{"id":773,"date":"2017-05-26T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=773"},"modified":"2017-06-01T08:41:18","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T12:41:18","slug":"773","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=773","title":{"rendered":"Anthony & Eric McGriff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changing the Conversation<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Bridget Whitfield | Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Anthony and Eric McGriff are not the stereotypical feminists. For one thing, they\u2019re men. Both stand almost 6 feet tall. They\u2019re biracial, with light skin covered in red freckles. But spend a few minutes talking to the twin brothers, and you\u2019ll start to think otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very outspoken about being feminists,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not what you would imagine, not what people who are unaware would imagine a feminist looking like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo began standing up for women\u2019s rights when they were 16 years old. They volunteered at Vera House, where they now serve as peer educators, fighting to correct the falsehoods around the idea of masculinity by challenging the way men think.<\/p>\n

Anthony thought back to the stereotypical \u201cmale\u201d environment he was surrounded by as a boy. It was a world filled with aggression, fighting and phrases like \u201cman up\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t be a bitch.\u201d As he matured, Anthony grew to actively disagree with this culture. His brother agreed with him.<\/p>\n

While attending Syracuse University, the McGriff brothers participated in groups like A Men\u2019s Issue, which encouraged men to stand up against sexual violence and change the way they thought about problems deemed only as \u201cwomen\u2019s issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome men, they assume that we only talk about women\u2019s rights, but it\u2019s really so much more than that,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cIt\u2019s so interconnected. But from the outside looking in, [to] people who don\u2019t really know us and why we do the work we do, it can be perceived as just women\u2019s issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he joined a fraternity, his peers first perceived him as a strange man constantly talking about women\u2019s issues, he remembered. But once the other students took the time to listen and engage, they began to understand the depth of the issues and how they also affect men. Anthony\u2019s dedication and work then made sense to them.<\/p>\n

The brothers understand that being men of color gives them a slight advantage. Men they engage in conversation might be innately more willing to talk to them than to a woman. Anthony and Eric have the ability to navigate different rooms filled with people from all walks of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have our privilege,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cbut we try to use it to get men involved in this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony has been working with a college campus initiative at Vera House. They hope to assist colleges in following proper\u00a0guidelines when handling sexual assault. So far, 10 college campuses have signed contracts with Vera House to educate and train employees. The initiative also connects students who may be struggling with sexual assault with the resources that can help them.<\/p>\n

Eric is reaching out to children before they hit the college level, with hopes of preventing the issues Anthony is addressing. Eric works with students from the kindergarten level to high school in prevention education. He aims to help them build healthy relationships, and introduces them to programs like Mentors for Violence Prevention, which instills in students the same skills Eric and Anthony use in their advocacy work.<\/p>\n

Eric also works with men who have committed violent crimes. He spends his Mondays visiting 60 men in jail, challenging them on their own beliefs. Whether or not an agreement is reached, he enjoys the open debate and exchange of ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing about me: I don\u2019t mind being challenged,\u201d Eric said. \u201cPeople who challenge me think I\u2019m trying to look down on them because I\u2019m smiling. I\u2019m smiling because you\u2019re saying something I\u2019ve never heard before and you\u2019re really making me think.\u201d<\/p>\n

What helps Anthony and Eric in spreading their message is their understanding of the importance of healthy dialogue. Instead of forcing their beliefs on others, they wish to open others\u2019 minds to another way of looking at the situation.<\/p>\n

Eric explained that once men see women as equal, it\u2019s no longer considered weak to show emotion and be loving and nurturing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no longer feminine or not manly to do domestic chores, take care of your kids or be a stay-at-home dad,\u201d Eric said. \u201cSeeing women and feminine things as equal liberates us to be whoever the heck we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a firm stance on challenging men to drop their egos and think outside stereotypical cultural norms, the brothers aim to fix the environments that create men with toxic masculinity. They hope to inspire men to get more involved with the conversation of gender equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal 10 years from now is for guys to be like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re not a feminist? You\u2019re bugging,\u2019\u201d Anthony said. \u201cI want this feminism thing to be cool. I want it to be an inherent part of being a man.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on Vera House, visit verahouse.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changing the Conversation By Bridget Whitfield | Photography by Alexis Emm Anthony and Eric McGriff are not the stereotypical feminists. For one thing, they\u2019re men. Both stand almost 6 feet tall. They\u2019re biracial, with light skin covered in red freckles. But spend a few minutes talking to the twin brothers, and you\u2019ll start to think…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[258,257,240,253],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-anthony-mcgrif","tag-eric-mcgriff","tag-june-2017","tag-vera-house"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/SWM-4-30-17-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-7.jpg?fit=5200%2C3447&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2283,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2283","url_meta":{"origin":773,"position":0},"title":"SPECIAL FEATURE: White Ribbon Campaign marks 25 years","author":"Sarah Hall","date":"February 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Long before #MeToo and #TimesUp, before Gillette and the American Psychological Association took on toxic masculinity, men across Central New York were speaking out against domestic and sexual violence. 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He\u2019s been in media for decades \u2014 radio and television \u2014 but that night, he had an inspiration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kilpatrick-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-0007-.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kilpatrick-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-0007-.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kilpatrick-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-0007-.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kilpatrick-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-0007-.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kilpatrick-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-0007-.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":775,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}