Hi friends! How about a straightforward musical affirmation for this latest entry to the New Masculinities Playlist? Just in case you ever wanted to hear an indie rock song tell you that your emotions are what make you beautiful, that, “you can scream and you can shout, you can let it all hang out, you…
I have a theory that properly handling allegations of sexual violence on a college campus (or within a company, community organization, or other group) will actually increase people’s interest and investment in that group rather than create a negative image of that group by the association with violence. This theory will form one foundation for…
Gender is not the only rigidly defined structure that shapes our sense of self, our relationships, and our culture. Sexuality has also been constructed in a way that limits our potential for self-realization and connection to other people. In US America, patriarchy and rape culture has mandated the sexist, transphobic, and homophobic structure of heteronormativity.…
“Getting help for mental health is not enough. We live in a world where people don’t want to live in it anymore. We need to change the world.” – @nikkimwalls ~~~ I think about suicide a lot. That is a loaded sentence. I mean it in two specific ways: 1. I often think about killing…
Comedy can be an incredible tool for furthering social justice by challenging seats of power and shining light on uncomfortable truths. Alternatively, comedy is often wielded by those with power—straight white men—to perpetuate oppression and discrimination by picking on people marginalized by society; by punching down. In Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special, “Nanette,” the Tasmanian comic squares her…
I hereby inform you, dear readers, that the year 1993 is now 25 years ago. If that seems startling to you, and the turn of the century and millennium has obscured your ability to conduct simple subtraction, well then (as sitcom writers in 1993 might well have penned) “join the club.” Even as I count…
The language we use can shape the way we see and interact with the world. In fact, I wrote an editorial about how intentional language choice and usage can help us to be more inclusive, anti-oppressive, and empathetic. Intersex is often overlooked in discussions of sex and biology, which results in intersex individuals being erased. Just as…
Masculine identities can be presented in as many ways as there are people who identify as masculine. The beauty of gender identity and presentation is that in a world free from the gender binary, in which toxic masculinity does not dictate how someone has to look or behave, individuals who identify as men or masculine, can…
