Redefining Masculinity: The Importance of Female Mentorship for Young Males

• In Event: 43.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 43.078-12 - Mentoring Our Youth

Abstract

In 2009, Asian students were targeted in an act of perceived racial violence at South Philadelphia High School. Rather than physically retaliate, the Asian and the Asian American student leaders organized a school boycott and demanded that the central school district office listen to their previously silenced voices. Using Yamamoto’s (2009) interracial justice framework, this paper explores on the importance of women mentors for young Asian American men during the 2009 boycott. In particular, this paper focuses on the pivotal role of women community leaders in the boycott’s success, understanding the importance of interracial justice, and redefining masculinity as an Asian American.

Author

• Michael Ishimoto, University of California - Los Angeles