On March 19, Reddit users took an “Ask Me Anything” from One Carleton candidates as an opportunity to ask why the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has a Womyn’s Centre, but not a male equivalent.
The Charlatan spoke to various students on campus to get their thoughts on whether or not they think a men’s centre should be added to campus.
“I think it would be a great idea, really,” a third-year law and history major, Darya Makiyenko, said in an email. “Having a men’s centre on campus would give men a centre for resources that they might not otherwise have access to.”
Brayden Griffin, a bachelor of commerce student, said he agrees with this sentiment.
“Men are shamed and treated like they have everything they need, and their issues are non-existent in comparison (with women),” he said in an email. “This is why we need a men’s centre.”
CUSA president Zameer Masjedee said that CUSA’s service centres are meant to serve marginalized groups on campus. He said a men’s centre could offer mental health and counselling services without it “being stigmatized.”
“There’s this perception of ‘you’re a man’ and you have to have this macho ‘nothing can affect me’ sort of persona around you,” he said. “Some people feel that way.”
According to Statistics Canada, from the 1950s until 2009, the suicide rate for men has always been higher than women. In 2009, it was three times more prevalent among men.
Robert B., a first-year criminology and criminal justice student who declined to give his last name, said he thinks that reorganizing the Womyn’s Centre so that it appeals to the needs of both men and women would be the most “ideal” scenario.
“We live in the 21st century. We don’t need to have this division of the sexes anymore. Fundamentally, the same problems plague both the sexes,” he said.
He agreed that within this hypothetical organization there could be meeting times and sub-groups specific to either sex, but also that, “any psychiatrist, any counsellors that might be on hand, they will be able to deal with both sexes.”
However, he also stated that due to “campus politics . . . practically right now, there must be two groups.”
Holly Smith, a Womyn’s Centre co-ordinator, said the centre would help men in need of peer support, but noted that “cisgendered men are definitely not our priority demographic.”
Zachary Jeffcott, a first-year English student, said he supports greater mental health awareness for men, but opposed the idea of a men’s centre.
“Having a club, or a sort of ‘space,’ where men will go, my fear is that that would just turn into a place where men can bash women,” he said, adding that the group would simply be a confrontational response to the Womyn’s Centre.
“There aren’t any services from a ‘men’s centre’ that a man couldn’t get around campus just as easily,” Jeffcott said, citing services offered by CUSA, the Womyn’s Centre, and other groups.
While CUSA offers services to both men and women, the Womyn’s Centre’s capacity to help men is limited and both co-ordinators agreed that men are not the top priority of the centre.
“If a man came in who wanted some kind of peer support, we would definitely offer that,” Smith said.
Masjedee said if a men’s centre is something students are passionate about, they should speak to their CUSA councillors.
“Ultimately, it comes down to how much of a demand there is for this and how much interest there is for this,” he said. “Until we get more interest, and until we see that there’s actual need on campus, there’s nothing that CUSA in particular is going to be doing about it.”
Photo by Aaron Hemens
