Behind the scenes here at Citizenshift I’ve been working with others to create a new blog about masculinity.
It’s called MascMag (short for magazine) because we want to one day publish a magazine. We’ve got a lot of work to do in order to build an audience, a dedicated group of contributors, and really — a community of people who want to talk and walk the line around gender justice and self-acceptance.
We’ve really started from scratch. Choosing webpage templates, contacting those we already knew interested in the topic, making connections with like-minded groups, and editing and sharing a dialogue about masculinity.
Beyond visiting the site and seeing for yourself (strongly encouraged) the best other way is to see what our mission offers:
masc magazine is a space for young men to explore how masculinity affects their lives.
masc is curious about how ideas of manhood are shaped by one’s experiences and environment.
masc encourages expression and connection on a range of men’s issues such as gender, stereotypes, sexuality and health.
masc helps men imagine their own ideals and ways to make them real.
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Category : Blogroll
Tags: acceptance, awareness, blog, boy, community, gender, justice, mag, magazine, manhood, masc, men, mission, new, publish, Questioning Masculinity, self
If you want to look at masculinity through film over the past 50 years, no other character than James Bond will do. After 22 films, Bond’s brand of masculinity is repeatedly re-launched to match the changing times. Yet some traits still stick to Bond. He is always tough, sexy, loyal (to his country), sophisticated, charming, well-dressed, independent, and plugged-in to the flashiest spy-geek gear available to the imagination.
The character was created by author Ian Flemming 55 years ago and has been played by a series of historically-suited actors: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. I’ve been curious about the last 2 Bond films played by Craig (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) because I (and may others) felt that the re-branding was in another cycle.
The DVD extras in Casino Royal has a documentary called Bond Girls are Forever which tracked how Bond girls have changed over the years (sadly not up to date on the last 2 films). It took a light approach to feminist critiques of the role, but it was clear that the women (girls?) were becoming tougher, smarter, and more active over the decades. Bitch Magazine’s blog details some the ways Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko) in Quantum of Solace is part of this trend. She has her own motives, enemies, strategies, wit, speed, and punch, and when needed – drives the car! No longer just sex objects for the audience’s and Bond’s pleasure, these female characters also reveal something about the new Bond and the changing audience assumptions about gender.
It was hard to ignore the buzz about the new Bond because not only was he blond, but buff. Brian D. Johnson interviews Craig and writes:
Craig is the most athletic Bond we’ve seen, but the bar has been raised since Connery idled through his later films with a marshmallow belly and a rug of chest hair. “You read Fleming,” says Craig, “and it’s like Bond gets up in the morning, has six scrambled eggs made with cream, eight rashers of bacon, four cups of espresso, does 20 press-ups and smokes 20 cigarettes, then has a shot of something. Attitudes have changed. We probably do live in a world of body-fascism now.”
In fact the only other person I could convince to watch Casino Royal with me was a gay friend excited about Bond’s new sexy looks. I thought we were watching a stylish action film but maybe it was some kind of Straight Guy for the Queer Eye? Johnson puts it this way: “Now Bond-sploitation had come full circle: in Casino Royale, the hottest sex object was not another Bond girl, but Bond himself.”
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Category : Uncategorized
Tags: bitch, body, bond, craig, daniel, desire, image, james, macleans, magazine, male, movie, new, quantum, questioning, Questioning Masculinity, sensitivity, solace, weapon
