I recently met a very sweet and compassionate 83-year old woman who took a great interest in my work. Despite our age and generational differences, her social and political outlook was not that different than mine. In a few instances where our thoughts were not aligned, we were able to have respectful dialogue, and I… Keep reading...
The most insidious aspect of rape culture is that we perpetuate it unintentionally through norms, behaviors, and actions that we have come to accept without truly questioning whether there is an underlining meaning or resulting consequence. Often, under the vein of trying to “protect” our children, we teach them lessons that remove their agency, eliminate their… Keep reading...
Shame and misinformation, along with antiquated and toxic ideals of manhood and masculinity, feed a culture of silence surrounding men as victims of sexual violence. In a powerful and devastating personal history written for the New Yorker, acclaimed writer Junot Díaz reveals that he was raped as a child. Diaz then details years of struggles, with… Keep reading...
It’s April! It’s springtime! Dear listeners, as you’re tucking away your sweaters for the season, planting some veggies in the garden, rolling down your car windows, and doing whatever else you do as the weather warms, I hope you’ll also turn up this month’s entry to the New Masculinities Playlist: “The Boy” by Shannon and… Keep reading...
Popular culture presents no shortage of great examples of men who embody a toxic and unhealthy masculinities. Equally problematic is that too often these bad examples aren’t presented as such; in fact, they are often presented as the ideal. Instead of valorizing violent and emotionally-disconnected ways of being a man, we need to promote and encourage tender men: Men who… Keep reading...
Dear readers, as you probably know, there’s a radical, political showcase of Black excellence holding the zeitgeist right now: Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther film. Diving into the universe of this film has topped any other new masculinities experiences related to music that I’ve had in February. I encourage you to put any song from Black… Keep reading...
On April 20, 1999, I was barely a month into my 16th year, a sophomore in high school full of angst, unrequited love, joy, and maybe a little anger. For years one of my favorite songs was Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,” the grunge anthem to teen angst and anger, but more so an ode to sadness… Keep reading...
To turn the New Masculinities Playlist up to 11 in 2018, we had the idea to make it an actual playlist, in addition to a series of essays. So, to that end, we’ve got a couple goodies lined up for you today: First, here is a Spotify playlist of all the songs I mentioned in… Keep reading...