MENtrification℠
In revitalization, crime abatement and other community improvement efforts, men and male behavior are often identified, sometimes explicitly and sometimes only implicitly, as problems to be removed, quashed or otherwise objectified and eliminated. Other stakeholder groups are duly queried and their perspectives, needs, wishes and ideas for creative solutions are included in the problem-solving process — but often problematic men, their ideas and needs are not. The reasons can include outright fear and hostility toward the men involved, or they can be as subtle as deep-seated biases and stereotypes leading us to believe that the men do not want to be involved in improving their communities. Ignoring troubled men often only increases their undesirable behavior. Already feeling marginalized, they feel that efforts designed to uplift their communities in ways that do not include them will only marginalize them all the more.
MENtrification℠ is a service provided by The Center for Men and Boys in Social Policy that will assist you in examining your and your group’s attitudes toward and interactions — or lack of interactions — with men who can hold the key to your success. MENtrification℠ helps you engage men as fully respected stakeholders committed to finding solutions that work for everyone. MENtrification℠ sees marginalized men not as problems to be eliminated but as essential assets to be embraced respectfully and creatively.
