RIT Hosts Masculinity Expert, Jan. 17

Through humor and the sharing of childhood experiences, Christopher Kilmartin points out the absurdities and contradictions of masculinity and the demands it makes upon young men.

Kilmartin will share his thoughts with the community during "Crimes Against Nature," 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 17, in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Webb Auditorium. The performance will include short skits based on Kilmartin’s childhood that allow him to poke fun at the experiences of his adolescence and make a statement about the pressures of masculinity through serious, yet humorous, commentary on sports, puberty, communication, homophobia, girlfriends and sex education.

A college professor, author, stand-up comedian, actor, playwright, consultant and psychologist, Kilmartin holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a licensed clinical psychologist. His books include The Masculine Self, The Pain Behind the Mask: Overcoming Masculine Depression, co-authored with John Lynch, and Sexual Assault in Context: Teaching College Men About Gender. Kilmartin has also been involved in national leadership of the White Ribbon Campaign, a grass-roots effort to decrease men's violence against women.

The free program is sponsored by RIT’s New IDEAS to Prevent Violence Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with RIT’s Men Against Violence Against Women Group, the Women’s Center and Student Government.

For more information, contact the RIT Women's Center at 475-7464.