TUE—March 9—7 PM ET

*The conversation will be accompanied by virtual cinema screenings of The Making of a Man.*

American-Scandinavian Foundation invites you to a virtual conversation between filmmaker Lo Dagerman and author Mark Greene on “Masculinity and Culture”, moderated by Benjamin Mier-Cruz on March 9.

Immediately following WWII, a young Swedish journalist, Stig Dagerman, is sent into war-torn Europe. He writes a path-breaking travelogue from the ruins of Germany, and is in 1947 dispatched to Paris. French manhood had been humiliated by the Nazi occupation, and it’s now being restored through false narratives and myth-making about manly courage. Inspired by people he meets, Dagerman pens the play Marty’s Shadow, about a young man who becomes a victim of rampant toxic masculinity.

In 2017, Stig Dagerman’s play opened at the August Strindberg Repertory Theater in New York. In her documentary The Making of a Man, filmmaker Lo Dagerman traces her father’s journey in France in the 1940s and interviews the director and cast of the New York production, discovering that the young actor playing the lead in Marty’s Shadow has his own very personal insight into toxic masculinity. Rather than being dated, the play very much resonates in the current United States.

Lo Dagerman will be joined by Mark Greene, whose book The Little #MeToo Book for Men (ThinkPlay Partners, 2018) was written as part of a movement to help change how contemporary culture conditions boys and men. Exploring how man box culture contributes directly to economic and sexual violence against women, the book has been hailed as “nothing short of a blueprint for men’s liberation.” During their conversation, Dagerman and Greene will discuss the predicament of boys and young men in the culture that shapes them. What values drive male socialization today? What is dominance-based male box culture? What is toxic masculinity and how can men withstand pressure to conform? What is the role of women in promoting toxic ideals? Why are male stereotypes still so strong?

Screening in coordination with today’s discussion, The Making of a Man will be available as Virtual Cinema from Scandinavia House. Details and ticketing info will be added closer to the date; please check back to this page to learn more and purchase.

This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; registration is required at the link above. A Q&A will follow the discussion; questions can be shared in the chat or sent in advance to info@amscan.org.

Register