Together, our community is changing the cultural narrative about men today.
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When The Good Men Project first began, founder Tom Matlack set out to “find stories that changed the teller and changed the listener.” Those are the stories that change everything. A member of our Board of Directors, Ken Goldstein, posted on his Facebook wall a recent article: “Are Men Changing? A Love Letter From One Father to The Good Men Project.” And someone commented:
“It seems the stories we hold and the learning around what is it to be a “man” and “woman” are lagging. It is a challenge to get away from the old stories as media, advertising, and marketing blister us hundreds of times a day with the old stories, values, and norms.”
Yes, it’s a challenge to get away from the old stories. But not only is it not impossible – it’s actually fun, engaging, interesting, helpful and awe-inspiring to do so. The simple answer to “How do we get away from the old stories?” is actually really simple. We tell new ones. Stories about men that are breathtakingly honest. We tell stories about the reality that is today. We tell stories of men with honesty, insights, truths, the good and the bad—and we tell them clearly and straightforwardly. And when the old media, the old advertising, the old ways of marketing “blister us a hundred times a day with the old stories” we call them out on it. We say to them – the reality has changed. Let us tell the new story that is today. And quite often, the media outlets of the past listen. Here was one example: Huggies Listened to Dads – Why It Mattered.
The Good Men Project was a part of that change. We have stories of stay-at-home Dads who are there because there is no other place they want to be. We have stories of veterans who have returned from war—some more scarred than you would think possible—who learn to live in ways they never have before. We have stories of male victims, stories of men who hit bottom and climbed back up. Stories of men who are struggling in a down economy, stories of men who are succeeding in the same. Stories of gay men who first helped with the HIV crisis, and ones who are activists for the right to marry now. We have stories of race and class, stories of hopes and dreams. We are actively trying to change the narrative. We never for a minute believed that men are as the media portrays them—one-dimensional cardboard cutouts who only care about sex, beer and sports. We know better. We have 15,000 stories that prove otherwise.
*** We do need your help — in a very tangible, easy way. We are looking for people to become Premium Members of The Good Men Project — who can help support all the stories we tell, and help us change the current narrative around men into one that explores the complex multi-dimensionality that is men. In return for just a $20 subscription, our Premium Members get to help change the stories — that is our mission. But they also get tangible benefits: 1) Premium members get to to see The Good Men Project website with no banner ads, pop-ups or video commercials 2) They get a copy of the original Good Men Project book — an anthology of 31 stories about the defining moments in mens’ lives. 3) They get to participate in our monthly GoogleHangouts and annual meetings. Learn more about the details here, or if you are ready to sign up, just choose your option below.
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And we also hope you’ll tell your story. Payment is by PayPal. Your membership will begin once you receive the welcome email and click the link to return back to The Good Men Project. Thank you for being a part of the largest worldwide conversation about what it means to be a good man in the 21st century. Your support of our work is inspiring and invaluable. —- Photo by longtime Good Men Project supporter, photographer Stephen Sheffield To submit your story to The Good Men Project, please email our Publisher Lisa Hickey [email protected] or submit online here.