A men’s centre at the University of Saskatchewan could easily sound like a “boy’s club” that festers and promotes patriarchal values. However, this view encourages misconceptions and the U of S would greatly benefit from having a men’s centre.

The U of S should have a men’s centre because there are issues affecting the lives of male students that warrant discussion.

Canadian males are over three times as likely to suffer from HIV/AIDS as females. They are also about twice as likely to develop alcohol or substance addictions and about three times more likely to commit suicide. Looking to issues on a legal-social front, Statistics Canada finds men overwhelmingly more likely to commit acts of domestic violence or to be incarcerated compared to women.

A men’s centre would be a place to address these issues through the lens of male identity and students — both male and female — could come together and discuss issues that predominantly affect men in a positive, open environment.

While some students might think that services addressing these issues already exist on campus, the problem is that existing services do not speak to masculine identity. We need to engage with male students as a group in order to create social change on problems like domestic violence. Changing the broader culture of how men approach and respond to their own health issues is not something that can be effectively done on a one-on-one level. 

A men’s centre is needed to provide male students with the tools and education necessary to make progress happen. It would help encourage men to actively create solutions. To say that a men’s centre is unnecessary is to ignore that men have problems too, as well as to discourage education on these subjects and keep men out of the conversation.

In theory, one could argue that my idea for a men’s centre sounds good, but in practice it would devolve into a political advocacy organization serving to promote misogyny and attack women’s rights. This argument suggests that men as a whole have some sort of nefarious objective to rollback feminism, which is untrue for the majority.

It is true that there are some men’s organizations that are very anti-women. A men’s centre on campus would therefore require an explicit, well-defined mandate and would need to be operated carefully to avoid this potential pitfall, but if these safeguards are put in place, potential risks can be mitigated. If we choose to assume the worst — if we do not meaningfully engage men in these conversations somehow — we will never advance as a society.

Obviously a men’s centre would benefit male students, but it would also have benefits for female students. Many of the issues addressed by existing men’s centres are focused on male treatment of women. While university men’s centres are a rare breed, a U of S men’s centre could follow the model established by organizations like White Ribbon, which strive for an end to violence against women by working to promote respect for women, establish counseling services to foster healthy relationships and offer anti-domestic violence education. 

A U of S men’s centre could also incorporate education programs addressing issues like sexual assault. Engaging male students in these discussions is crucial to achieving meaningful change and a men’s centre would provide a venue for these conversations.

From anecdotal experience, I often feel that I am told what I should think or how I should behave as a man, but I sometimes feel left out of that very discussion. I doubt I am alone. A men’s centre would provide a space where men can construct their own meanings of manhood and abandon the outdated patriarchal ideals of masculinity.

It has been said that patriarchy hurts everyone. I would contend that until we fully engage men in the conversation, it will never fully be eradicated. This means having conversations addressing both women’s and men’s issues. Without a venue like a men’s centre to openly discuss these problems, they will persist within the culture of masculinity — and they will continue to hurt us all.

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Images: Jeremy Britz