Sterling Institute of Relationship

Sterling Institute Inc.
(d.b.a. Sterling Institute of Relationship)
Type Privately Held Company
Industry Seminars
Founded 1979
Founder(s) A. Justin Sterling
(formerly Arthur "Artie" Kasarjian)
Headquarters Oakland, California
Key people A. Justin Sterling,
Staff,
Volunteers
Owner(s) A. Justin Sterling
Website Corporate Web site

The Sterling Institute of Relationship is a for-profit corporation and counseling business run by A. Justin Sterling (formerly Arthur "Artie" Kasarjian[1]) since 1979.[2] Focusing on heterosexual relationships through intensive, multi-hour trainings, male and female participants attend separate trainings. The company is based in Oakland, California.

A. Justin Sterling is also founder and president of "International Community Service Day Foundation", also located in California.[1]

Coursework

MSNBC reported that The Sterling Institute has been described as "John [sic] Bly meets Est".[3] The evolution from Erhard Seminars Training has also been noted in other media pieces.[1][4] Rich Zubaty[5] and Jed Diamond[6] have compared Sterling Institute of Relationship to the Mankind Project's "New Warriors" program. Rich Zubaty participated in both programs, and stated that: "they offer a rare chance to be 'reborn' as a man."[5] He did not describe details of the course, however, stating: "Some things are better kept a mystery until you experience them."[5] According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Sterling Institute of Relationship has a "history of complaints" at the Oakland, California division of the Better Business Bureau, and also at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[1] According to The New York Post, many of Sterling's "adherents" work for Time Warner or one of its subsidiaries.[7]

According to Susan Faludi's Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, the "Men, Sex and Power" session is held over the course of a weekend, with a price of US$400.[8] As of 2007, the price for the weekend was US$800.[9] The main seminar is referred to by participants simply as "the Weekend", and was described in Details Magazine as having a "cult like subculture", as well as exhibiting similar traits to "New Age quasi-spiritual movements".[9] Elle Magazine also reported that individuals have criticized some of Sterling's methods as abusive, and have used the term "cult-like" to describe some of the methodologies employed,[10] as have other news sources.[2][4][11]

Participants must sign a standard waiver before beginning the weekend.[3] The waiver is presented to the participants upon registering for the weekend and paying the fees. The entire course is filmed. During the course, Sterling was reported to use obscenities against the participants.[10] Participants are taught that "... men are natural jerks and should learn to accept and embrace their jerkiness."[7] Participants are also taught that men are "slaves to their egos", and thus women are "100 percent responsible for the success of their relationships."[2] The course itself runs for 17-hour stretches at a time, with two short breaks in-between, according to a reporter from Elle Magazine. [4]Smart, Paul (August 15, 2002). "The Sterling Men Of Woodstock: A Series (Part II) - Cigars and cold consequences: Revelations of Sterling-shattered relationships". Woodstock Times. .[3][7] The nude ritual symbolizes a "rite of passage" from youth to maturity,[1][7] and is a triumphant time of male bonding.[3] The weekend course typically ends in a "graduation ceremony", where the participants congratulate each other.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Lubman, Sarah (September 15, 1996). "Volunteers Bring Schools More Than They Bargained For: Oakland-Based Charity Pushes its Founder's Views on the Sexes". San Jose Mercury News. 
  2. ^ a b c Lubman, Sarah (April 17, 1996). "Bay Area Service Foundation's Mixed Legacy: Some Parents at South S.J. Elementary School Uneasy with Group's Rites, Ties". San Jose Mercury News. 
  3. ^ a b c d Walls, Jeannette (December 20, 1999). "Naked VIPs, on videotape: A new men's movement is taking the country by storm--and it has some past participants in a panic". MSNBC (NBC). 
  4. ^ a b c Smart, Paul (August 15, 2002). "The Sterling Men Of Woodstock: A Series (Part I) - A line in the dirt: Woodstock's Sterling society redefines the modern man". Woodstock Times. 
  5. ^ a b c Zubaty, Rich; Bill Kauth (2001). What Men Know That Women Don't: How to Love Women Without Losing Your Soul. Virtualbookworm.com ; Zubaty Pub. pp. 304. ISBN 1589390393. http://happyfool.therudeguy.com/surviving_frame.htm. 
  6. ^ Diamond, Jed; Gail Sheehy (1997). Male Menopause. Sourcebooks Inc. pp. vii, xix, xxiv. ISBN 1570711437. 
  7. ^ a b c d Staff (December 1999). "Filmland Jitters Over Jerky Video". New York Post: pp. Page 6.. 
  8. ^ Faludi, Susan (1991). Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Crown. pp. 307. 
  9. ^ a b Yafa, Stephen (December 1999). "Neanderthals in Love: He-man love guru Justin Sterling advises his rabid following that a little less sensitivity and a lot more knuckle scraping make for real ladies' man". Details Magazine. 
  10. ^ a b c Richards, Sarah Elizabeth (August 1, 2006). "To Love and Obey? - A seductive idea floating around the relationship cosmos is that we’d all be better off if men were men, and girls were girls. Is this misogynist bunk or the key to happily ever after?". Elle Magazine. 
  11. ^ Smart, Paul (August 15, 2002). "The Sterling Men Of Woodstock: A Series (Part III) - The psychology of cults and secret societies". Woodstock Times.