John Stoltenberg

John Stoltenberg (born 1944)^[1] is an American radical feminist activist, scholar, author, and magazine editor.^[2] He is the former managing editor of AARP The Magazine, a bimonthly publication of the United States-based advocacy group AARP, a position he held from 2004 until 2012.

Stoltenberg was life partner to Andrea Dworkin for thirty-one years (eventually marrying), although he considers himself gay.^[3] He is a lapsed Lutheran, of German and Norwegian descent.^[4]

Career

Stoltenberg holds a degree in fine arts and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. He is well known as a feminist activist and author. He has written a series of books and articles criticizing traditional concepts of manhood or maleness, such as Refusing to Be a Man: Essays on Sex and Justice, Why I Stopped Trying to be a Real Man,^[5] and The End of Manhood: A Book for Men of Conscience.^[6]

Stoltenberg created "The Pose Workshop," which entailed men adopting the poses that women strike in pornographic shots (intended partly for men attending Christian retreats), a version of which was broadcast on BBC television.

He was Andrea Dworkin's life partner for thirty-one years. They began living together in 1974; in 1998 they married (see Andrea Dworkin's relationship with John Stoltenberg).

Stoltenberg is a founder of the group Men Can Stop Rape^[7] and developed the group's 'My Strength' campaign^[8] which aims to educate young men on sexual relationships, consent and rape. He also creative director of the group's "My Duty"^[9] sexual-assault-prevention media campaign, which is licensed to the United States Department of Defense's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.^[10]

Stoltenberg is credited with the quote: "Pornography tells lies about women. But pornography tells the truth about men."^[11]

Stoltenberg has described how, as a feminist male, he has had to reevaluate and even discontinue relationships with some of his male friends.^[12]

Selected bibliography

Books

• Stoltenberg, John (1978). Disarmament and masculinity: An outline guide and bibliography for studying the connection between sexual violence and war. Palo Alto, California: Frog in the Well. OCLC 6185444. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1989). Refusing to be a man: essays on sex and justice. Portland, Oregon: Breitenbush Books. ISBN 9780932576736.  Reprinted as: Stoltenberg, John (2000). Refusing to be a man essays on sex and justice. London New York: UCL Press. ISBN 9781841420417.  Pdf.
• Stoltenberg, John (1994). The end of manhood: a book for men of conscience (1st ed.). New York, New York, U.S.A: Plume. ISBN 9780452273047. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1994). What makes pornography "sexy". Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions. ISBN 9781571312013. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1998). The end of manhood: a book for men of conscience (2nd ed.). Bridgewater, New Jersey: Replica Books. ISBN 9780735100404.  Revised edition printed as: Stoltenberg, John (2000). The end of manhood: parables on sex and selfhood. London Bristol, Pennsylvania: UCL Press. ISBN 9781857283259. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2013). Gonerz. ISBN 1481986473. 

Chapters in books

• Stoltenberg, John (1977), "Refusing to be a man", in Snodgrass, John, For men against sexism: a book of readings, Albion, California New York: Times Change Press Distribution, Monthly Review Press, pp. 36–40, ISBN 9780878100316. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1977), "Toward gender justice", in Snodgrass, John, For men against sexism: a book of readings, Albion, California New York: Times Change Press Distribution, Monthly Review Press, ISBN 9780878100316. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1977), "Eroticism and violence in the father-son relationship", in Snodgrass, John, For men against sexism: a book of readings, Albion, California New York: Times Change Press Distribution, Monthly Review Press, ISBN 9780878100316. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1982), "Sadomasochism: Eroticized violence, eroticized powerlessness", in Russell, Diana E. H.; Star, Susan L.; Linden, Robin R.; et al., Against sadomasochism: a radical feminist analysis, East Palo Alto, California: Frog in the Well, ISBN 9780960362837. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1987), "Other men", in Abbott, Franklin, New men, new minds: breaking male tradition: how today's men are changing the traditional roles of masculinity, Freedom, California: Crossing Press, pp. 122–129, ISBN 9780895942197. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1990), "Pornography and freedom", in Kimmel, Michael S., Men confront pornography, New York: Crown Publishers, pp. 60–71, ISBN 9780517569313. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1990), "Gays and the propornography movement: having the hots for sex discrimination", in Kimmel, Michael S., Men confront pornography, New York: Crown Publishers, pp. 256–262, ISBN 9780517569313. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1990), "You can't fight homophobia and protect the pornographers at the same time: an analysis of what went wrong in Hardwick", in Leidholdt, Dorchen; Raymond, Janice G., The sexual liberals and the attack on feminism, New York, New York: Pergamon Press, pp. 184–190, ISBN 9780080374574. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1992), "Pornography, homophobia and male supremacy", in Itzin, Catherine, Pornography: women, violence, and civil liberties, Oxford England New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 145–165, ISBN 9780198257554. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1993), "Making rape an election issue", in Buchwald, Emilie; Fletcher, Pamela R.; Roth, Martha, Transforming a rape culture (1st ed.), Minneapolis, Minnesota Emeryville, California: Milkweed Editions, ISBN 9781571312044. 

