“Barriers to Men’s Enrollment in the Feminized Space of College Sex Education Courses”

There is a notable gender gap in enrollment in college-level sex education classes across the US, with men being reluctant to enroll. This is not surprising because, in an androcentric society, men commonly avoid feminized spaces. Men who do enter feminized spaces tend to view themselves as “good guys” who are more sensitive to gender inequality than other men. Using a grounded theory approach, we analyzed interviews with 17 men college students who had not enrolled in a sexuality education course. We found these men also saw themselves as good guys. They constructed and distanced themselves from an archetypal “hyper-masculinized other,” deploying two central narratives: (1) good guys don’t need sex education and (2) other guys aren’t interested in sex education. Ultimately, when contrasting themselves against a hyper-masculinized other, participants projected their gendered understandings of sexuality onto other men and emerged as good guys who absolved themselves from responsibility for taking action to promote equitable sexual relationships. As long as men who exclude themselves from feminized spaces project inferior forms of masculinity onto other men, they will not enter these spaces nor receive their potential benefits.