Masculinity is not an aspect of identity that all male-identified students take time to reflect upon—but Bill Arnold is trying to change that.
Arnold began paid work at the Women’s Center this year, acting as graduate assistant for Bystander Intervention and Prevention Education, having informally volunteered when he arrived on campus September of last year. He originally is from the south side of Chicago and attended Shimer College. The college is a four-year Great Books School, in which students read classics and focus on discussion classes.
“I wrote my thesis on Plato,” Arnold said. “My interest specifically was on how Socrates gently confronts people on the toxic beliefs that they have that make little sense.”
He added that his study of discussion of difficult topics led to his interest in facilitating conversations.
Arnold, after a period of time working in a business setting, moved on to volunteer at the Center for Advancing Domestic Peace in Chicago for three years, where he assisted in providing services to men who had been arrested for domestic violence.
“Being in those groups forced me to challenge myself on what kind of man I was and how I was treating my partner and other people and what my values were,” Arnold said.
Susanne Dietzel, director of the Women’s Center, said tackling masculinity issues has always been a part of programming goals.
“It’s difficult to look at yourself through the lens of privilege,” she said. “Gender is just as confining to men as it is to women … It’s important that we bring men into the conversation.”
She added that there is a significant male presence in the Women’s Center and the Survivor Advocacy Program, in addition to a position dedicated to coordinating gender initiatives, which is currently held by a woman.
“There is a lot of feminist work that men can do with each other,” she said.
Arnold is spearheading two discussion groups that meet on Fridays. One is a conversation about masculinity, the other about bystander intervention.
“Bystander intervention isn’t a new concept, but (Arnold) has been programming pretty aggressively,” said Brenda Strickland, the director of the Survivor Advocacy Program. “He’s very passionate about it. He really works towards changing rape culture on campus.”
Strickland added that a male role model is very important in bystander intervention.
“He’s one of the few men that live what he’s practicing,” she said. “He tries to provide empowerment whether it’s for men or for women.”
Arnold said there are challenges to his work. Married and nearing 30, he’s distanced from where a lot of problem spots occur, such as Court Street. He added that another problem is continuing the conversation after talking at events and giving presentations.
“It’s hard because the work I do at OU is often kind of a one-shot,” he said. “It’s isolated. I don’t have the opportunity to work through a lot of the things that I’m talking about. … It makes me a better human to think about these things with this restriction.”
@EmilyMBamforth
This article ran in print under the headline "Arnold brings male view to Women’s Center."
