Students look to establish a men's center

The group says a men's center could address issues of stereotypes.

By Emily Becker

Published Oct. 24, 2008

In the past week, a growing number of men on campus have come together with the intention of forming a center or group where the gender issues that affect males can be discussed.

"MU needs to provide a place where both sexes can learn about their identity," sophomore Marvel Da-Wariboko said. "I believe that knowledge about oneself is very important."

The group is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. today to discuss the direction the group should take in regards to what issues to cover and how to advertise themselves on campus.

"Hopefully on Friday we will be able to get everyone's ideas and come up with something feasible that can be applied," junior Patrick Margherio said Tuesday.

Group members have been bouncing ideas off each other for about a week and started with a Facebook group created by Da-Wariboko.

Senior Brydan McNeely became interested in being part of the group when he was shown the Web site.

"I think a men's center would be good for the campus for the same reasons that a women's center is good for the campus," McNeely said.

For Da-Wariboko, the ultimate goal for the group is to have a men's center on campus that is a resource. He hopes the center would be able to put on events, bring speakers to discuss gender issues and be a location where "people can really learn about male issues and about what it means to be a man," he said.

McNeely agrees with Da-Wariboko that one of goals for the organization should be establishment of a men's center on campus comparable to the Women's Center.

"I think it would be good to have a place where men can go to talk about their problems where you don't have a cultural image of what a man should be," he said.

McNeely believes this aspect of a center is necessary.

"I've noticed that while most of the time when you talk about problems in society, you talk about minority groups," he said. "I feel that there are a lot of men's issues that get pushed under the rug."

Margherio said the group is still a fledgling association, but some members of the group have been noticing a lack of discussion of male gender issues on campus for a while.

"The last year or two, I've thought these issues were important and needed to be addressed," Margherio said.

One of the issues Margherio hopes to make campus more aware of is the role stereotypes play in society.

"My biggest thing is definitely the macho stereotype or the man-up stereotype that is plaguing our society," he said. "It is thought that in order to be a man, you have to fit that stereotype."

Like Margherio, McNeely would also like to discuss the stereotypes of males in society.

"People think that you have to act a certain way to be masculine," he said.

Both Da-Wariboko and Margherio expressed interest in working with the Women's Center.

"It is very important that you work together with the other groups that are involved with this," Da-Wariboko said.