Modern Manhood

Ryan if you don’t know is one of the co-founders of Men Edmonton, and most importantly one of the men that guided me into the pro-feminist masculinity movement. I met him at a coffee shop in Edmonton, he wanted to suss me out before I could join Men Edmonton. Well i guess I fit the bill and I was invited in, and have been thankful ever since. And now he’s joined the Next Gen Men family, as the Program Manager for Wolf Pack.

We got a chance to talk about what it’s like to be at a Wolf Pack, the highs, the challenges, and the tension. About the group and about masculinity in general

To celebrate the third anniversary of Modern Manhood, I asked for people to submit questions that they have wonderings of in regards to masculinity and gender. So here’s me answering a few. We’re going to talk about:

-Straight Man’s Anxiety

-Young Boys

-Facts and Logic Bros

-Men’s Groups

Links: Harper Bazaar’s “Men have No Friends and Women Bear The Burden“, Deloitte’s “The Design of Everyday Man”

We have been talking about the relationship between men and female friends for a long time. It was the basis of the movie When Harry Met Sally, a good 5 years before Friends invented the Friendzone.

The issue is that the lesson of those movies and in fact of society is that men and women are sooooo attracted to each other that they cannot be friends.

So today, I’m going to give you a small treat, I’m going to give you a listen to the last WolfPack we did here in Edmonton, to get a chance to listen to our storytellers talk about The Friendzone.

Jessica runs Ripple Effect, go check her events out

There is a notion especially in western society that environmentalism is deemed girly or not manly. Either by being vegetarian, caring about animals, or just caring about the environment in general.

Why is that?

Even though issues like climate change is a non-gendered issue that affects everyone, men for the most part resist green behaviour or activism. Why do a lot of men think being eco-friendly is unmanly?

Articles:

– https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pajdyg/greta-thunberg-by-harley-weir-intereview?utm_source=vicetwitterus

– https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/experts-come-surprising-solutions-climate-change-new-ucvox-video-series/

Even in the year 2019, there is a worry about the label of feminism when it comes to men. I just want to be clear, when I get a chance to talk to a lot of men there’s a lot they agree with in regards to pro-feminist values. You know except a few idiots here and there that try to be contrarian. It might feel like those idiots are everywhere but they’re not. Not that I see anyways, I see a lot of guys that are confused, misinformed, feeling shamed, feeling anxious about what they should support. They’re worried that if they embrace the word feminism, that they are more prone not only from other men but from women who are now holding them to a much higher standard.

My question is, why is that label so hard to embrace? why is it so hard for men to say that they are feminist?

Men’s Lib Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/MensLib/comments/b9vs3u/do_you_believe_that_menslib_should_be_considered/

and my episode with Matthew Hodges from MensLib

The Man’s Survey: https://www.chatelaine.com/survey-define-masculinity/

The brunt of parenting and the fathers who are working to make a better more equitable world is tough when you think about ideas like paternity leave and mentorship. We’re going to talk to two individuals who are taking these two outcomes to reality. Two fathers, two lives, and their thoughts around gender, and fatherhood in modern world.

Eric Arthrell: https://matemodern.com/

Michael Janz: http://www.michaeljanz.ca/about-me and albertamentors.ca

SHIFT Report: https://preventdomesticviolence.ca/no-man-left-behind-how-and-why-to-include-fathers-in-government-funded-parenting-strategies/

Promundo Report: https://promundoglobal.org/programs/state-of-the-worlds-fathers/#

Ever since the movement to create better ideals around masculinity, there have been a lot of popular male figures stepping up to the plate to talk these issue. None bigger though than movie and TV star, Terry Crews. I got to hear Terry speak in an event hosted by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelter, so from then I wonder what is it about Terry Crews that we like? Why is he the flame in which this message gets carried on? Or is he just a man? Flawed like any other?