Boy Scouts, the high value man, and spaces restricted to cisgender men.
Would certain spaces benefit from being restricted to cis-men? Would some conversations be easier if only cisgender men were allowed in that conversation? Could more “progress” be made in those situations? These are some of the questions I’ve been thinking about this week.
To start off, I am focused on spaces and conversations that are intentionally marked for only cisgender men. If you are unfamiliar with the term cisgender, it can be understood as the following:
“Cis, short for cisgender (pronounced sis-gender, or just sis), is a term that means whatever gender you are now is the same as what was presumed for you at birth. This simply means that when a parent or doctor called you a boy or a girl when you were born, they got it right” (www.transhub.org.au).
As the title suggests, the types of spaces restricted to cisgender men that I typically think of might be my brother’s Boy Scout troop growing up or “high-value man” (HVM) podcasters discussing hot topics in the realm of dating, attractiveness, and success. There are countless other spaces that could be discussed that fall into this framework. For example, the glorious “Saturday’s are for the boys” trope that rang loud and true during my time in college. It seems silly to not connect that motif to the larger greek life culture on my campus. Although the discussion of these latter spaces are important, I am choosing to focus on the culture of boy scouts and HVM. To be frank, these spaces leave a bad taste in my mouth. So often, I observe them as a breeding ground for the reproduction of harmful social norms, particularly in the realm of gender performance.
Tangent: Is it fair to argue that we shouldn’t have spaces restricted to cisgender men without thinking about other homogenous spaces? Should we be looking into spaces restricted to cisgender women as well? Certainly, conversations of race could fit in here too. For example, there’s a ton of research on the harms that come from all-white spaces that reproduce and normalize racialized ideologies. These are also important conversations to have, but ones I won’t be going into depth in here!
Looking at the shady history of the (now “reformed”) Scouts BSA, a picture comes together. First, we see the institution repeatedly supporting homophobic practices and institutionally discriminating against gay teens and troop leaders (Anon 2012). There is also something to be said about the differences in the curriculum of Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts (a seemingly sibling organization but in fact is very different). Not to diminish the prevalence of outdoor survival skills, but it seems like Girl Scouts focuses more on leadership and entrepreneurial goals and values, values that rely less on stereotypical gender norms. If that wasn’t enough, there have be loads of sexual assault accusations that have come through the organization over the years. As recent as 2020, there were numerous lawsuits that were filed regarding the cover up of sexual assault in boy scout troops. These lawsuits were linked to the Mormon church who were sponsors of the troops of interest (Anon n.d.).
Another space I am thinking of is that of the “high-value man” podcast. The HVM is a label that typically encourages cis-men to be financially secure, confident, healthy, etc. Sounds great, right?? Unfortunately, the HVM trend is often accompanied by a significant level of misogyny. HVM often come across as arrogant, closed minded, and narcissistic. A podcast duo that has grown in popularity (due to the number of trolls they receive on the internet) is the Fresh and Fit podcast. They are self described as the “#1 Male Self-Improvement Podcast in the World.” Some of their most recent episodes include; “Top 8 Signs She’s A Bimbo,” “Female Friends are Useless! Here’s WHY,” and “Why Being Faithful is the Woman’s Job.” Regretfully, I haven’t watched much of the content from the Fresh and Fit podcast other than what has come up on my TikTok on accident and a collab podcast they did with another podcast duo (I am certainly not their target audience).
With these two examples, I find that harm is being done and toxic hyper-masculine values are being lifted up. With Scouts BSA, we see homophobia running rampant, value being placed on the ability to complete physical tasks, and sexual assault allegations being swept under the rug. HVM base their identities on their inflated view of masculine manhood and deflated view of womanhood. I find that the harms of toxic cis-man spaces are two-fold.
Initially, I believe that these spaces collapse individuality and people’s understanding of what is acceptable behavior for men. For example, being told that gay people aren’t allowed in your space or that women hold useless places in your life unless they’re your submissive partner produce unhealthy relationships to manhood. Why? These beliefs communicate is that as a man you have the right to treat people differently because they are not men (they are lesser). These beliefs suggest that as a man, you must preform in specific ways in order to retain your manhood (e.g. completing physical tasks, excluding women, being the breadwinner/head of your family, etc.).
The second way toxic cis-man spaces cause harm is to those who are not cis-men. When cis-men define manhood, they do not stop there. Our understanding of manhood plays a direct roll in defining masculinity, femininity, womanhood, what it means to be transgender, how we understand different types of sexualities and sexual expression... Point being, when we define manhood in a toxic space, the effects ripple to other gender and sexual identities. We can’t allow our definitions of manhood dictate and cause harm to people (cis-men and not cis-men). By saying that manhood is strong, powerful, and in charge, we fail to leave space for people who are not cis-men to be those things.
What happens when there are exceptions? What does growth look like in this situation? Scouts BSA recently allowed “boys and girls” to join their troops. This was followed by changing their name from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA (Andone 2019). When looking up some of the current merit badges, I saw some that caught my eye: entrepreneurship, personal management, and disabilities awareness (Anon n.d.). Additionally, the Fresh and Fit podcasters sometimes allow women to come onto their podcast—whether they let them speak or respect them is a different story. Can we view either one of these moves as progressive or more inclusive? My goal with this post is not to call for a removal of all spaces restricted to cis-men. In many ways, I recognize how homogenous spaces can provide comfort to people in a society with strict understandings of gender, race, sexuality, etc. However, I find issue with homogenous spaces being used to reproduce harmful ideologies rather than being used as a way to break those ideologies down. With that being said, is anyone doing it well?
In many ways, I wish I was more familiar with healthy all cis-man spaces. One example I’ve come across is the Enjoy the Podcast by Jared Brady, JD, Los, and Kray (link). This group discusses a range of topics including relationships and manhood, and I’ve only began to break the surface of what they have to offer.
If you have any other accounts or podcasts that you like, please comment them down below! If not, I would love to hear your thoughts about these questions and whether you think spaces restricted to cis-men can be good.
That’s all for now! I’ll be back soon with things to say :)
References
Andone, Dakin. 2019. “Girls Can Join the Boy Scouts Now -- but Not Everyone Is Happy about It.” CNN. Retrieved July 28, 2022 (https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/us/boy-scouts-girls-trnd/index.html).
Anon. 2012. “GLAAD’s Campaign to End the Boy Scouts’ Ban on Gay Scouts and Leaders.” GLAAD. Retrieved July 28, 2022 (https://www.glaad.org/scouts/about).
Anon. n.d.-a. “Merit Badges.” Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved July 28, 2022 (https://www.scouting.org/programs/scouts-bsa/advancement-and-awards/merit-badges/).
Anon. n.d.-b. “Mormon Church Claims • Lawyers for Victims of Boy Scout Sexual Abuse.” Lawyers for Victims of Boy Scout Sexual Abuse. Retrieved July 28, 2022 (https://boyscoutssexualabuse.com/mormon-church-claims/).
Anon. n.d.-c. “What Does Cis Mean?” TransHub. Retrieved July 26, 2022 (https://www.transhub.org.au/101/cis).
