Rob A. Okun is a widely published writer and the editor of Voice Male magazine.
"Voice Male show[s] a way for men to live that is centered not on
their masculinity, but on their humanity" many of the authors" such
as Jane Fonda, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Eve Ensler will be widely
recognized. Chapters run the gamut of issues related to men's
identity, some of them dealing directly with men's relationships
with women or support of the women's movement, while others address
health, recovery from abuse, fatherhood, race, and GBTQ matters.
Individual articles are generally strong, and vary from quite
general discussions of men's responsibility to stop violence
against women, to very specific anecdotes. By uniting these diverse
topics into a single work, Okun shows that the stereotypical tough,
uncaring masculine ideal is unhealthy for society. Readers
interested in gender issues will appreciate the strength of the
individual articles and the book's powerful message."
[Editor Rob A.] Okun chronicles how the [profeminist] men's
movement developed out of the women's movement four decades ago. He
writes, 'Profeminist men hold the simple radical" belief that
gender and sexual equality are fundamental democratic goals and
that women and men should each have the same rights and
opportunities... The most provocative section [of the book] focuses
on the 2012 mass murder of children in Newtown, Conn. Writers ask
questions about how the media framed the story: Why do so few
people draw attention to the fact that 90 percent of the mass
school shootings in the nation in the last 30 years were
perpetrated by white men? Why isn't there a national conversation
about the link between men and violence and how boys can be raised
differently?"--Jan Gardner, Boston Globe
This book is a critical tool in dismantling what's oppressive in
male culture."--Renner Wunderlich & Margaret Lazarus,
producer/directors of the Academy-award winning Defending Our
Lives, Rape is and Rape Culture
...great richness of detail and variety of context... Voice Male is
much more than a litany of predictably formatted success stories...
The variety of situation and tone coloring here is rich, deep and
surprising; the book even includes poetry. Voices that chronicle
broad social patterns mingle with other voices speaking intimately,
drawing the reader in to situations not often discussed... The
voices in this book need to be heard not only by other men but by
women, to whom it may come as a revelation that men feel as
frightened and oppressed as many of their mothers, sisters,
partners and friends. To hear these voices is to see a vast
landscape of fear- the fear that pushes men into controlling,
dominating and sometimes violent behavior- but also a vast
landscape of possibility.
A very worthwhile introduction to the profeminist movement among
men. It will reward both casual readers and serious students of the
subject.
An often overlooked aspect of contemporary feminism has been the
changes wrought in men, or at least in those men who truly want to
shift gender expectations and be more fully human. Rob Okun, a
psychotherapist and the longtime editor of Voice Male magazine,
celebrates these men in a 140-entry anthology... The volume serves
as an excellent introduction to the sometimes contradictory, and
typically thorny, activism of profeminist men and includes personal
essays, research, poems, and polemics that range from raw personal
accounts to scholarly commentary... It's racially, culturally, and
sexually diverse, with articles written by those who identify as
gay, straight, bisexual and transgender... [Voice Male] is a
potent, thought-provoking and insightful introduction to late 20th
and early 21st century profeminism and an important resource for
those wishing to end sexism once and for all.--Eleanor Bader,
co-author of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism
Finally a book for women to feel hopeful about men. Longtime editor
of Voice Male magazine Rob Okun and a chorus of contributing
writers chronicle a movement of men standing with women in the
struggle to end violence against women and girls. But this brave
book does more than that, revealing an emerging new man culture
where men are reclaiming their tears and their hearts as they join
women in creating a world where we are all safe and free.--Eve
Ensler, playwright of The Vagina Monologues; author of I Am an
Emotional Creature and In the Body of the World
Rob Okun is a founding father of the pro-feminist men's movement in
this country, a leading voice in the urgent struggle to end gender
violence around the world. In this important book, he combines
decades of boots-on-the-ground activism with worldly-wise,
psychological insight, presenting a chorus of men also fighting the
good fight in this ongoing conflict. Profound, inspiring, and full
of surprises, this anthology is a must-read for anyone committed to
peace- and sanity- in the century to come.--Mark Matousek, author
of Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life, When You're
Falling, Dive and Sex Death Enlightenment
The 'gender justice movement, ' as Rob Okun calls it in his
introduction to this essential book, is in fact almost entirely
about women confronting misogyny, sexism, patriarchal power,
domestic and sexual abuse and assault, and economic and political
inequality. This book acknowledges that history... But... at its
heart, [Voice Male] encapsulates... the growing pro-feminist men's
movement, a movement that seeks men's accountability for change,
while bringing actual support to what women have rightfully sought:
respect and equality.--Stephen McArthur, Vermont Woman
This rich compilation will inspire men from a range of backgrounds
to think more deeply about what it means to be a man. From working
to end gender-based violence and challenging destructive media
messages, to examining their roles as fathers and partners, Voice
Male is an invaluable tool for removing the obstacles that keep men
from claiming their full humanity.--Judy Norsigian, Our Bodies
Ourselves
Voice Male chronicles the contemporary profeminist men's movement,
providing a documentary record of activism, engagement, and
personal reflection. Under Rob Okun's able stewardship, Voice Male
has provided an outlet for the full range of men's engagement, from
moral outrage to personal anguish, from political passions to,
well, passion itself. At its best, VM has been a journey, not a
destination, a shared space in which men could listen to each
other, listen to the women who shared their experiences in its
pages, and, most of all, feel heard by others. It has also been a
place to explore the meaning of gender equality, or feminism, in
our personal lives...--from the foreword by Michael Kimmel
We are unaware of some of the most powerful ideas that shape our
lives because they seem second-nature and obvious, which is all the
more reason to hold them up for scrutiny, to turn them upside-down
and inside-out so that we can see what they really are. Masculinity
is one of those ideas, and anyone looking for a place to begin this
journey of discovery can do no better than the rich collection of
voices contained in this book.--Allan Johnson, author of The Gender
Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy and Privilege, Power and
Difference
When our children and grandchildren ask us what men were doing when
women were changing the world in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries, we can tell them to pick up this book. Voice Male
accomplishes what The New York Times and virtually every other
mainstream media organization has regrettably failed to do: telling
the story of men- across class, race and sexual orientation- who
responded to feminism not with defensiveness and hostility, but
with support, solidarity, and a recognition that all along part of
the program was about transforming men's lives, relationships and
health for the better. Voice Male deserves to take its place
alongside such classics as Sisterhood is Powerful and The Feminist
Papers as both a living document and a social history of these
consequential times.--Jackson Katz, Ph.D., author of The Macho
Paradox and creator of the award-winning film Tough Guise
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