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the MAGAZIN DER ECOLE D’HUMANITÉ Ausgabe 06/2019 Im Fokus: Männerstimmen Men's Voices The Ecolianer | Magazin der Ecole d’Humanité Im Fokus Männerstimmen | Men's Voices Editorial | Editorial 01 Inhalt Männerstimmen | Men's Voices 02–05, 12 Content On the role of teenage men in the Ecole 02 A little space for yourself 03 Evolutionäres Erbe und Gleichstellung 04–05 Der Mann sieht sich selbst oft als König 12 03 06 14 Neues aus unserem Schuldorf | News from our Community Goodbye Michael 06-08 Der Neue und seine Ideen 09 Die neue Geschäftsleitung und ihre Gedanken 10-11 Ode an Enrico Simen 13 Communication is the key 14 Transforming education 15-16 Stimmen aus der Ecole / Students' Voices From student to teacher 17 Alumni / Alumni Guiding Principles 18-19 Circle of Life 21 Abkürzungen MA – MitarbeiterIn | staff Stiftung zur Förderung der Ecole d’Humanité KA – KameradIn | student H – HelferIn | Helper Benefizkonzert 20-21 P – PraktikantIn | Practicant EDITORIAL Ausgabe 06/2019 EDITORIAL «WANN IST EIN MANN EIN MANN» «WHEN IS A MAN, A MAN» KATJA BRAUN, Schulleiterin seit 2017 | School Director since 2017 Liebe Leser*innen Dear Readers, Nach der letzten Ausgabe zum Thema «Frauenstimmen» liegt Ihnen und Euch nun also eines zum Thema «Männer- Following the last issue, which focused on ‘women’s voices’, stimmen» vor. Mir fiel zunächst spontan das Lied «Männer» this issue is focused on ‘men’s voices’. Spontaneously, the ein – im Jahr 1984 veröffentlicht - dessen Refrain lautet: song published in 1984 called “Männer” comes to mind. Its Wann ist ein Mann ein Mann? Gute Frage, nur bleibt Sän- refrain asks ‘When is a man, a man?’ This is a good question ger und Songwriter Herbert Grönemeyer uns jede Antwort and one to which singer and songwriter Herbert Grönemey- schuldig: Die Antwortoptionen sind zwischen Satire und er provides no definitive answer. Ernst angesiedelt, spielen mit Klischees, Verallgemeinerun- His options for an answer range between satire and serious- gen, Geschlechterstereotypen und Irrtümern, vor denen wir ness, play with clichés, generalizations, gender stereotypes, alle nicht ganz sicher sind: Frauen wie Männer. and fallacies, all equally disconcerting: Männer nehmen in den Arm Men hug Männer geben Geborgenheit Men provide security Männer weinen heimlich Men cry secretly Männer brauchen viel Zärtlichkeit Men need tenderness Männer kaufen Frauen Men buy women Männer stehen ständig unter Strom Men live continuously high strung Männer baggern wie blöde Men harass endlessly Männer lügen am Telefon Men lie over the phone Männer haben Muskeln Men are muscular Männer sind furchtbar stark Men are incredibly strong Männer können alles Men can do everything Männer kriegen 'n Herzinfarkt Men get heart attacks Beim Blick auf die Verschiedenartigkeit von Männern und Considering the range of men and male images, any ‘general’ Männerbildern, die Definitionen von Männlichkeit und Le- definition of maleness and masculinity falls short of reality. bensformen von Männern wird schnell klar: jede «allgemein- Whether one talks of genes or evolution, of behaviourism gültige» Definition greift viel zu kurz – egal ob Genetik oder or hormones, there is always a piece of the puzzle missing Evolution, Behaviorismus oder Hormonhaushalt – immer which could make the image seriously coherent, accurate or scheint ein Puzzleteil zu fehlen, um das Bild ernsthaft stim- even generally valid. mig, zutreffend oder gar «allgemeingültig» zu machen. One thing is clear: the challenges we are facing are immense Eines ist dabei völlig offenbar: die zukünftigen Herausforde- and do not stop at borders or nationalities, and questions of rungen für die Menschheit sind gewaltig und machen eben- gender are no exception. Climate change and the extreme so wenig halt vor Ländergrenzen oder Nationalitäten und exploitation of the planet, boundless inequality and exten- machen auch keine Ausnahme in der Geschlechterfrage: Kli- sive injustice, violent political and religious confrontation, mawandel & Raubbau an der Natur, grosse Ungleichheit und a serious lack of participation and widespread poverty for Ungerechtigkeit auf der Welt, politische und religiöse ge- the greater part of people: none of this is resolved with ‘the walttätige Auseinandersetzungen, mangelnde Partizipation right answer’ to gender questions. und grosse Armut von weiten Teilen der Menschheit: nichts I wish you much enjoyment in reading this current issue of davon ist nur mit der «richtigen Antwort» auf die Frage nach The Ecolianer, filled with interesting and exciting texts writ- dem Geschlecht gelöst. ten by men here at the Ecole. Ich wünsche Ihnen und Euch allen viel Vergnügen und gute Gedanken bei der Lektüre des