Masculinity in a Changing World

The last few decades have seen rapid changes in gender relations and norms—in the household, in the workforce, and in government. The 2023-24 Jepson Leadership Forum invites speakers to discuss masculinity in the context of these recent cultural changes.

Specific topics include the role of hormones in gender identity and behavior, status competition and violence, challenges facing men as a result of the changing nature of the family and the economy, Black masculinity in the United States, and the past and future of patriarchy globally.

2023–24 Jepson Leadership Forum Speakers

Richard Reeves

Sept. 12, 2023  
Solving the Crisis of Our Boys and Men
Richard V. Reeves
President of the American Institute for Boys and Men and author of Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It 
Watch the presentation video. Watch the Take 5 video. Listen to the audio. 

Rob Henderson

Oct. 5, 2023 
Understanding the Young Male Syndrome
Rob Henderson
Social psychologist; U.S. Air Force veteran; author whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Boston Globe; and creator and editor of Rob Henderson's Newsletter, which has more than 40,000 subscribers
Watch the presentation video. Watch the Take 5 video. Listen to the audio. 

David Benatar

Nov. 14, 2023 
The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys
David Benatar
Professor of philosophy and director of the Bioethics Centre at the University of Cape Town and author of books, including The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys

Carole Hooven

Jan. 22, 2024 
The Non-Toxic Nature of Masculinity
Carole Hooven
Author of T: The Story of Testosterone; former lecturer and co-director of Undergraduate Studies, Harvard University's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; currently a lab associate in the Harvard University Department of Psychology and a non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Watch the presentation video. Watch the Take 5 video. Listen to the audio. 

Charles Blow

Feb. 13, 2024 
Black Masculinity
Charles Blow
New York Times columnist, MSNBC political analyst, anchor of PRIME with Charles Blow on the Black News Channel, and author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones and The Devil You Know
Watch the presentation video. Watch the Take 5 video. Listen to the audio. 

Alice Evans

March 5, 2024 
Ten Thousand Years of Patriarchy
Alice Evans
Senior lecturer at King’s College London and author of the forthcoming book The Great Gender Divergence
Watch the presentation video.