For my entire adult life I’ve had people try and tell me who or what I should be. Work hard, get your head down, learn a skill and climb the ladder. Provide for others, compete and succeed, be confident, fight your way to the top, demand more, earn more, and win. Like most guys I’ve spent years shaking off these antiquated notions of what it is to be a man, but only to find a new set of manacles around my feet. Words like toxic, privileged, violence, and oppressive - yet more restrictive ideas, expectations, and attitudes toward men and masculinity. But I’ve not oppressed anyone, I am not violent, or a menace to a society; in fact, just like the vast majority of men and people, I am a good person. And for me and many others, these new notions of toxicity, patriarchy and male oppression are just as antiquated and meaningless as the old ones. So I climb out of one box, and find myself in another. The only difference is now these ideas are being spouted by a different kind of bigot; one smug with conceit, wearing a cape of social justice, and whose head is buried in the sand. So is it time society stoped telling men who they are, and just let them find out for themselves? Is it time for a better, well intended and progressive discussion on masculinity? ~
Images by Christopher Burns, Andrew Power, Kylo, David Werbrouck from Unsplash. Palgrave Handbook for Male Psychology and Mental Health https://tinyurl.com/r5k5snbz #manbox #mensmentalhealth

2022-10-01