This is the introduction to our Call with the Publisher that was held on April 2nd. You can listen to the recording below—or better yet, join us for the next one! We’d love to have you be a part of The Good Men Project community.
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Hello Everyone!
One new, recent thing we are doing at The Good Men Project is launching a series of articles called “Ask an Ally”. The idea is to create a “social justice advice column” and try to get major attention for it (like Dear Abby, Ask the Ethicist, or Can this Marriage Be Saved). This came out of us talking to some heads of diversity & inclusion at major corporations, as part of our Corporate Training Initiative. The D&I heads (almost always black women) were saying that they were trying to create a culture where everyone is an ally to everyone else.
So “Ask an Ally” will lot of different writers (and if you are a writer and want to join in, let me know) answering timely and difficult questions about allyship today. Questions such as:
“I keep hearing about ‘mansplaining’. Isn’t that just another way of trying to prove all men are bad?”
“I want to support the LGBTQ+ community, but the issue of pronouns is something I can’t wrap my head around. It seems like such a small thing, when there are so many other huge problems with marginalized groups. Can I still consider myself an ally if I ignore this one thing?”
I have friends who say ‘I don’t see color’. Can you help me explain why this is not helpful?”
And many, many more questions. We will then take the posts and convert them into videos, D&I curriculum or a book or e-book.
If you want to be a part of this initiative in any way — if you have a question or want to answer a question — please email [email protected] for more info!
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Finally, I’d like to talk about an interview I had today with a Canadian journalist who is writing a story about Justin Baldoni’s new book “Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity“. Justin Baldoni is an actor, director and activist who has been speaking out about the man box and the harm it causes to everyone.
His book comes from a TEDTalk he did titled: “Why I’m Done Being Man Enough“.
One little piece of it (although please watch the whole 18 minute video here, it’s terrific).
Justin Baldoni:
I’ve been pretending to be a man I am not my entire life
I’ve been pretending to be strong when felt weak
Pretending to be confident when I’m insecure
Tough when I was hurting.
For the most part, I’ve been putting on a show
I can tell you it is exhausting trying to be man enough all the time.
As a boy, wanting nothing more than to be accepted by other boys.
But that acceptance meant I had to acquire an almost disgusted view of feminine,
since I was told feminine is the opposite of masculine.
I had to reject embodying any of these qualities — or risk being rejected myself.
Girls are weak. boys are strong
this is wrong, this is toxic and it has to end.”
[applause]
In my interview with the reporter, Rachel Watts, whose story on Justin Baldoni’s book will appear on CapitalCurrent.ca — I talked about everything from how it is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to have a call about the changing roles of men in the 21st century, how great you all are as a community and how you help make the conversation easier. I also mentioned how organized white supremacists use anti-feminist rhetoric to recruit men into their organization—and even how rigid gender roles helped contribute to climate change. There are many problems that need to be solved, and we’re trying to look at the full scope of them and attack them at their core.
I’m going to open it up now and we can talk about any piece of what we mentioned above — or anything you’d like to discuss.
This is your call.
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Our calls have been SO good lately. New people, long time callers. Filled with insights.
Quick recap of calls —
Love, Sex & Relationships, hosted by Kat
StopRacism, hosted by Ashok
Social Activism, hosted by Amanda
Climate change by elements, co-hosted by Thaddeus and Carol
and of course, the Friday Call with the Publisher with me, Lisa Hickey, publisher of the Good Men Project
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that if you are enjoying these calls and believe in our mission, you can support us either as a paid premium member or on Patreon.
Also note – if you are a writer and you support us on Patreon, you get a wealth of writing resources — all the things we’ve learned about writing, platform building, hit-making editing and more throughout our 10 years of doing this and creating posts that have gotten millions of pageviews.
Premium members on the other hand, are for people who like to join these calls and talk and listen. You can come to any of our calls or classes, and have interesting discussion with others in the community.
Join us next time:
The Good Men Project Call with The Publisher
Today, Friday at 3:00 PM EST (12 Noon Pacific)
Dial In: 701-801-1220 Access code: 934-317-242
Or, Join with your computer audio:
https://join.startmeeting.com/934317242
These calls are a supportive and inclusive group that aims to “first do no harm” and will not tolerate any racism, sexism/misogyny, or homophobia.
Recordings of previous calls:
Recordings of The Good Men Project Convocasts available here:
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stock photo ID: 1078162349