Media releases

• Television, hockey and politics among topics to be discussed at Brock cross-border symposium

  Monday, April 10, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 10 April 2017 – R00076

  With President Donald Trump now in power south of the border, politics may appear to be the biggest cross-border issue on people’s minds.

  But a group of students from the MA program in Canadian-American Studies offered jointly by Brock University and the University at Buffalo are hosting a symposium Wednesday that will examine everything from politics to sports, to entertainment, tourism and even disability issues.

  Five students from the program will present their major research papers at the Canadian-American Studies Symposium being held in Brock’s ST102 Wednesday, April 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  Graduate Program Director Marian Bredin said students throughout the four-year history of the Canadian-American Studies program have proven just how wide-ranging cross-border research can be.

  “This is an interdisciplinary program and each cohort of students brings unique experience and background that adds to our knowledge of this hugely complex and historical relationship,” she said.

  Bredin said living close to the border sometimes makes it more difficult to see how different the two countries are.

  “We go back and forth so often so we’re not aware of how significant these cultural and social differences are,” she said.

  For his major research paper, Ibrahim Berrada chose to examine the media industry and how successful Canadian content regulations and the Canada Media Fund grants have been at keeping American pop culture from dominating the airwaves.

  “I think the biggest problem is that it’s cheaper for a (broadcast) company to buy an American product than it is to produce a product in Canada,” Berrada said. “The Canadian Media Fund is working in some aspects … but there are some problems that need to be rectified in order to fix access to the Canadian digital content for youths.”

  As an example, Berrada points to the requirement that Canadian content producers use a portion of their funding through the CMF on interactive digital components such as online games, eBooks or web series.

  “It’s a waste of money. They could put that into promotion, marketing and figuring out how to expand access to the content and to making sure Canadians know there is good Canadian content out there,” he said.

  Also giving presentations at the Canadian-American Studies Symposium are:
  •    Keynote speaker Political Science Professor Blayne Haggart: Canada-U.S. Relations in the Trudeau-Trump Era
  •    Brock MA student Craig Hilimoniuk: Communicating Brand Politics in Canada
  •    Brock MA student Patrick Morris: Hockey Nationalism in Canada
  •    University at Buffalo student Paul Coleman: Disability in Canada and the United States
  •    Brock MA student Oleksandr Chernomorchenko: Business and Tourism in the Niagara region

  Wednesday’s Canadian-American Studies Symposium is open to everyone, but those attending are asked to RSVP to Bredin at mbredin@brocku.ca

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
   
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Societal pressure of ‘manning up’ has negative impact on young boys and men

  Monday, April 10, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 6 April 2017 – R00075

  As the saying goes, ‘Boys will be boys,’ but a new book by a Brock University sociology professor argues that rather than being born rough and tough, boys are taught by society to be that way.

  Professor of Sociology Murray Knuttila says young boys are no less sensitive, emotional and considerate than girls, and are actually more sensitive to certain aspects of the social environment.

  In his book Paying for Masculinity: Boys, Men and the Patriarchal Dividend, Knuttila says ‘boy code’ has a harmful influence on the social, emotional and academic well-being of boys. As boys adapt to the norms of masculine behaviour demonstrated by society, some sensitivities and emotional characteristics are actually blunted and repressed.

  “Patriarchy is a society — a form of organizing gender that privileges males — and we happen to come from a historical, religious, philosophical tradition that is patriarchal,” says Knuttila. “That notion of male superiority and male dominance as natural is really woven through our culture, our belief systems and our social institutions.”

  Knuttila’s research focuses on hegemonic masculinity, which pressures boys to ‘man up’ and embody characteristics of toughness, aggressiveness and status and show little-to-no emotion. These themes are constantly represented in the news and the media, having a lasting negative effects on boys, he says.

  The themes in action and western movies, comic books and the news are persistently themes of violence and inequality, having harmful implications for not only women and girls but also for men and boys.

  These social pressures cause boys to lie about their experiences and feelings, have a lack of self-esteem and become unhappy. Boys and men may have many friends, but have a loss of human connection, also causing loneliness.

  “The double-edged sword of patriarchy and the benefits that accrue to men within patriarchy is that it comes at a cost to men and to women,” says Knuttila. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘is it worth it?’”

  Knuttila’s goal with his book is to encourage men to think about how they practice gender, who benefits from these practices and the costs to themselves, others around them and society as a whole.

  “In order to have social change and to erode the dividend, society must challenge hegemonic masculinities,” he says. “We need to start with ourselves and change as individuals, re-evaluate how we ‘do’ gender, how we support women and how we engage with others. There needs to be institutional change, political engagement and a shift in the media and the influence it has on our society.” 

  Knuttila has recently been appointed as Visiting Scholar in the Ruralia Institute at the University of Helsinki to present his work and collaborate on research analyzing the relationship between hegemonic masculinity in rural areas and rural men’s health in May and June of this year.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
   
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases