A Meaningful Role
Tomorrow is a big day. And it will be partly informed by a struggle to define masculinity. Will it be the blustering macho caricature that sits in the White House today, or will it be something else?
I am so glad that we will be in each other’s company tonight. It is likely that we will have turmoil and uncertainty for weeks to come. (I would be very glad to be wrong about this!) It is a perfect time to be intentional about who we choose to be. A perfect time to practice what conscious masculinity looks like in times of turmoil
Susan Faludi wrote a great piece (behind NY Times paywall) on what she calls Trump’s Thoroughly Modern Masculinity:
How to characterize this new form of masculinity? In a word: ornamental.
Contemporary manliness is increasingly defined by display —
Since at least the 1990s, and at full tilt in the era of social media, men have been faced with a quandary: how to define their sex in a culture where visibility, performance and marketability are the currency.
The gender gap in this election can be simply explained. Most women are turned off by the toxic displays of chest-beating that many male voters — notably but not exclusively white — find exciting.
If he wins the election, Mr. Biden’s success, but, more important, the nation’s success, will depend in part on his ability to re-enlist Mr. Trump’s foot soldiers into what all of us want — a meaningful role in a mutual effort that serves the greater good.
[Will] American manhood [...] come down on the side of nurturance or narcissism.
As you know, the Better Men Project is an effort to rescue masculinity. To identify it as good. And to define it as other than toxic.
How can we practice conscious masculinity in the days ahead? What does it look like? Who and how do we choose to be?
Saludos,
Gibrán