Follow Along as I Explore the Midlife Rebuild and Masculinity

Plenty of people try to sell you the secrets to being a “real” man as a way to recover from a life event, but what are they selling? What is being a “real” man mean? Do you need to be told anyway? Who or what sets the standards? Join me as I explore the messages that shape social expectations of men…and how we fall for them.

Latest Posts

The Peril of the Performance

William Shakespeare famously wrote “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” I fail to remember that people tend to take this a little...

Dangers of the Field

In this age of information it is simultaneously easier and more difficult to operate as an individual. It is easier in that we get to express ourselves (for better or...

Unilateral Approach, Multi-Front Issue

Relationships are difficult! I know, big revelation, huh? The problem is that we constantly need to be reminded of this. With work, kids, activities the kids are involved...

Hushing the Hecklers

Being someone who has a good deal of anxiety, creating this blog and any media that follows is a daunting task. Producing anything meant to be in front of the eyes of...

Adding to the Pillars of Masculinity (Part 6: Conclusion)

This series of posts primarily exists to allow me to navigate and tag future entries as I see fit. As I read the material regarding masculinity appearing in the fields of...

Adding to the Pillars of Masculinity (Part 5: Stoicism)

A few years ago, I analyzed emergent themes from men’s movement organizations that are active online. Many of these groups allowed for a high degree of interaction from...

Chickening Out of the Mid-Life “Dip”

There are some people in history who you cannot help but respect and admire. In times of despair, having such people to look up to and provide us with a path that we may...

Adding to the Pillars of Masculinity (Part 4: Conformity)

For better or worse, I was never big on attending parties in high school or college. The fact that there being a dearth of invitations extended my way to such parties...

Adding to the Pillars of Masculinity (Part 3: Culpability)

A few years ago, I took a bold step few men dared to take. I submitted a paper to and was accepted by a conference focused on gender research. In complete naivete, I had...

“Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing) animal, inventor of the negative (or moralized by the negative), separated from his natural condition by instruments of his own making, goaded by the spirit of hierarchy (or moved by the sense of order), and rotten with perfection”

Kenneth Burke