Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The male persona
I begin this blog inspired by the current issue of the magazine - What is Enlightenment? The issue is focused on "Constructing the New Man" and provides 4 unique perspectives on masculinity in the 21st century. For my readers from across the Globe - please comment on how this resonates or not with you.
I am intrigued by these comments from Erwin McManus, a filmmaker, author and speaker. When asked "what do you think is the next step for men in our culture today?" he says:
"This is a significant question because we've had strong moves in the last thirty years toward a kind of metrosexual feminizing of the male persona. Unfortunately, it often seems that the only alternative to that direction is the sort of raw, meat-eating, nonthinking macho male. So the problem is that we tend to look at men from these two polarizing extremes. Of course, we might recognize that we're not supposed to be insensitive, uncaring, narcissistic, power-based, and controlling, but the alternative of that shouldn't be to lose our masculinity.
I live in Los Angeles, and I think women have a clearer sense of identity in our culture than men do. I'm more concerned about the future of masculinity. If you're a woman, in a sense the world is your oyster. What I mean is that you really can posture yourself on almost any spectrum. You can be a soft, delicate woman, or you can be a strong, powerful woman, and the culture gives you validity for that identity.
...I don't know what the future of masculinity looks like, but I think we're entering an era of real fragmentation where guys are going to be the ones who are struggling with a sense of personal identity and where there will be a sense of ambivalence about what it means to be masculine."
So for this first post - I ask you to comment on this post and share what it means to you to be a man in this amazing age we are living in today - around the world. Please take a moment to also complete the quick poll on the top right corner.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I'm a big supporter of the direction of your new site man! It's an honour to post the first comment.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that rather than entering an era of "fragmentation," as McManus suggests, we have the potential to create an era of "integration" for men.
I recently wrote a short article titled "Integral Relationship, Gender Synergy, and the New Manhood," where I offer a very effective model for understanding where we've come from, where we are, and where we might be going as men in these interesting times.
The gist is that as western men, we've come from being "unconsciously" masculine, recently moved into discovering our feminine (metrosexuals, SNAGs) and now have the opportunity to move into CONSCIOUS integration of our masculine and feminine energies, while CHOOSING to lean more into our masculine core.
Sound good? I lead a transformative (and free!) 90 minute teleclass called GENDER SYNERGY 101 where we look at this more in-depth and learn how to apply it to our lives, relationships and businesses.
Visit www.MenMasteringRelationship.com to learn more.
Thanks Bobby for your leadership in this exciting area, and I look forward to reading more!
Much Respect,
Justice
As the father of a soon-to-be-born son, I am concerned about modeling and celebrating "masculine" virtues. I want my son to be courageous, disciplined, competitive, energetic, and to honor and respect others and tradition. So much of society - the schools, the media - seems to celebrate the more feminine complementary virtues - prudence, softness, cooperation, calmness, and self-expression. We all want all the tools, all the virtues, available to us as our life's situations merit. But I believe that today, it is the masculine virtues that need the most support. I hope that this blog will explore the themes of masculine virtues, especially in the realm of education and the media.
ReplyDeleteI believe the male persona is in fact our authentic selves. I believe men are the music of this world, and how they are played, and how deeply they touch their soul, and how humbly they live in harmony, is in fact the resonant man.
ReplyDeleteThis site is a unique place for us to share that music together. How loud or how quiet do you want to play today my friends?
Love,
R. Gunhold
POSTED FOR STANLEY: My wife and I have chosen not to have children this lifetime and so I consider all children my children......I do not know sometimes just how to proceed with this and quite often I find myself simply "sitting" with my interactions, with children especially....last night at my men's meeting I had a profound experience....I was able to go back to my childhood and relive a piece of my "history".......with the aid, support and love of my mature adult self........the result was that I was able to bring my "inner child" who had been traumitized by the event into the present and reclaim my child, love my child, sing with my child and later last night "dance with my child" and play together in our moonshadow.......my dog, my child and me.......sharing in the oneness of the moonshadow moment.........it was as exquisite as any earth moment I have ever had......we sang and danced together......"I'm being followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow" (DPL)
ReplyDeletethanks bobby, Lion King for all of the love and N-R-G which you have put into this site, the love is palpable....blessings premanandakumar / silver eagle