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Alick Mac is a hip-hop artist who makes music about how hard it can be for men to open up. His music video "Phone Tag" follows a text exchange between two young men who keep trying to say something real, then deleting it. This fall he brings his one-man show "Boys' Club" to Fringe festivals in Nanaimo, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
We asked him about the story behind the video, what shaped it, and what he hopes people take from it.
Read MoreThe manosphere is free, available in the middle of the night, and designed to be found by boys who are already vulnerable. It’s hard to compete with that. A teacher sees a kid for 50 minutes at a time. A coach sees him three times a week. A parent sees him between homework and screens.
But you have something the algorithm doesn’t. You know him. You’re real. And over time, that can become a sustaining anchor for boys as they become young men navigating the choppy waters of growing into adulthood.
Read MoreNew research shows that more than one in three boys between ages 11 and 17 is already gambling—and sports betting is just one part of a much larger ecosystem of products designed to exploit boys’ and young men’s desire for belonging, independence, mastery, and purpose.
Read MoreThe research that has defined Next Gen Men’s work for a decade tells us that the single most important factor for resilience is having at least one close, confiding relationship in which one feels truly known, accepted and valued. That’s how you overcome challenge.
Read MoreIs supporting women’s sports one of the key’s to men’s liberation? Friend of NGM, Samantha Nzessi, explores this topic to find out.
Read MoreHair loss is both common and distressing to many people. We’re curious, how have patriarchal gender expectations shaped our experiences of hair loss?
Read MoreFor the first time in my life, I was free of the endless internal verbal abuse I would typically subject myself to. Within this newfound reprieve from decades-old self-loathing, I finally saw that there was hope for me.
I was beginning to feel what it meant to be free, and understand that this kind of freedom was attainable.
Read MoreYou’ll notice that the traits associated with tallness — competence, wealth, status, leadership — are also traits we associate with masculinity. So, what is the association between patriarchal gender norms and height in our culture?
Read MoreHip-hop in its Essence is Real.
If you’re a hip hop fan, you might know that that’s what “H.E.R.” stands for in Common’s 1994 ode to hip hop “I Used to Love Her.” It’s a classic that perfectly charts hip-hop history through a love song—but not necessarily a happy one. Let’s explore this love story, and what it can reveal about MASKulinity.
Read MoreB.O.O.K. Club’s reads since Spring of 2020
Read MoreSmith apologized to Rock saying: “I was out of line and I was wrong. My actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”
Read MoreFrom Taylor Swift to the Rocky Mountains, amidst wind-whispered stories and cold-night sleeping bags, we’re shaping the lives of boys becoming men. As they’re held in meaningful relationships and supported to overcome real challenges, a generation of compassionate, resilient and courageous young men is taking shape.
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