Ms. Magazine publishes special feature section on men in Summer issue
I'm the guest editor
I’m excited to let you know that the new Summer 2025 issue of Ms. Magazine -- the world’s most famous and influential feminist magazine – includes a special feature section on men.
I’m especially pleased to report that I guest-edited that section, which also contains a lengthy excerpt from my new book Every Man: Why Violence Against Women is a Men’s Issue. (The American version of Every Man is scheduled to be published by Bloomsbury on October 2.)
I want to share a few background items about the special feature. After that I’ve included the note I wrote as guest editor, which provides an overview of the rationale for the section, as well as brief descriptions of the content of the articles.
Fun facts and background on the special men’s section
The issue marks the 50th anniversary of a similar “Special Report on Men” that Ms. published in 1975, just as I was beginning my high school football, basketball, and track career!
A fun fact: in the 1975 issue, the man whose back is featured in the cover photo --- which looks just like the current one -- is none other than the great actor/director Robert Redford!
Ms. is a magazine with an activist mission. At a time when, as Ms. says, “…we witness what may very well be the most devastating right-wing assault on women’s rights of our lifetimes,” it wants this issue to be read as widely as possible. So they’re offering it for $5, a 45% discount off the newsstand price.
Here’s the link:
https://secure.everyaction.com/2oBTh7_5Gkq2vYwkSQsxEw2?emci=765a1dd8-dc52-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=02ae5625-4555-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=1051060&fbclid=IwY2xjawLXqg1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFkbjhTb0plSGsyZ01ETkk4AR5EQjWdkkL_N5KwR3EgYFq5HcqvqKFWh2szxub4UzlG4lAaCmVIGe9LjvbyGA_aem_ak3_jKGtOLCphoe-b7uu2g
In a note to subscribers, Ms. Executive Editor Kathy Spillar writes:
"We believe these stories need to be shared. We believe you can help us do that." She tells readers: "You can it have it sent directly to a man in your life: a friend, son, partner, colleague, someone who you think might be open to reading, listening, and even changing. Or you can order the single issue and keep it for yourself!
She explained that they’ve made it easy to order the Special Report on Men without committing to an entire year of receiving the magazine. “No guilt. No lectures. Just real talk—offered in good faith. Because some men are ready. And some are still waiting to be asked.”
Here is my Guest Editor’s introduction:
“The Editors of Ms. asked me to guest edit this feature section on men in order to highlight some key issues related to men and masculinities, from the personal to the political. There is a special urgency to this special section, because the threat to American democracy posed by MAGA and right-wing populism was made possible by the overwhelming support Donald Trump received in 2024 primarily – though not exclusively -- from white men. This time around the winning pro-Trump coalition included a surprising number of young men, a sure sign that something’s up that demands closer scrutiny.
It's true that many boys and men are struggling. It’s also true that the right has successfully weaponized those struggles – caused in part by large, impersonal forces related to the economy, technology, and history – in their relentless attacks on feminists, liberals, and progressives, and anyone else they can accuse of “wokeism,” and subsequently disparage and defund.
The pieces in this section offer something else: a thoughtful blend of personal reflection and sober analysis that seeks to understand the ways in which men’s struggles are connected to larger questions about gender and power that feminists have wrestled with for centuries.
The piece by organizer and writer Garrett Bucks takes a comment -- and seating posture! – of JD Vance as a stepping-off point to address the need for men, especially white men, to find the courage to look inward as the first step toward social action. Mental health clinician Jewel Woods invites readers to think about the ways that men’s health challenges, which include “deaths of despair,” are linked to cultural ideologies about masculinity, as well as the need for ethnic/ racial nuance in the analysis of men’s health.
My piece about the “brocasters” argues that liberals and progressives need to move beyond the search for a “Joe Rogan of the left.” Instead, they must examine the ways in which the right has achieved a kind of narrative dominance in the online ecosphere that young men inhabit – and then figure out how to effectively counteract it.
Finally, the excerpt from my forthcoming book, Every Man, introduces readers to the paradigm-shifting perspective of my work in countering men’s violence against women. Why have so few men been actively involved in the struggle to end sexual and domestic violence? What can we do to change that? And how can altering perceptions lead to changes in personal behavior and institutional/political priorities?
You’ll find insights into these and many other questions in this section. If you find any of it interesting and useful, please know that an ethnically and racially diverse movement of profeminist men continues to generate ideas and initiatives to defend democracy, advance gender justice, and improve the lives of women, men, and non-binary individuals.”