Modern Manhood

The way Albertans reconcile with the Oil industry is a major way in which Albertans see their own identity, and the people who work in the oil patches are also in the crossfires and have been for ages. The rates of suicides went up, the rates of negative mental health have also gone up.  Today we talk to Dylan Rhys Howard, one of the directors for the documentary “Digging in the Dirt” which talks about these things.

These are the un-talked about consequences of the oil industry. Un-talked about until recently.

Links:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/omarmouallem/oil-heartbreak-and-manhood (Oil, Heartbreak, and Manhood)

https://www.nsi-canada.ca/2018/11/peak-oil/ (Peak Oil)

https://dylanrhyshoward.com/portfolio/digging-in-the-dirt/ (Digging in the Dirt)

https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2019/04/21/for-some-oilpatch-workers-a-sober-life-means-the-end-of-a-lucrative-career.html (Star-Metro)

Oil and Gas dominated the conversation for both elections here, and the people involved are caught in the crossfire. The workers who are mostly men have come to demonstrate the stereotype of Alberta men, the pickup driving, beer-drinking, hard ass.

Yet, they are just humans as well. How has this industry affected the men who work there, and affected the community around it? The way that we look at Oil in Alberta is very common to how we look at dominant masculinity.

Articles mentioned:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/alberta-canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but-indigenous-people-fight-back/ (National Geographic)

https://www.pyriscence.ca/home/2017/9/30/boys-will-be-boys-albertas-toxic-oil-culture (Pyriscene)

https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/how_gender_and_race_shape_experiences_of_work_in_albertas_oil_industry (Parkland Institute)

https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/extractive-populism-and-future-canada (Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives)

 

Two months ago we talked about mentoring young men here at The Pint for Wolfpack. We’re going to hear from a school counselor and a person from Big Brothers and Big Sisters about mentoring young men. Young men are feeling much more anxious, there is a lot more questioning of how men quote unquote should be in society. And there’s also a lot more complexity in the world, which allows not only for more breathing room for being your own self, but there’s a lot more pressure to pick a self that you want to be.

So the question around what it means to be a man, to me, breaks down to how do we treat our young boys?

 

Fat.

It was a word that I was called when I was a kid, and a word that I still get called, by myself. It was the constant barrage of images and messages of what it was to look like a man.

I wanted to examine why as men we’re very obsessed with not being fat. And the mental gymnastics people do to justify insulting people who are fat, and then insult themselves.

 

In this episode, we go through a personal journey of how I am reconciling my feelings on Junot Diaz and Michael Kimmel. As well wondering how far do we take issues of “cancellation.”

How do we separate the message from the man? Or do we not?

Carl Landra and Veronika Ilich join me in helping me navigate these muddy waters.

Robin Lehner article:

1)  https://theathletic.com/522117/2018/09/13/islanders-goalie-robin-lehner-opens-up-about-his-addiction-and-bipolar-diagnosis-i-could-not-stand-being-alone-in-my-brain/

2) https://buffalonews.com/2017/01/20/inside-sabres-lehner-trump-mask-backlash/

Junot Diaz:

1) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-silence-the-legacy-of-childhood-trauma

2) https://www.wbur.org/artery/2018/06/18/mit-junot-diaz-sexual-misconduct-allegations

Michael Kimmel:

1) https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/15/us-womens-rights-campaigner-accused-of-sexual-harassment

 

 

We’re here in 2019 because the media created a monster. So much that being anti-racist and anti-sexual harrassment or using gender pronouns or talking about toxic masculinity is somehow a political thing. Or that we’ve come to the point where issues that I think are community issues is now a wedge between man vs woman or left vs right.

This type of media is not working anymore. And this media created a monster that platforms dangerous and troubling ideas.

How is the media handling this? How is the media dealing with gender in a bigger case? We speak with Michelle Da Silva from Xtra to find out more.

 

It was our one year anniversary of Wolf Pack in Edmonton and we celebrated by talking about how work has a gendered lens to it. Either through the careers we choose, to the trouble we give to men and women who are not working their “traditional work roles.”

We wanted to hear from the people that have experienced both sides of the coin, and to try to get to the gritty knowledge of what it’s like to be in those roles. Because this is something that happens in our daily lives.

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I’m looking for journalists who cover masculinity or gender because I want to talk to them. So this is a call out to anyone who has some experience in journalism and wants to come on to talk to me about how the media is talking about , or if you know of anyone in that field, please send me an email at german@nextgenmen.ca