Jackson Katz has devoted his life to making people aware of the abuse that women endure on a daily basis.
Katz, a professional speaker, gave a presentation in the Student Union Theater Wednesday night focusing on ways men abuse women, and named men as the main perpetrators of violence toward women.
He explained steps we can take to lower the number of instances of abuse.
“We need more men with the course to speak out about these issues…I hope that your generation is more successful at dealing with this stuff then mine has been,” Katz said.
Katz’s goal for his lectures are for men to be more aware of the abuse that happens to women nationwide and try to stand up against it.
“Every woman assaulted is someone’s mother, sister, girlfriend, niece,” Katz said. “The women that are closest to us can’t even walk down the street late at night to get a soda because of the fear that they will be assaulted.”
Katz’s ambition on the subject brought out many issues that got the audience to change their way of thinking.
Todd Heightshoe, who attended the lecture, agreed with the perspective that Katz presented and expressed fear that his family members could face similar violence.
“What frightens me the most is the fact that my 12-year-old son and my 14-month-old daughter are growing up in the society that Jackson Katz revealed tonight,” Heightshoe said.
The issues that Katz brought up faces many people we care about, he added.
“Chances are that a number of women in this room, and possibly some women in the rows you are sitting in, have been abused at one point in their lives,” Katz said. “We have to protect the women we care about.”
Katz said that in the U.S. the most frequent place for abuse against women is not out on the street or in public areas but in the privacy of a woman’s home.
Monica Hamilton, a University student, said she was shocked by this fact.
“It was eye-opening to hear the different aspects of abuse and what plays into the roles of women getting hurt in any place they are at,” Hamilton said. “And knowing that the most common place women get hurt/abused is in their own homes.”
Katz also addressed many issues dealing with the abuse women suffer as a result of societal standards of male masculinity.
Katz asked male audience members to speak up and let him know any precautions that they take to protect themselves from assault. None spoke up. Then he asked the women the same thing, recording their results on a white board up front. By the time he had finished the exercise the women’s whiteboard was filled up with more than 25-30 ways that women protect themselves from being a victim of assault, while the men’s board remained empty.
“The idea of masculinity and abuse toward women is all around us in the media everyday,” Katz said. “Everywhere we look we see women getting abused and we don’t think anything about it.”
“I found Katz’s video on wresting rather striking,” Jennifer Carter, another student said.
Katz showed two videos that deal with the images of men and how they are expected to be rough and brutal toward women as a result of their gender. The video, titled “Tough Guise” deals with the image of men and the violence that the media portrays to them. The other video, “Wrestling with Manhood,” covered the professional wrestling aspect that males are expected to be dominant toward women and be aggressive.
“It is not enough to be a man and not be abusive toward women,” Katz said. “We have to go beyond that and actually stand up and face our friends and people around us when a woman is being mistreated, because how would you feel if that was your mother, sister or girlfriend?”
MEMPSA and Sane, both run through the Wellness Connection Center, are two groups on campus that deal with the issues of abuse toward women. For more information, contact the Wellness Connection Center at 419-372-9355. To hear more about Katz, visit www.jacksonkatz.com.
