In 1960, by the age of 30 almost 70% of American men had left home, completed their educations, found a partner and started work. By comparison, today less than a third of men reach these milestones before their thirties. Michael Kimmel writes in his book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men about the reluctance of young men today to grow up. He further discusses the problematic aspects of the ‘boy code’ that places unrealistic standards on boys and men between the ages of 16 and 26.
The Department of Sociology is among the sponsors of this lecture. Chair of Sociology, Dr. Amy Dellinger Page says of Kimmel, "He is a prolific and well-respected gender scholar. He has an uncanny ability to make academic scholarship accessible to a wider audience in a meaningful way. Guyland specifically focuses on the culture of masculinity and the inherent consequences of our current conceptualizations.”
Kimmel is a sociologist specializing in gender studies and author of seventeen books on gender and masculinity. His lecture on Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow the event.