Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to In The Arena with Jackson Katz, and publication archives. What you’ll get is regular access to my writing on a range of cultural and political topics, especially those that revolve around the core themes of my work: gender politics, masculinities and violence, including the focus of much of my life’s work: preventing men’s violence against women.
My take on these and other matters can be described as profeminist,* which is to say that it generally aligns with basic feminist ideas and sensibilities about gender and power, but is also informed by my lived experience as a conventionally masculine, heterosexual white man. Unfortunately, you won’t find nearly enough analysis and commentary about these topics — from this perspective — in mainstream or even progressive/left media.
In fact, one of the reasons why I started this Substack was similar to why so many others do — because no one else was writing what I wanted to read. Or saying what I strongly felt needed to be said. Especially in these fraught times, when so many of the cascading problems in American society and politics are linked directly or indirectly to some variation of a “crisis in masculinity.”
In case you’re wondering, I’ve entitled this newsletter In the Arena not only because I see myself as an activist scholar, but also because I’m interested in exploring the many ways in which sports, violence, and masculinities intersect and overlap in 21st century American culture and politics.
I write about these topics not as a detached observer, but as someone with a strong background and credentials — both personal and professional — in traditional male culture. Just one example: as a young man, I was an accomplished multi-sport athlete and all-star high school football player. That was a big part of my identity when I was young, and it continues to inform my work and commitments.
I would also like to note that I have paid close attention — one might say I’ve borne witness to — conservative intellectual and popular discourse for decades, and have spent a great deal of time in red states as well as blue. I’ve worked extensively in sports, military, and corporate cultures on six continents.
I mention this because something I try to do in my writing is “translate” some of the narratives from right-wing media, the brocast universe, and the burgeoning online manosphere for my feminist compatriots and others to the left of center.
One thing I can guarantee is that if you decide to join me In the Arena, you’ll get regular access to a type of analysis about what’s happening in this society and world that you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
*For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the term “profeminist,” it describes men who acknowledge and appreciate the basic feminist insight that gender is one of the primary axes around which human societies are organized. Obviously this has massive implications for women of all ethnic/racial backgrounds. But less obviously, although just as true, it also fundamentally affects the lives of men. The reason I and many others say we’re “profeminist” rather than “feminist” is out of respect for the fact that to be “feminist” is to adopt an identity position, not just an ideological framework. In a patriarchal and misogynous culture, men do not and cannot occupy the same identity space as women. Full stop. You’ll find much more discussion about this and other related matters in my writing here, and elsewhere.
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I’m hoping to build a community of people here with a shared interest in a more thoughtful examination and discussion of some of the most critical issues of our time, including the ongoing pandemic of men’s violence against women, the gendered (as well as ethnic/racial) reasons for the rise of the authoritarian, populist right in the U.S. and Europe, and the many connections between these and other phenomena.
But to be clear — I don’t expect universal agreement with my ideas, and I welcome counterarguments. I can’t say I’ll always have the time or inclination to respond to every comment. I hold and express my views confidently but not, I hope, dogmatically. It always disappoints me when people whose views I generally share (i.e. feminist, left/liberal) are unable to entertain opposing points of view without expressing vitriol and even issuing threats of “cancellation.”
This is illiberal and indefensible for people who espouse commitment to democratic principles. It is also counterproductive, because it pushes people away rather than drawing them in. And don’t we want to draw them in? Isn’t one of the main reasons why Donald Trump has been elected twice (!) to the American presidency the fact that so many (mostly white) men — including young men — don’t feel seen, heard, or welcomed by the Democratic Party, or anyone to the left of center?
All of this is to say: I welcome your readership and participation in the comments section. I hope you choose to support this Substack with a subscription, and if you’re convinced it should be reaching more people, I hope you urge others to check it out and subscribe as well. Right now it’s all available for free; I hope one day I’ll be able to add extra features for paid subscribers. (Thank you so much to those who have already pledged to have paid subscriptions when that day comes!)
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