I want to share some memories from WSCF men's pre-assembly (which took place July 31 - August 1 in Montreal, Canada). It was the first time in my life that the participants of a meeting were only men.

I remember we started with the Bible study. We discussed the passage where a women who was accused of adultery was brought to Jesus by men willing to kill her. We had to make a short play. I was acting the woman. So now I how it feels to be a woman in front of violent men.

Next day we had a workshop about men's violence against women and presentation of the White Ribbon Campaign. The campaign started in 1991 after a massacre in one Canadian college where a male killed a dozen of women students and professors. We started with defining "the real man". There were interesting responses that were different among the regions: from strong and problem solver married man who has a son to soft, gentle and flexible modern man. Then we discussed how these stereotypes of the real man are formed, what happens if a man does not meet these expectations given by the society and whether the masculinity is the phenomenon that men are born with biologically or it is constructed by the society.

The definition and discussion of one gender is possible by relating it to the other one. Thus we, men spend time discussing the role of women and other excluded groups. As the result the mens´ pre-assembly came up with the resolution which I hope will be presented at the general assembly of WSCF.

Justas Brazauskas
Delegate from Lithuania