Reprinted as Stoltenberg, John (2005), "Making rape an election issue", in Buchwald, Emilie; Fletcher, Pamela R.; Roth, Martha, Transforming a rape culture (2nd ed.), Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions, ISBN 9781571312693. 

• Stoltenberg, John (1993), "Pornography and freedom", in Russell, Diana E. H., Making violence sexy: feminist views on pornography, Buckingham, England and New York City, New York: Open University Press and Teachers College Press, pp. 65–77, ISBN 9780335192007. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1995), "The triangular politics of pornography", in Lederer, Laura; Delgado, Richard, The price we pay: the case against racist speech, hate propaganda, and pornography, New York City, New York: Hill & Wang, ISBN 9780809078837. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1995), "Pornography and sexual violence: justice and accountability to victims", in Burgonio-Watson, Thelma; et al., Called to make justice: collected keynote speeches from the first bi-national meeting of advocates, workers and leaders from religious communities who work to prevent sexual and domestic violence, Seattle, Washington: Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, OCLC 40536815. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1998), ""I am not a rapist!": Why college guys are confronting sexual violence", in Schacht, Steven P.; Ewing, Doris W., Feminism and men: reconstructing gender relations, New York: New York University Press, ISBN 9780814780848. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1998), "Healing from manhood: a radical meditation on the movement from gender identity to moral identity", in Schacht, Steven P.; Ewing, Doris W., Feminism and men: reconstructing gender relations, New York: New York University Press, ISBN 9780814780848. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1998), "Learning the F words", in Atkins, Dawn, Looking queer: body image and identity in lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender communities, New York: Haworth Press, pp. 393–412, ISBN 9781560239314. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1999), "How power makes men: the grammar of gender identity", in Kuypers, Joseph A., Men and power, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, pp. 37–54, ISBN 9781573927697 
• Stoltenberg, John (1999), "Introduction", in Wild, Jim, Working with men for change, London Philadelphia: UCL Press, pp. 1–3, ISBN 9781857288612. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1999), "Christianity, feminism, and the manhood crisis", in Claussen, Dane S., Standing on the promises: the Promise Keepers and the revival of manhood, Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, ISBN 9780829813074. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2000), "Top ten ways the campus movement against sexual violence is misunderstood", in Gold, Jodi; Villari, Susan, Just sex: students rewrite the rules on sex, violence, activism, and equality, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 223–244, ISBN 9780847693320 
• Stoltenberg, John (2000), "Having sex outside the box", in Kay, Kerwin; Nagle, Jill; Gould, Baruch, Male lust: pleasure, power, and transformation, New York: Harrington Park Press, pp. 253–262, ISBN 9781560239826. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2002), "Feminists should oppose pornography", in Cothran, Helen, Pornography: opposing viewpoints, San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press as part of the Opposing Viewpoints series, ISBN 9780737707601. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2004), "How men have (a) sex", in O'Connor, Peg; Heldke, Lisa, Oppression, privilege, and resistance: theoretical perspectives on racism, sexism, and heterosexism, Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp. 349–358, ISBN 9780072882438. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2004), "Pornography and international human rights", in Whisnant, Rebecca; Stark, Christine, Not for sale: feminists resisting prostitution and pornography, North Melbourne, Victoria: Spinifex Press, pp. 400–409, ISBN 9781876756499. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2006), "Confronting pornography as a civil-rights issue", in Hackett, Elizabeth; Haslanger, Sally, Theorizing feminisms: a reader, New York Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195150094. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2006), "Foreword", in Kendall, Christopher; Martino, Wayne, Gendered outcasts and sexual outlaws: sexual oppression and gender hierarchies in queer men's lives, New York: Harrington Park Press, ISBN 9781560235019. 
• Stoltenberg, John (2011), "The politics of refusal", in Ashe, Fidelma, The new politics of masculinity: men, power and resistance, London: Routledge, ISBN 9780415663700. 

Reviews

• Flood, Michael (Summer 1992–1993). "Sex, porn and conscience - A review of John Stoltenberg's Refusing to be a man". XY: Men, Sex, Politics. Michael Flood. 2 (4). 

Journal articles

• Stoltenberg, John (1993). "Male sexuality: why ownership is sexy". Michigan Journal of Gender and Law. HeinOnline on behalf of University of Michigan Law School. 1: 59–64. 
• Stoltenberg, John (1994). "Why I stopped trying to be a real man". Business of Punishment fanzine. Consolidated (reproduced online by Feminista). Archived from the original on April 2, 2007. 
• Stoltenberg, John (Spring 1995). "Male virgins, blood covenants & family values". On The Issues: The Progressive Woman's Quarterly. On the Issues Magazine.  Article on the Promise Keepers.
• Stoltenberg, John (August–September 2000). "Of Microbes and Manhood: Sexual risk-taking among young men in the U.S. increases the likelihood of their contracting and spreading a sexually transmitted infection. Everything is gendered when it comes to education, prevention, and treatment". Ms. Ms. Magazine. 10 (5): 60. 

See also

• Anti-pornography movement

References

External links

• Living with Andrea Dworkin, Stoltenberg's account originally published in Lambda Book Report (May/June 1994)
• Imagining Life Without Andrea, transcript of Stoltenberg's extemporaneous speech to the Take Back the Night Rally Honoring Andrea Dworkin (30 April 2005).