As the dumpster fire that is the year 2019 comes to a close, I want the final post of the year and decade to be one of hope, love, and joy. May the year 2020 be the start of a new era of healthy masculinities rooted in empathy, interconnection, and care for the self and…
I’m done. These two words have become a sort of mantra for Billy Porter. Done with toxic masculinity, done with the denigration of femme men, done with subduing his fabulousness for the sake of employment. Porter, whose velvet tuxedo dress became of the talk of the 2019 Oscar’s red carpet, is an actor, dancer, and…
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…
Terry Crews one of the first celebrity men we highlighted on The Bridges We Burn. Even before self-identifying as a survivor of sexual violence, Crews has used his platform as a celebrity to speak out against toxic masculinity. Perhaps more importantly Crews has been an active embodiment, model, and be a vocal proponent for healthy masculinities. In this…
Accountability, apologies, and recognition of harm caused is at the center of the #metoo movement, and the heart of building healthy relationships and smashing rape culture and patriarchy. Unfortunately we often struggle to know what true accountability looks like (because many of us have never really experienced it, or seen it modeled), nor do we know how to offer a sincere…
Dear friends, I could easily construct many years’ worth of New Masculinities Playlists drawing exclusively from the catalog of one artist: Prince. If you’re a regular reader of this website, or even a casual observer of masculinities in popular culture, you already know why. Prince’s incomparable discography, iconography, and public persona were the very sound…
Anxiety manifests in a number of ways. For those of us who struggle with it, our coping mechanisms can be as unique as the people who experience it. For Toronto-based Chris Grady, father of two young children, and elementary school teacher, creating short, sweet, and thoughtful webcomics has become one outlet for his anxiety. Featuring short interactions…
Little one don’t be a fool, I’m a wreck when I look mighty. In Euphoria I’m bruised, In confusion next I’m lightning. In complacence I am small, through oblivion I’m charged. – “Follow My Way” by Chris Cornell, 1999 ~~~ Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1464, prohibits the utterance of any obscene,…
