Professor Mansfield is the author of the recent controversial study, Manliness, published by Yale University Press. Professor Kipnis is the author of a similarly controversial new book, The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability, published by Pantheon.
They debate masculinity, femininity, the legacy of feminism, and the endless battle between the sexes. This event held at the Newberry Library was as part of the 17th annual Chicago Humanities Festival.
Bio
Laura Kipnis
Laura Kipnis is a professor of media studies at Northwestern University. She is also an active cultural and media critic who focuses especially on gender issues, pornography, and popular culture.
She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She has received fellowships for her work from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Harvey C. Mansfield
Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard.
He is the author of translations and studies of political philosophers from Aristotle to Burke to Machiavelli to Tocqueville and more than a dozen books, including America's Constitutional Soul and the controversial Manliness.
Difference in opinions or attitudes between men and women concerning a variety of public and private issues, including political candidates, parties, or programs. Until the 1980s men and women in the U.S. exhibited similar voting habits. Since then, however, women have been more likely than men to support the Democratic Party and liberal policies, particularly on issues such as equal employment opportunity, child care, and gun control. In contrast, in western Europe women historically have been more likely than men to support conservative political parties.