The new president models a healthier masculinity where empathy and compassion aren’t weaknesses but inform wise decisions. I have to admit — watching Joe Biden’s tears during his brief farewell speech to Delawareans the day before his presidential inauguration, I did a fist pump.
“I want more intimacy, more vulnerability. That was a challenge in my marriage. For too long I felt sad and alone, and I just don’t want to feel alone anymore.” This has been the threadbare anthem for women of all ages in their romantic partnerships with far too many men for far too long. That’s…
A few years ago, a large corporation that creates body care products for younger men asked me to offer feedback on their TV commercials over a two-year period. This clued me into other commercials aimed at young men, especially fathers, and a disturbing trend that’s plastered across cyberspace, too: The nurturing love fathers show daughters…
Walking is not a form of exercise middle-aged and younger men embrace, largely due to gender perceptions (it’s a ‘soft’ form of exercise for women and old men). But they should—for many reasons.
Many high-school-aged boys agree with and support the premises and goals behind the #MeToo movement. They also feel that their own voices and questions aren’t allowed in this necessary conversation.
There’s no question: If we’re going to raise boys that grow into men who are self-aware, empathetic, compassionate, accountable and far less violent, then we need to create spaces where boys can discover and discuss what it means to ‘be a man’. The few programs like this that exist are having a profound impact on…
Even though emotional transparency is essential to mental health, it’s a difficult skill for many men to develop, especially if they were taught to embrace traditional forms of masculine identity. Learning how to become more demonstrative is a way men can find the emotional connection they need, even if words fail them
More than any topic I’ve written about, this one is central, core to any possibility of constructing a healthier masculine identity for boys and, eventually, men. It was selected as one of the top 10 Well articles in the NYT for 2017 (#5) and was the springboard for a popular talk I give to educators…
