Episode 12: Tom Digby on Men, Masculinity and Heterosexual Love

On this episode of en(gender)ed, our guest is Tom Digby, author of Love & War: How Militarism Shapes Sexuality and Romance. The book, Love and War, provides a new way to view heterosexual love, as well as the impact of misogyny in the everyday lives of men and women. Tom’s work has been widely shared in numerous public presentations about the intersections of masculinity, militarism, love, sexuality, and feminism.  Tom Digby is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Springfield College and has served as U.S. Advisory Editor of the journal Men and Masculinities since it was founded by Michael Kimmel in 1998. His previous book was Men Doing Feminism (Routledge). Digby's early publications were on Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, and ethical theory, but for the past 30 years he has written, lectured, and taught primarily about gender topics.

Tom will speak with us today about the concepts in his book, including heterosexual love, the construction of gender in our society, the interplay of gender and militarism and its role in shaping our understanding of masculinity, sexuality, romantic love, misogyny, and even war itself. We will also discuss the role of the 2016 election in influencing identity and cultural institutions and cultural norms and our discourse on gender and masculinity.

During our conversation, Tom and I referenced many resources that we share with you below:

• Sandra Bartky and her book, Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression
• Cordelia Fine who writes about the "gender binary"
• Friedrich Nietzsche and his characterization of heterosexual relationship dynamics, also featured prominently in Kate Millet's Theory of Sexual Politics
• The Undefeated documentary available on Netflix
• Hillary Clinton's Beijing Speech on Women's Rights in 1995
• Scholar Gail Dines and her work on "gonzo porn"
• The Twitter Clown Face-Painting incident and how the impact gender stereotypes have on future male violence and parenting as a form of advocacy
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