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Michael Alan Messner

Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies

Contact Information
E-mail: messner@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-8848
Office: KAP 352

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
 

Education
Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 1/1985
M.A. Sociology, California State University, Chico, 1/1976
B.A. Social Science, California State University, Chico, 1/1974
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/2002-  
Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1994-01/01/2002  
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1987-01/01/1994  
Lecturer, California State University, Hayward, 01/01/1983-01/01/1987  
Instructor, Chabot College, 01/01/1980-01/01/1983  
Teaching Assistant, University of California, Berkeley, 01/01/1979-01/01/1982  
Instructor, Sacramento City College, 09/01/1976-06/01/1978  
Instructor, California State University, Chico, 01/01/1976-06/01/1976  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Michael Messner’s current project is a life-history study of male activists working to prevent gender-based violence. The study spans nearly four decades of such work, based on interviews with men who came of age in the 1970s and early 1980s during a time of explosive feminist grassroots activism, through young men who are currently fueling a resurgence of anti-violence activism on college campuses and through national media-based campaigns. Conducted with sociology graduate students Tal Peretz and Max Greenberg, the study explores how activists make sense of their anti-violence work and how they strategize to stop men’s violence within shifting historical contexts of gender formation.
 

Research Keywords
sex and gender, gender and sport, gender-based violence
 

Research Specialties
sex and gender, gender and sport, gender-based violence
 

Publications

Book
Messner, M. A. (2011). King of the Wild Suburb: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons and Guns. Austin, TX: Plain View Press.
Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo & Michael A. Messner (Ed.). (2010). Gender Through the Prism of Difference, Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press.
Messner, M. A. (2009). It’s All For the Kids: Gender, Families and Youth Sports. University of California Press.
Kimmel, Michael S. & Messner, Michael A (Ed.). (2009). Men's Lives, Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Messner, M. A. (2007). Out of Play: Critical Essays on Gender & Sport. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
Messner, M. A. (2002). Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Gatz. M., Messner, M. A. & Ball-Rokeach (Ed.). (2002). Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
McKay, J., Sabo, D. & Messner,M. A. (Ed.). (2000). Masculinities, Gender Relations and Sport. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Messner, M. A. (1997). Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements. Alta Mira Press.
Messner, M. A., Sabo, D. F. (1994). Sex, Violence, and Power in Sports: Rethinking Masculinity. Crossing Press.
Messner, M. A. (1992). Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Messner, M. A. & Sabo, D. F. (Ed.). (1990). Sport, Men and the Gender Order: Critical Feminist Perspectives. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Press.
 

Book Chapter
Messner, M. A. (2005). The Triad of Violence in Men’s Sports. pp. p. 23-46. Transforming A Rape Culture/Milkweed Editions.
Messner, M. A. (2005). Still A Man’s World?: Studying Masculinities and Sport. pp. p. 313-325. The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities/Sage.
 

Grant Report
Messner, M. A., Carlisle Duncan, M., Willms, N. (2005). Gender in Televised Sports: News and Highlights Shows, 1989 through 2004. Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles.
 

Journal Article
Wachs, F. L., Cooky, C., Messner, M. A., Dworkin, S. L. (2012). Media frames and displacement of blame in the Don Imus/Rutgers University basketball team incident: Sincere fictions and frenetic inactivity. Critical Studies in Media Communication.
Messner, M. A. (2011). Gender Ideologies, Youth Sports, and the Production of Soft Essentialism. Sociology of Sport Journal. Vol. 28, pp. 151-170.
Messner, M. A. (2011). "The Privilege of Teaching About Privilege". Sociological Perspectives. Vol. 54 (1), pp. 3-13.
Cooky, C., Wachs, F. L., Messner, M. A., Dworkin, S. L. (2010). "It's not about the game: Don Imus, racism and sexism in contemporary media". Sociology of Sport Journal. Vol. 37, pp. 139-159.
Messner, M. A., Bozada-Deas, S. (2009). "Separating the men from the moms: The making of adult sex segregation in youth sports". Gender & Society. Vol. 23 (1)
Messner, M. A. (2007). "The Masculinity of the Governator: Muscle and Compassion in American Politics". Gender and Society. Vol. 21 (3)
Messner, M. A., Solomon, N. M. (2007). "Social Justice and Men’s Interests: The Case of Title IX". Journal of Sport and Social Issues. Vol. 31, pp. 162-178.
Messner, M. A., Carlisle Duncan, M., Willms, N. (2006). This Revolution is Not Being Televised. Contexts: Understanding People in Their Social Worlds/American Sociological Association. Vol. 5, pp. 34-38.
Messner, M. A., Montez de Oca, J. (2005). The Male Consumer as Loser: Beer and Liquor Ads in Mega Sports Media Events. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society/University of Chicago Press. pp. p. 1879-1909.
Messner, M. A. (2004). On Patriarchs and Losers: Rethinking Men’s Interests. Berkeley Journal of Sociology/University of California, Berkeley. pp. p. 76-88.
Messner, M. A., Moon, D., Ray, R., Thorne, B. (2004). The Reconstitution of Gender in Contemporary Society: A Roundtable Discussion. Berkeley Journal of Sociology/University of California, Berkeley. pp. p. 2126-143.
 

Research Report
Messner, M. A., Cooky, C. (2010). Gender in Televised Sports: News and Highlights Shows, 1989-2009. USC Center for Feminist Research. PubMed Web Address
 

Honors and Awards
California Women's Law Center, 2011 Abby J. Leibman Pursuit of Justice Award, 2011-  
Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, American Sociological Association, Jessie Bernard Award, 2012-2013   
Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Career of Distinguished Service Award, 2007-2008   
Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Sociologists for Women in Society Distinguished Feminist Lecturer, 2006-2007  
USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, USC College Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service, 2006-2007   
USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, 2006  
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, California State University, Chico, 2004  
Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Outstanding Book Award for Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports, 2004  
USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, USC College General Education Teaching Award, 2004  
Big Splash Award, Program for the Study of Women and Men in Society, University of Southern California, 1996  
Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Outstanding Book Award for Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity, 1993  
 

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards
Editorial Board Member, Gender & Society, 2010-2011   
Co-editor, Rutgers University Press book series, "Critical Issues in Sport and Society", 2010-2011   
 

Professional Offices
Past-President, Pacific Sociological Association, 2010-2011   
 

Professional Memberships
American Sociological Association, 2010-2011   
North American Society for Sociology of Sport, 2010-2011   
Pacific Sociological Association, 2010-2011   
Society for Study of Social Problems, 2010-2011   
Sociologists for Women in Society, 2010-2011   
 
 
Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://mydornsife.usc.edu.