MVP is for both men and women (athletes), trying to motivate others to join their prevention program so more people can be aware of abuse faced by both genders. It also allows victims to share their stories, which can be a very emotional process...having to replay everything in their mind again, as if it were yesterday. Men might not agree with it, because they believe if they don't abuse a women or another human being, then they aren't responsible for other men who do inflict pain on women. But this is False, this is what you call the bystander approach. By being a bystander and knowing how to get away from that approach, men all around the world can help women who they see or know being abused either physically, mentally or emotionally and how to step in. Here is a link from a site that gives a little bit about what MVP does.
http://www.sportinsociety.org/vpd/mvp.php
here is also another link on how men can help prevent violence on women
MVP is a very new program and is working its way into universities and schools. Jackson Katz, the founder of MVP is a Violence Prevention educator that is very famous in the Women and Gender Studies arena. He has a wonderful film titled "Tough Guise" that explains the disguise that many feel they have to wear in the public sphere to be considered masculine. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in gender differences or violence prevention. Katz actually visited UNI last fall to talk about implementing the MVP program on our campus. They are doing training for it this spring to hopefully get students certified in MVP. Annette Lynch is in charge of the operation if you are interested.
The main purpose of MVP is to help educate students about how to prevent violence and bullying in schools. They are working with students that are in sports because they feel that these people will be influencial in changing the general atmosphere of a school or university.
The following is a paper that I wrote shortly after Katz' visit to UNI which outlines some of the issues he covered.
Jackson Katz on Violence: In “Real” Life and in the Media
Jackson Katz began his speech by explaining the program MVP or “Mentors in Violence Prevention”. This program is the leading program of its kind, helping many institutions to discover what they would do in situations involving violence and making them aware of how important their actions are. As of today, there is very little education on domestic abuse prevention. This issue needs to be more prevalent, not only in certain programs, such as MVP, but also for society as a whole.
Katz discussed many issues related to male violence. First, he stated how we need to stop referring to sexual violence issues as women’s issues. Many men feel that if they are not abusing then it is not their issue. Katz feels that we need to “raise the bar” higher for what it means to be a good guy. Saying, “I’m not a racist” or “I don’t beat my girlfriend” is not good enough. Men need to challenge other men’s sexism, especially men in power. Which is why MVP works with persons of power, such as students involved in athletics, to be leaders in MVP. People such as this can affect social change and have an influence over their peers.
One important aspect when examining violence is looking at the way in which violence is normalized in our society. The media is one outlet that plays a role in constructing the “violence continuum” that we have discussed in class. The violence continuum is when one views all forms of gender practices and the degree of violence present within them as a continuum (25). This continuum confirms that social practices in our culture that are seen as normal are facilitating violent acts and leading to a greater level of acceptance of violence. The violence continuum relates to Katz speech because society needs to understand the influence that violence has and how it impacts what it means to be masculine. Katz feels, and I agree, that as a whole we need to change the social norms of what it means to be a man.
In the article “Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity”, Katz discusses the impact of the media on men’s violence. He states that men commit 86% of violent crimes, which is interesting because data on violence usually fails to include any analysis of gender (349). In U.S. society violence is seen as a masculine behavior. There has been a rise in recent years with men in the working class expressing power through the outlet of violence. This is explained as “masculine identity validation” in which men in the lower or working class use violence as a means of exerting manhood because they lack power of other realms (Katz, 2003). Men value size and strength across class and racial boundaries, which explains why violence is such a prominent outlet for expressing masculinity throughout many identity differences.
I found this article interesting because it focused attention on advertisements. Advertisements for the army were interesting because the advertisements influence men to think that the army is “real manhood”. Also, Katz discussed an advertisement for Clinique Happy cologne for men that used an image of a football player running toward the end goal with a woman standing on the sidelines holding a birthday cake. This image gives the idea that Clinique Happy is masculine enough for a football player and also an acceptable gift for a woman to give to her significant other. This advertisement is taking something feminine (Clinique) and making it acceptable for men to use. Both of these advertisements illustrate the impact of the media on constructing what it means to be masculine, or more specifically constructing violent masculinity.
Our textbook discusses violence in the media. One opinion held by many researchers is that watching violence can lead individuals to behave in violent ways. Research has found that there is a relationship between television violence and aggressive behavior in children and that “exposure to violent media is directly related to violent and risky behavior and that those who identify as more masculine like violent movies more that those who identify as more feminine” (244-245). This is important with regards to our discussion about Jackson Katz because male violence is prevalent in our society and there are obvious connections between normalized violence in media and domestic violence in the household. Media images of masculinity present violence as the answer to problems, which reinforces our idea of stereotypical “manhood” and reiterates the importance of changing what society views as masculinity.
Overall, the biggest issue we have to face is changing media representations of manhood and providing other outlets for men to express themselves that do not involve harm to others. This issue is addressed by the violence continuum that influences how others view violence and makes people realize that even though something may seem harmless it probably isn’t. The MVP program is a great beginning to educating people on violence and helping to change the ideas of masculinity in our society.
Bibliography
Katz, J. (2003). Advertising and the construction of violent white masculinity: from eminem to clinique for men. Gender, Race and Class in the Media, Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Mh2PWvtzNFUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA349&dq=Jackson+Katz+&ots=WSbPYOZp-Y&sig=dzoyPhulycHIKBD4dOne_IhxOjg#
I had the pleasure of attending Jackson Katz's visit to UNI. I had never heard of him before, but I really enjoyed his speaking style and learning about the MVP program. The MVP program initially began for men in athletic programs. Katz’s program, MVP, has been incorporated into all levels in sports including: middle school, high school, college, and professional athletic teams. He and his colleagues have also implemented the MVP program into some military branches. This program addresses men and women in gender violence. Katz and colleagues address the perpetrators and bystanders of gender violence by using a playbook over a certain period in a workshop setting. The playbook provides numerous options for someone who witnesses gender violence. The mentors in the program are older than the participants are and can supply knowledge about situations. Although most of Katz’s research has been focused on men and violence, the MVP is beginning to form women’s programs and their own playbooks.
This program is places a great deal of emphasis on the bystander affect. The bystander affect occurs when you see a teammate, friend, coworker, etc. commit an act of violence toward another human being and you choose to stay silent. Silence can be a form of consent. Even though you may not want to get involved or face ostracism by peers, by not saying anything, you are giving them approval for their actions. The MVP program allows people to learn more than the two common responses: violence or silence. The participants in the program learn numerous responses to utilize when he or she witnesses an act of violence.
The majority of his presentation was focused on the program he created, named Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), beginning a MVP program at UNI, and how media influences gender violence. Katz began the MVP program to help create awareness for a gender violence prevention program in athletics.