Beware what books you read when you’re fourteen. Wait… just about everyone reading this is long past fourteen. Too late, then. When I was fourteen, I read Jailbird, by Kurt Vonnegut, and it remains perhaps my favorite of his novels. Vonnegut was, of course, one of the secular saints of American literature in the 20th [...]
Masculine Lore
November 11, 2011 By 63 Comments
On a recent open thread, Ozy posted a picture of her “steampunk rakish dandy” costume as an example of “what sluts wear on Halloween”. I was deeply offended. Speaking as a rakish dandy, I feel that this costume misrepresents my people, because the bottom two buttons of Ozy’s waistcoat are undone. You’re meant to have [...]
Question For My Fellow Men
October 7, 2011 By 47 Comments
Well, if we’re going to talk about men’s issues, let’s talk about men’s issues. What is the appeal of boxer shorts? I’ve never fully gotten this. I understand that they come in a variety of amusing and aesthetically interesting colors and patterns, and you can get them with cartoon characters on them, but nowadays that’s [...]
Interesting NYT Article On Boys and Friendship
September 23, 2011 By 9 Comments
Just read this article in the New York Times about how boys who lose their best friendships growing up can turn into emotionally stunted men who have difficulty connecting with others. I’m not sure how well this connects to my own experience, but then, part of the point of being progressive is that my personal [...]
Emotions: Threat or Menace?
July 28, 2011 By 177 Comments
Dozens of posts on this blog so far, and we haven’t talked directly about what I see as the most pervasively damaging issue affecting men in our culture. It’s the one at the root of many of the other problems we suffer, and is perhaps the most intransigent and resistant to change. Depicted: adorable kitten, [...]
How Revenge Of The Nerds Ruined My Life
July 22, 2011 By 32 Comments
Sports: Talk Amongst Yourselves
July 20, 2011 By 48 Comments
As a man, I am supposed to like sports. Specifically the subset of sports designated “manly”, but especially American football, as I am an American. I am assured of this fact by every commercial, every movie, every stand-up comedian’s laziest joke. Indeed, when a TV character needs to be flagged as a Man it’s often [...]
Strictly Moderated: My False Rape Accusation
July 17, 2011 By 92 Comments
Trigger warning: discussion of rape and false rape accusations. Troll warning: this is going to attract the kind of people who really, really like talking about false rape accusations. Comments will be STRICTLY MODERATED. I picked my first college based on gender ratio. I figured with two girls for every one guy, even a denim-clad mid-90s [...]
Why Pink Nail Polish Is A Masculist Issue
June 27, 2011 By 50 Comments
Why the fuck can’t men wear pink nail polish? I have never actually been able to get a good answer to this. The conversation along those lines goes something like “because they’ll get laughed at,” and when I ask why they get laughed at they’ll say ”because it looks ridiculous,” and when I ask why it looks [...]
Happy Father’s Day
June 19, 2011 By 6 Comments
“It’s a woman’s job to make her man feel safe — a safe place that doesn’t expect him to do brave things just because he’s a man.”
This is a comment by Kat on the post “A Husband’s Job Is To Create Emotional Safety”.