A group of men open up about the impossible standards of masculinity imposed by the media.
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We need to be able to broaden the definition of what handsome and sexy means.
Photo—InfoWire.dk/Flickr
About Thomas
Thomas G. Fiffer is a graduate of Yale University and holds an M.A. in creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a professional writer, editor, publisher, speaker, and storyteller. You can find out more about his publications and services at Thomas G. Fiffer and connect with him on Facebook and Twitter. His books, Why It Can't Work: Detaching From Dysfunctional Relationships to Make Room for True Love, What Is Love? A Guide for the Perplexed to Matters of the Heart, and The Alphabet of Love: A Primer for the Language of the Heart are available on Amazon. Recently, Tom and his writing partner, Julia Bobkoff, founded Christmas Lake Creative, an inspired community of writers, where they offer workshops and coaching, and Christmas Lake Press, an independent publishing company. Tom lives in Connecticut and is working on a memoir and his first novel. The latest release from Christmas Lake Press, Where the Light Is Brighter, features Tom as a co-author.
8Ball – I did the best I could to be honest and authentic about my perspective. The way we feel about certain topics can be complex and nuanced and that’s how I feel here. If you see something I don’t see about this topic, then I’m open to listening. That was what I was hoping to capture more then I was trying to capture a competition between who has it worse – the complexity of the topic, not the competition. Perhaps I didn’t did a great job of translating that and what was in my heart here. Perhaps your already… Read more »
It’s awesome to see these guys open up and share these pieces of themselves, not just with each other, but enough that they filmed it for a larger audience. Any woman can understand this internal struggle with your body very well. But I would be lying to say that I don’t also feel frustrated by this conversation too. I would never want men to not talk about these issues they experience, and I would encourage more of that kind of conversation and openness. It’s a really important step for men. But the other side of it is that men tend… Read more »
Because of course men can’t discuss anything without Erin to remind us that women are affected worse.
I could have sworn, Erin, that you said you NEVER do that on articles about men!
Not too difficult to identify those unrealistic standards, but so hard to internalize. Even If know that I’m being unfair to myself, whenever I watch an episode of Arrow, I think:
“That dude looks ****ing magnificent. And I definitely do not.”
YOu know what was glaringly missing in this?/ It was the female influence has on male body image. I can be perfectly accepting of how I look but if I’m constantly rejected by women because I’m too heavy, too thin, too tall, too short, , you have to wonder.
The film addressed external forces that influenced their thinking but it appears, as I said, female perspective and influence was not indicated.
Great video. Like to see more of it.