Honolulu Community College will host Michael Messner, one of the biggest names in the study of masculinities, for a free public presentation on Forty Years of Title IX: Where Are the Boys in Youth Sports?
His presentation will take place on Friday, February 15, 1–3:30 p.m., at Honolulu Community College in the Norman W.H. Loui Conference Center (Building 2, Room 201).
Over four decades after the passage of Title IX, girls and women have still not achieved full equity in sports, but their participation rates and athletic skills have skyrocketed.
Based on his recent study of youth sports, Messner will argue that adults’ views of girls and their futures have shifted dramatically—today’s parents now overwhelmingly support their daughters’ athletic participation. However, adults’ views and treatment of boys in youth sports, including their thinking about boys’ futures as adults, have not changed much. The effect of this uneven gender transformation will be discussed.
“Having Dr. Messner speak in Hawaiʻi will benefit our students, faculty, and the public in numerous ways, as his work straddles a number of disciplines and areas of study,” said Fumiko Takasugi, assistant professor of sociology at Honolulu Community College.
An expert in gender and the sociology of sports
Starting with his doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley culminating in his dissertation titled, “Masculinity and Sports: An Exploration of the Changing Meaning of Male Identity in the Lifecourse of the Athlete,” Messner has gone on to publish 12 books and countless journal articles on the subject.
Messner has a dual appointment in sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California and is the Dornsife faculty development director. He has won honors and awards from the California Women’s Law Center, numerous teaching awards from USC, and numerous awards from the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.
