Screening of "The Bro Code" Documentary at Wilkes University
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Updated: October 13, 2012
From Wilkes University-
"Bros before hoes." That's the first rule in "The Bro Code," a set of ordinances allegedly defining what it means to be a man. While a comedic invention of the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," the code has since taken on a life of its own. Beneath the swells of canned sitcom laughter, though, lurk inherent implications of chauvinism.
As part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at Wilkes University will host a special screening of Thomas Keith's documentary "The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men" on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 4 p.m. in Wilkes' Henry Student Center ballroom.
Seeking to shed light on the ugly underbelly of misogyny-saturated media, the film explores the way men are conditioned by TV, movies, music and other forms of popular culture to view and treat women in a dehumanizing, disrespectful manner. Athena Devlin, co-director of The Women's Center, described it as "an important and engaging film that exposes how boys think about and react to the gendered, highly sexualized, and radicalized landscapes that they inhabit."
Following the screening, a panel discussion will take place, focusing on reactions from the male perspective. Panelists include a representative from the Victims Resource Center, Chad Stanley, associate professor of English at Wilkes, and several male student athletes, including members of the University wrestling team.
Thomas Keith, director of "The Bro Code" teaches philosophy at California Polytechnic University and California State University, Long Beach. Prior to "The Bro Code," Keith, a self-professed anti-sexist activist explored similar subject matter in the 2008 film "Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture."
