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I was recently invited to an event to take part in a conversation where a group of men and women talked about an article pertaining to men and the #MeToo movement. It was a rich discussion, but I was absolutely floored when one of the male participants articulated something I thought/felt, but never had words for.
Read MoreI’m not a very spiritual person (call me overly pragmatic), but I respect others’ spirituality and the lens that they view the world through. One of our board members, Matt Corker, is a fantastic yogi (and overall person) and offered me this lens on some men’s work outlets which I’ve run with since.
Read MoreA friend asked me the other night: “If you could have anyone’s speaker fees paid for and they were available, who would you want to listen to?” I immediately responded—Barack Obama! She was a bit surprised and asked me why. I explained to her that doing the work that I do, it can be hard to find role models of healthy masculinities at times. Masculinities being plural because of the different identities we possess at different intersections. From what I know of the man he is a good leader, politician, husband, father, friend, and dad-joker.
Read MoreFriends have heard me harp about this, but I think using the word stoic to describe a man/masculinity is a disservice—not to the man, but rather to the word. To ‘be stoic’ is often tossed around to mean unflinching, unfeeling, unemotional. My understanding of stoicism, however, comes from the study of Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and other Greco-Roman philosophers known as the stoics.
Read MoreStefan Montalbetti is sadly leaving the Next Gen Men family to chase powder in central British Columbia and continue his journey as an educator and facilitator. We know the struggle he has been having out of both his abiding enthusiasm for NGM’s future as well as his loyalty to all of us.
Read MoreWe are all in the pursuit of betterment. To be more inclusive. To not make anyone feel left out. Why are we leaving some people out of not leaving others out?
Read MoreA stark example to me that men are the dominant sex is in literature. Women read books by men, about men, but it is few and far between that I see men reading books by women, about women. In an effort to educate myself, I’m reading Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist in which she highlights this in one of her essays.
Read More*ALWAYS seek consent. But what I mean to say, in the wake of the Aziz Ansari story, is that it’s time for men and women to work together towards a new definition of consent. Let’s call the old version of ‘no means no’ the bare minimum, and the new version of ‘are you enjoying yourself?’ to be best practices.
Read MoreMissing words? Nah, I don’t miss them. Over the years I’ve removed words from my vocabulary with intention. I’ve never used ‘fag’ or ‘faggot’ so that was easy. I’m not exactly sure when, but ‘retard’ left too—somehow it’s more satisfying just to call someone stupid or an idiot anyways. The word that shocked me the most was ‘rape.’
Read MoreThe other day I screwed up. I addressed a table full of women as ‘you guys’. *facepalm* Kindly, nobody called me out on it. As the activity progressed, I seized a chance to redeem myself. Someone mentioned the impact of language.
Read MoreHappy 2018 to you and yours! This year we are undertaking a personal challenge to share some of our reflections around what it means to be a better man in today’s day and age. As a team, we often have long conversations based on our experiences in our programs, our personal lives, or the latest article, video, or podcast that we’ve taken in.
Read More“You should smile more, you look so beautiful when you smile.” “You want a piece of this? I’m all you need baby.” “Can’t a guy just give you a compliment? You know you like it.” “So you think you’re too good for me? Well then f*ck you b*tch!”
As part of our mission to build better men through youth and peer engagement, education, and empowerment, we want to inspire our peers to stand up, speak out, and help end catcalling, street harassment, and gender-based violence in all its forms.
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