity.’
“‘The dungeon represents white heteropatriarchy, and the various monsters represent aspects of this system,’ writes Sandusky, adding that to win, the protagonist must ‘collect’ a ‘diverse set’ of ‘friends’ to escape.
“‘In order to escape the dungeon, the player needs at least two friends. If they try to exit before meeting this requirement, they are informed that the door is too heavy,’ Sandusky reveals. ‘This is intended to represent the importance of solidarity. One person, or group, cannot escape the dungeon, or patriarchy, without the help of others.’
“Unlike many video games, Sandusky’s game deliberately eschews both violence and competition, following a critique of games mounted by other academics.”
However, some unpersons disagree about this entire “toxicity”…
“The professor who successfully convinced the U.S. Department of Education to investigate anti-male discrimination in academia is encouraging others to do the same.
“As Campus Reform has previously reported, University of Southern California (USC) professor Kursat Christoff Pekgoz filed Title IX complaints against both his own school and Yale University, alleging that they provide unfair educational opportunities and scholarships to women that exclude men.
“In an unprecedented response, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) actually agreed to investigate, and while Pekgoz views this as a success, he believes there is more work to be done at other colleges to help ensure equality of opportunity.
“To that end, Pekgoz has published a guide for others interested in challenging such policies, noting that while affirmative action for women is understandable from a historical perspective, it has become unnecessary because women are ‘no longer the underrepresented sex in colleges.'”
TTFN.
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