A global call to action from Glen Poole, the Good Men Project’s new international men’s movement editor.
Do you care about what happens to the world’s 3.5 billion men and boys?
If so, I want to invite you to join us in a global conversation about the issues that men and boys face in the 21st Century.
As the father of a teenage girl, I’m committed to creating a world where every man, woman, girl and boy can thrive and fulfil their potential. And while I see many great initiatives to help women and girls flourish, it is clear to me that we are falling short when it comes to supporting the other 50% of the world’s population.
The key issues that men and boys face — like poor health, poor education, fatherlessness, lack of role models, suicide and our vulnerability to crime and violence — transcend international boundaries.
These are big social problems that cannot be addressed by any single nation, religion, dogma, political movement or professional practice alone; which is why I believe the world needs an international men’s movement.
In some ways this movement already exists in the hearts of men and women who take action to improve the lives of men and boys all over the world. And yet few of us would define ourselves as belonging to a single global movement.
My aim as editor of The Good Men Project’s international men’s movement section will be to provide a new platform for people all over the globe to engage in conversations by men, about men and for men.
There will be no political or philosophical restrictions on who can be part of this conversation. Our contributors could be progressive or conservative, religious or secular, feminist or non-feminist.
The criteria for inclusion as contributor will be that you are committed to improving the lives of men and boys; happy to join the conversation in a constructive way and more interested in finding out what unites us, than focusing on what divides us.
Our next step is to build a community of writers, experts and commentators who want to take part in this international conversation from one of three perspectives:
1. Regional Contributors who can offer expertise from different regions of the world. We welcome contributions from non-English-speaking countries and need your submissions to be written in English at this stage.
2. Sector Contributors who can provide expertise from different sectors concerned with men and boys’ issues such as healthcare, education, fatherhood and criminal justice.
3. Specialist Contributors who can provide expert insight from different perspectives such as political, philosophical, sociological, psychological and so on.
All well-written contributions are very welcome, including those previously published elsewhere. Submissions should be between 500-1500 words long and follow Good Men Project Style Guidelines.
Wherever you are in the world, whatever your viewpoint, if you are committed to improving the lives of men and boys and have something to say on the matter, then I am waiting to hear from you.
If you want to get in touch with me about The Good Men Project’s international men’s movement section then please email me at [email protected].
Photo credit: flickr/floeschie
@Notbuyit: This is exactly the kind of conspiracy I was referring to. Could someone be a shill that ‘hangs’ around websites posting this kind of stuff to continue the barage of false info that perhaps down the road someone else will link to. I remember some to ago I stumbled on a website called the liz library which is essentially a clearing house for anti father and anti men rhetoric. The site had this ‘cool’ little formula to show that men (fathers) are 1200 times more likely to abuse kids than women (mothers). This site is actually quoted 1000s of… Read more »
@JohnSchtoll
” I just don’t get how you say the things you say”???
It’s called enforcing the current gender’s narrative at the political level & court’s, Sir, that includes any public discussion of how to improve men’s, father’s & boys current realities & it is at the heart of the state of affairs or matter when it comes to father’s, men & boys right’s , if we can call it that without being labeled as misogynist.
I have come to believe over the past 5 years or so that there is a conspiracy of sorts with regards to fathers. A man tried to create a dialogue on issues facing men and within minutes, someone comes in to tell him he is wrong and that fatherlessness has no social/political/institutional cause. This opinion is not only without merit but completely ignores how the family court works, it completely ignores the ‘discount’ that mothers get (well documented) when they are charged and convicted of a crime because they are a mother.and yet father don’t seem to get that ‘discount’… Read more »
you may be right….
Thanks for your comments Heather and Cale My aim here is to find what unites us. There is a wealth of research to show that kids generally do better when dads are involved – people from different political and philosophical perspectives tend to agree on this Where they tend to disagree is on what the causes are – and the possible solutions are – however if we can get people agreeing that reducing fatherlessness and increasing father involvement is a good thing, then we have a good starting point for constructive discussions If we compare levels of fatherlessness and father… Read more »
I’m going to be “that person,” (cuz really, I’m always that person)…but…”fatherlessness?” What exactly do you mean by that? Poor health, nutrition, etc., all those issues are public issues. These are issues that can, at least in part, be addressed with changes to social/political/institutional systems. Fatherlessness, though, results from very personal relationships…there aren’t social/political/institutional causes for fatherlessness…
Heather,
I respectfully disagree. Federal Prison and Military service are two institutions that can lead to Fatherlessness; either through incarceration, deployment or death. While there are many contributors that help enforce the associated cause and effect of Fatherlessness, these institutions often act as power conduits to propel relationships towards this state of being.
Cheers,
Cale
So…don’t commit a crime and don’t sign up for the military. Again, very personal, voluntary decisions. The prison system doesn’t cause fatherlessness…a father committing a crime and getting caught and locked up causes fatherlessness. (Same with a mother and motherlessness). The military doesn’t cause fatherlessness…a father signing up for the military and being deployed overseas (or tragically killed in action) causes fatherlessness. (Same with a mother and motherlessness).
I can see your point, but saying that these institutions don’t contribute to Fatherlessness is like saying that a car doesn’t play a part in car accidents. While it’s ultimately the driver that decides to steer the car and hit the gas, the car is still a contributing factor. It allows a means to an end. Institutions like prison and the military ‘institutionalize’ people. They promote conformity and compliance. Love, tenderness, mentoring….these are not attributes that are actively promoted in places like that. These are things that help to make a good Father. By extinguishing these things; by hiding them… Read more »
Not all military service is voluntary, check your privilege:P. Prison also affects fatherlessness, non-violent drug offenders being thrown in jail for possession of drugs that are legal in other parts of the world (it also affects motherlessness). You could argue that unfair family courts also contribute to fatherlessness or reduced father influence?
ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription A lot of countries still have conscription. And potentially in a few days/weeks AN ABSOLUTE SHITLOAD (millions afaik) of conscripted males and females (universal for males, selective for females which I’m guessing means women are simply on standby similar to the U.S Selective service should the shit hit the fan?) in North and South Korea may end up in a war.
Coming out of the gate, asking for people to contribute articles, he’s already being questioned and scrutinized. Looks like it’s going to be a long road. I can see the vultures flying and waiting to pick the flesh of the articles. I can see the intent and effort but as they say one Shark Tank … I’m out.
Heather: Would you also say that society doesn’t cause sexism , only personal decisions by people cause sexism therefore there is no institutionial sexism, only sexism by people, iow a personal decision.
Fatherlessness is a bit of a misnomer – fathers driven out – fathers missing – would be better. I agree that it is poor terminology.
Thanks for that feedback Michael Part of the challenge of framing inclusive conversations is that different ‘sides’ use different language One group might say ‘ how do we make men stop abandoning their children’ – another group might say ‘how do we stop dads being driven out of their children’s lives’ What I’m interested in is how we help more dads be more involved in their kids lives because that’s good for kids, good for dads, good for mums, good for all of us And I know there are already many great men and women all over the globe tackling… Read more »
So court systems that discourage father child contact and adoption laws that allow mothers to basically legally “kidnap” children are personal decisions that contribute to fatherlessness?
Look I’m not saying that no man has ever decided on his own to leave a child behind but I think its gotten past the point of dishonest to act like the ONLY reason a father/child bond is nonexistent is because he chose not to be there.