Filmmaker Byron Hurt Asks Boys, Men to Combat Sexism
Award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer and self-proclaimed anti-sexist activist Byron Hurt, spoke at public forums Monday and Tuesday nights and Tuesday’s assembly, analyzing perceptions of masculinity and advocating male alliance in the prevention of misogyny and sexual violence.
“When there’s no accountability, and when people don’t have to pay for saying things that are sexist, it allows that attitude to continue.”
Hurt is the former host of the Emmy-nominated television show, “Reel Works with Byron Hurt,” and a founding member of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program, the leading rape and domestic violence prevention initiative for college and professional athletics. Hurt has also served as an associate director of the first gender violence prevention program in the United States Marine Corps. His documentary, “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was later broadcast on the Emmy-nominated PBS series Independent Lens. Byron's latest film, “Soul Food Junkies,” is critically acclaimed and won the CNN Best Documentary Award at the American Black Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York City.
On Monday night, students, faculty and townspeople gathered in the Assembly Hall to listen to Hurt’s public lecture regarding rape culture and machismo. Hurt began by addressing recent sexual assault allegations against prominent pop culture figures, such as Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Nate Affleck. He claimed that the power and status of such influential men caused the female victims to feel helplessly “intimidated, coerced and harassed.” He said, “Instead of putting a microscope on girls and women, it’s time that we see the culture of masculinity.”
Hurt cited education and critical thinking as the most effective ways to counter sexism. Using his own childhood as an example, Hurt said that many men grow up unaware of gender discrimination and the “privilege they operate under.” Attending a workshop with filmmaker Jackson Kratz in the 1990s encouraged Hurt to think critically about the pervasive sexism in society.
Like Kratz, Hurt hopes to inspire men and boys to reexamine normalized misogyny. “I hope I can bring my experiences with different boys and men to engage in these issues,” he said. “If we want to end a culture of rape, we have to make fundamental changes at the educational level.”
Students and faculty appreciated Hurt’s mission to inform male youth about gender issues. “Many people often overlook the role that men can play in feminism and often associate the movement with angry women,” said senior Benjamin Harrison, the first male co-head of Exeter’s Feminist Union. “Hurt’s words emphasized the importance of male alliance in inhibiting sexism.” Religion Instructor Hannah Hofheinz echoed this sentiment, describing Hurt’s message as “impactful.”
During assembly, Hurt linked the persistence of sexism to negative pop culture influences, such as hip hop, sports, military culture and fraternity traditions. He screened a clip from his 2006 documentary “Hip Hop without Beats and Rhymes,” which displayed women being groped and verbally abused by men at a hip hop festival over spring break.
The graphic instances depicted how sexism is upheld by the hip hop industry empowers men to objectify and decide a woman's worth based off of her attire. The women in the film accepted this routine maltreatment. “That’s a man for you. That’s what they say, that’s what they do,” one of the girls shrugged. A decade later, sexism in hip hop still persists. Hurt described modern day hip hop as “a more sexualized art form,” which continues spreading its misogynistic influence.
Upper Ariane Avandi thought Hurt’s interpretation of hip hop culture and sexism was a necessary reminder for teens to deliberate the music they consume. “It was striking to see how the sexist hip hop lyrics blasting out of car radios, gym stereos and at school dances carry over from airwave to reality,” she said. “Those rap hits, so popular among teens, bolster a culture where women are sexually objectified. As listeners, male and female alike, bob their heads along to the lyrics, they become further desensitized to that sexism, so when they witness real-life sexism, they do not challenge it.”
Hurt acknowledged the influence that the music industry has on youth. In his opinion, education provides teenagers with a foundation to challenge and question what they’re exposed to. “When you learn about sexim and mysogyny at a young age, that sexism in the music won’t seem so cool anymore,” he said. “You begin to listen to it with a much more critical ear. Therefore, you can reject misogyny when you see it.”
The second clip Hurt screened displayed President Trump degrading women and gloating over his non-consensual sexual advances on them. Hurt expressed disappointment in Trump’s election, saying that his presidency may justify continual degradation of women. “Sexism becomes normalized, which should not be the case,” he explained. “When there’s no accountability, and when people don’t have to pay for saying things that are sexist, it allows that attitude to continue.”
Hurt concluded his talks by holding a question and answer session on Tuesday night. He screened a segment of his upcoming documentary: “Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In?” Students asked him questions ranging from religion fueling sexism to the being a filmmaker of color. Hurt gave students advice on how to avoid being a bystander and how to de escalate the intensity of violent situations.
Lower Aimee Hong hopes Hurt’s words will resonate with Exonians and embolden them to confront campus sexism. “We all have the responsibility to speak out against sexism, no matter no small or large those sexist acts are,” Hong said. “Locker room talk should not be ignored. It is the product of larger habit of misogyny, patriarchy, abuse of power. Nobody, male or female, should accept that.”