aktuellen Ecolianers mit Tex- ten von vielen spannenden Männern hier an der Ecole. Katja Braun 01 MÄNNERSTIMMEN MEN'S VOICES The Ecolianer | Magazin der Ecole d’Humanité ON THE ROLE OF TEENAGE MEN IN THE ECOLE AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL ANONYMOUS, current student In the last fifty years or so, a whole lot has changed concerning the treatment of the genders, and most of the changes have definitely been for the better. However, there is a serious lack of change regarding the way people tend to find their sexual/ romantic partners. Short flings and purely sexual partnerships are now regarded as almost if not completely normal, yet it is still expected that the man takes the lead in the process that leads up to sexual encounters. Our society also tends to preach sexual openness, while in grave consequences for both of the parties involved, such as reality, a sense of prudishness and a general lack of commu- trauma or other psychological problems for the one whose nication, quite common among teenagers anyway, are mak- boundaries have been crossed, and for the person crossing ing a comeback. This is rather problematic, especially con- the boundaries, being scorned as well as being socially and sidering the lack of experience that teenagers tend to have. career-wise impaired, if not also pursued by the law. Together with a social climate that supports mob mentality I feel this issue might have a dramatic impact on the way this over the benefit of the doubt (which happens to be the rea- high-school generation will handle their relationships once son I chose to write this anonymously), these inconsisten- they are older and are supposed to be more experienced. cies throw young men into a large romantic dilemma. They One can only hope that these seemingly old-fashioned ap- have to choose between two options: 1) spending their time proaches to sexuality and interacting with the mistakes of in a sort of short-term celibacy, which tends to also lead to others are only fads, trends which fade as quickly as they a certain loss of respect among their peers in the highly appeared in a society which somehow feels the need to re- competitive male teenage environment and, 2) taking the define itself (or rather its perception of itself) with every risk of pursuing their romantic/ sexual interests which may passing decade. It sadly doesn`t seem very likely though. cause them to accidentally cross another person’s bounda- ries. Such inadvertent crossing of boundaries could lead to 02 MÄNNERSTIMMEN Ausgabe 06/2019 MEN'S VOICES A LITTLE SPACE FOR YOURSELF EIN BISSCHEN PLATZ FÜR DICH ELIAS EMÖDI, KA since 2018 I’ve written this text about something that is really dear to me. About opening up and showing vulnerability. I love when people cry. It might sound peculiar, but let me tell you why I love it. It’s not because of their reason to cry, but because they are crying right now. It’s like a glimpse into their soul. They let a part of their pain go, be it just a tiny bit. Your being tells you at that moment, “hey stop suppressing me, and stop lying about me. You’re not feeling well, you’ve been hurt, let it out, let go.” Crying is finally standing up for your- self and letting love in by not suppressing yourself anymore, and gifting it and yourself some space. But if I cry, I feel and I am vulnerable… Everyone is vulnera- ble. Every single one of us. Some have just forgotten or they ignore their own hurt, and are pretty genius at hiding it. Let’s stop acting like machines, everyone is human, why deny it? Just because you’re vulnerable, doesn’t mean you’re weak. Isn’t real strength accepting your feelings and taking that we sometimes forget that we’re hiding. I for myself an honest look at yourself? Standing up for your own vulner- found out that it was a horrible way to live. When I was go- abilities makes you strong; if you suppress them and some- ing through a rough time I was very tense and couldn’t cry; one hits them, well, you have a problem; you are suddenly it was only later I managed to slowly let go and find myself in a pretty bad place, in which you don’t really have control. a bit of happiness. I find it sad that we live in a world where we think we need Yes, it’s scary, and it is meant to be so, but the reward is to hide all the time, and where this has become so normal worth much more than its price. Learning that I wasn’t alone, and seeing vulnerabilities in not just myself but others too, touched me deeply, and made me rethink, and it opened a little place in my heart for them. I came to understand that we’re not as different as we think, or as I thought at that time. That’s what love is about, right? How can somebody love you if you don’t open up, if you don’t show yourself.