Talking about the systemic and structural problems impacting men and boys comes with a unique set of obstacles. First, of course, we have the issues themselves – homelessness, drug addiction, death by suicide, police brutality, domestic violence, sexual abuse against men, the life expectancy gap, deaths of despair, father's rights, boys falling behind in eduction… There are simply too many to name. But there is also a second layer of difficulty, that often impedes us from discussing or making progress in addressing these issues. A problem that only occurs when you talk about the problems out loud; if you share a post, or try to raise awareness in public. And that is a group of people who seem dedicated to destabilising, denying and censoring such meaningful conversation from happening. Yes. An army of ogres, who simply cannot allow such compassion to happen, will soon arrive. They barricade the doors. They pull the fire alarm. They bang pots and pans outside. They call you silly names, they insult your character and make bizarre, outlandish and unfounded accusations. They talk over you in discussion. They slide into your dms. They shout and squeal and point fingers, shaking their fists and stamping their feet; to distract, deny and obscure. Doing whatever they must to take the focus away from you, and back onto them. It was fun at first, but now kinda boring. So how do we get past this barrier, to arrive back at the men and boys who need us? How do we win over the ogres, or can we? How do we supersede their authority, and break their monopoly of discussion? How do we find love in the hearts of those who seem to hate us? How do we dig their heads from the sand, and pull the fingers from their ears? How do we beat the ogres? ~ [1] [2] [3] Images by Dan Cristian Padure, Gradienta, Kiwi Hug and Christopher Burns from Unsplash.

2023-01-13