American Men's Studies Association

The American Men's Studies Association (AMSA) describes itself as an independent organization of scholars, practitioners, teachers, and students with a common goal of advancing the critical studies of men and masculinities. The organization was formed in 1991 after branching off from the Men's Studies Association in order to expand the scope of their work. AMSA is distinguished from other men's group sites in that it strongly emphasizes the academic perspective of men's studies while also maintaining a personal access point for those affected by such issues. AMSA remains active primarily through an annual conference held on men and masculinities, which addresses issues including professional and personal research topics on how men's studies and masculinity fit into the paradigms of emotional, cultural, and social ideologies. AMSA s early pioneers include Martin Acker, Shepherd Bliss, Harry Brod, Sam Femiano, Martin Fiebert, and Mike Messner. The philosophical roots of AMSA originated in the 1980s and first began as the Men's Studies Task Groups, which was based on a collective organization of people with similar professional and/or personal interests.

AMSA presents a very formal and well-iterated description of the organization through its Web site mission statement. The organization gives a historical and reflective analysis of the evolution of its field of masculinities studies, along with a detailed statement of purpose. This development includes the change in aspects of power, patriarchy, and hierarchy from a more rigid historical definition of these theories to an emphasis on their contemporary application.

AMSA strives to maintain relationships with both an audience of scholarly expertise in the field of men's studies and an audience experiencing men's issues and masculinity in a more personal manner. As AMSA describes the organization based on its purpose, mission, and history, the format changes in the flow from a more academic prose to a more informal and personal prose. This is accomplished through use of explicit language. The Web site displays this academic stance through its mission statement, conferences, and overall description of the organization. The links to resources and related issues reveal a side of AMSA based more on personal experience. To cover the range of men and masculinity, ASMA must ensure an atmosphere of safety in order to cover all issues within the study of gender. This is done to maintain relationships with both the academic and more-personal communities, while also avoiding accusation of antifeminist principles. AMSA repeatedly refers to the relevance of feminism to their mission but asserts that feminism is not the foundation of the organization. AMSA primarily works toward a future of ending the perception that men's studies is a threat to women's studies.

AMSA organization encourages and projects the development of men's studies and masculinities to a broad audience in the academic field as well as those who are affected on a more personal level.