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WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?
THE MACHO PARADOX is the first
book ever to comprehensively and convincingly make the case that
violence against women is a men’s issue. Jackson Katz, one
of the nation’s foremost authorities on this subject, takes
the reader deep inside male culture to examine why so many men
physically and sexually abuse women and children, including those
closest to them.
Today in America between 1 in 4 and
1 in 6 women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their
lifetime, and one prominent study found that at least 20% of adolescent
girls have been physically or sexually abused by a date or a boyfriend.
Written for both women and men, THE
MACHO PARADOX provides women with original and creative ways of
thinking about how to reverse this ongoing national tragedy. It
also makes a powerful case to men that the only way to end the
abuse and mistreatment of women is for many more self-identified
“good guys” to make these issues their own.
Because men’s violence against
women is a problem in both white communities and communities of
color, the book explores some of the ways in which issues of race
and ethnicity intersect with sexism.
The writing style in THE MACHO PARADOX is designed to engage the
general reader. But the ideas it conveys are cutting-edge, and
the book contains an extensive end note section and index, providing
useful tools for academics, as well as college and high school
students.
Katz shares numerous stories from men about how violence against
women affects them personally. He also incorporates the voices
and experiences of women -- and men -- who have confronted the
problem of gender violence from all angles, specifically highlighting
successful strategies for institutional – and ultimately
cultural – change. .
In addition to its emphasis on how to
prevent such crimes as sexual and domestic violence, sexual harassment,
street harassment, and the sexual abuse of children, THE MACHO
PARADOX also contains fascinating commentary on such high-profile
and controversial subjects as Eminem, Janet Jackson and Justin
Timberlake’s Super Bowl halftime debacle, the Scott Peterson
case, pornography, prostitution and stripping, rap and rock music,
sexism in male sports culture, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, and
Kobe Bryant.
Historically and in the present,
women’s leadership has catalyzed amazing societal changes
in the areas of sexual and domestic violence prevention. Jackson
Katz is an influential figure in a growing movement of men, here
in the U.S. and around the world, who are building on women’s
leadership and taking the work of gender violence prevention into
male culture, in the effort to engage many more men as allies
in this critical work. This book is an important contribution
to this exciting new area of social change activism.
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