A message from our editor for our white readers and friends. Rape culture and toxic masculinity are intricately embedded in, and dependent upon, white supremacy. Black lives matter. Ending rape culture is an abolitionist project; we must abolish the police. Donate to Movement for Black Lives https://secure.actblue.com/donate/movement-4-black-lives-1 or find a local organization or Black owned…
It cannot be said that The Bridges We Burn is subtle about our politics. Like our emotions, we wear our politics on our sleeves and strive for a praxis that bridges our ideals, theoretical foundations, and action for justice and equity. To that end, it is important for us to state that The Bridges We…
Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin, recently published an article for NY Mag entitled “It Might Be Impossible to Be an Ethical Sports Fan” in which he captures how confusing sports fandom has been in recent years. He describes the joy of watching Jason Collins become the first openly gay NBA player, the “mental gymnastics”…
If there ever was a time for men to shut their mouths and open their ears, minds, and hearts to the women in their lives, that time has to be now. To be fair, that time was actually a long damn time ago, but it’s (hopefully) never too late to do the right thing. Through…
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…
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…
The last several weeks have been, we can hope, only the beginning of a long awaited reckoning in the United States. Every day another man, or two or three, is publicly named as an abuser, a harasser, a rapist, a predator. In many instances, an element of justice has been swift as they are shamed and…
There is a never a bad time to take a step back and review some of the foundational principles and values upon which we seek to build justice and equity. Many articles on this site explore the ways in which patriarchy and toxic masculinity are harmful to the health, well-being, and relationships of men. But…