—
(updated 2016 Dec 04)
At The Good Men Project, ‘The Conversation No One Else Is Having’ is evolving.
In Septemeber, we announced a transformative new initiative that would take our conversation to the next level: Social Interest Groups (SIGs), small groups of like-minded people working toward identifying solutions to social concerns.
Social Interest Groups will be the overarching groups that are organized around a particular issue, and they can create Task Forces to address discrete problems. Each Social Interest Group will have: (1) A clearly defined problem that we actually think we can help solve; (2) A clear group of people we want to change; and (3) A way of measuring results.
We’ve recently completed rounds one and two of our Social Interest Groups. From those groups, our Premium Members have created several dozens of articles on the subjects of interest to the SIG participants and other GMP loyal readers. The SIG participants found that working within a small community (online and via the telephone) focused on the same outcome was thought-provoking and energizing.
♦◊♦
Most of our Social Interest Groups are in session for 4-8 weeks at a time. You are welcome to join a SIG in progress and you are not required to attend every session.
Environmental Issues of Our Time <– Click for details
Our ‘Environment’ group call will be held Wednesdays at 7 pm EST / 4 PM PST and will run for 5 weeks starting on November 30th, 2016. We will discuss not only how men relate to nature but also important environmental issues of our time and how we as a community can take action to solve them.
Rebuilding Our Country, Post-Election <– Click for details
We need to move past the marketing of fear and fault and work towards building common ground to restore the sense of a shared American community. Please join us on Monday evenings at 8:30 p.m. EST / 5:30 p.m. PST and will run for 5 weeks starting November 21, 2016
To receive information as these and other Social Interest Groups roll out, please email [email protected]
♦◊♦
We started The Good Men Project six years ago with a clear and important mission. We wanted to explore the way men’s roles are changing in modern life—and the way those changes affect everyone. Over the years we’ve collected over 50,000 stories, articles, blog posts and commentary about how people change—and what the implications of that change are on both an individual level and a societal level.
We’ve looked at not only the changing roles of men, but the stereotypes of men that persist in our culture, and how that affects all of the major issues of our day—racism, sexism, homophobia, mental health awareness, gun control, disability rights, the changing roles of dads, education reform, prison reform, and even environmental issues.
“Here’s the thing about The Good Men Project. We are trying to create big, sweeping, societal changes—overturn stereotypes, eliminate racism, sexism, homophobia, be a positive force for good for things like education reform and the environment. And we’re also giving individuals the tools they need to make individual change—-with their own relationships, with the way they parent, with their ability to be more conscious, more mindful, and more insightful. For some people, that could get overwhelming. But for those of us here at The Good Men Project, it is not overwhelming. It is simply something we do—we do it with teamwork, with compassion, with an understanding of systems and how they work, and with shared insights from a diversity of viewpoints.” – Lisa Hickey, Publisher of The Good Men Project and CEO of Good Men Media Inc.
We knew it was an important conversation, but even we couldn’t gauge the impact we would have. Over 100 million visitors from every country in the world. 350 million total pageviews since we launched. 350,000 comments. At the core are the 50,000 stories and articles about men, manhood, masculinity – about men, by men, for men—but we also have numerous ways we have expanded the conversation beyond the written word—online community groups, Twitter chats, videos, podcasts and weekly conference calls. We also didn’t realize the number of women who would want to be a part of the conversation. (Indeed, it’s not a conversation, if you’re just talking to yourself!) Or the number of media companies who would see us as both partners and leaders in the conversation – The Huffington Post, HLN, AskMen, Men’s Health, New York Times, Salon, Toronto Globe and Mail, XOJane, Parenting, Daily Dot, iVillage, MamaMia, BBC, The Atlantic, YourTango, BuzzFeed, Upworthy and many others.
We didn’t realize that it would become the conversation no one else was having.
We didn’t realize that men (and women!) would have all sorts of reasons for joining in. Because they care about the issues of men and boys. Because they care about developing a conception of masculinity that is more real and more whole, because it is more inclusive.
It was only natural that the people who did join us in this all-important conversation would band together and become a community. They would get to know each other, talk to each other, solve problems together, and continue to build the community voice by voice.
What’s your issue? We have a Social Interest Group to help you help us change the world.
Yes, there will be more! To give you a taste of what is to come, here are some of the other Social Interest Groups that are in the works:
Fix the Concussion/CTE Problem in Sports, Anti-Bullying, LGBT Parenting, Gun Control, End Rape and Sexual Violence, Education, Divorced Dads, Leadership, Fighting Poverty, and Science Advocacy.
♦◊♦