A new photo project explores the way men define their own form of masculinity. The results are astounding.
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What makes a man? White Ribbon (the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity) decided to explore answers to this question at their What Makes a Man Conference held this past November 22nd and 23rd in Toronto.
Hosted by Jeff Perera of White Ribbon and Britta B of R.I.S.E. Poetry and UNITY Charity, the event brought together people of all ages, races and genders. The energy was palpable. Between powerful keynote talks delivered by documentary filmmaker Byron Hurt and poet and author Carlos Andrés Gómez, members of the R.I.S.E. Poetry family performed moving spoken word and musical pieces. The brilliance and generosity of the speakers, performers and the White Ribbon team made for an informative and entertaining weekend.
I was there on Friday to perform a spoken word piece on the roles that men are forced into. It was an honor to be part of an event which strives to redefine masculinity in a healthy way, especially since my current focus is facilitating workshops for men and women who have survived abuse. I was filled with so much inspiration by all that I’d heard at Friday’s event that I decided to return on Saturday to see what was going on in the minds of some of the men in attendance. Dry erase board in hand, I approached random men—-attendees of the conference and passers-by—and asked them to complete the sentence: “The manliest thing about me is…”
Some men wrote their answers down without hesitation. Others were stumped. How interesting it was to see the way this question provoked such deep thought. It was evident that White Ribbon had succeeded in getting men to question their own ideas of masculinity.
Check out the photographs to see their answers. To the men reading, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect by posing the same question to yourself. You may be surprised by the thoughts that surface.
See the rest of the photos at 500 Acts of Beauty
this is awesome and beautiful… reminds me of someone
I love it.
The manliest thing about me is my spirituality and wanting Peace and Love for the entire world.
Awesome answer, Cleopas!
The truth guy might be legit, but the others are just pure pollyanna bullshit. My heart? Soul? The hell does that even mean?
Being masculine (or just a worthwhile human being)
-Logic over emotions
-Ruthless ambition
-Accumulation of wealth
-Constant drive to compete and be better than others
You know, stuff that actually improves civilization and bear tangible results?
The manliest thing about me is my ability to feel compassion, even for dr.jiang.
🙂 beautiful, Robert.
The most perfect comment ever. You rock, Robert.
Thank you for your opinion, Dr. Jiang!
Improves civilization? With only these qualities we created wars, poverty, greediness, emotional castration, violence, emptiness. We are still destroying the planet, thinking about and giving more importance to business and money than humans and we are blind, depressed, lost, bitter. Humans just forgot how to look inside themselves and respect other’s interior as well. Remember, there was a “worthwhile human being” that gave birth, breastfed and nurtured all of us to become the adults we are now. All the doctors that made our health a possibility, teachers that cared about our education, friends that reached out their hands… love, that’s… Read more »
Beautiful work and a beautiful question for all to ask themselves.
After some thought, I believe the most feminine thing about me is my smile.
Beautiful answer, Béatrice! Thank you for contributing.
This is amazing work. I hope you carry on 🙂
Thanks so much, Maria!
The manliest thing about me is my honesty.
Perfect one.
I hope you take this campaign national, Reesee! It’s so, so moving.
Awesome answer.
The manliest thing about me is:
I don’t care how manly other people think I am. I have nothing to prove about my manliness.
GREAT answer! 🙂
I’d say the same. No woman needs to prove femininity and no man needs to prove masculinity.
Great!
Good morning Reesee! Its great to see this kind of self driven witness! More please! I have been casually doing something similar that you can read about on my blog: https://spirituwellness.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/un-mugged/
I look forward to seeing more and would love to share my own word as well. Thank you!
Adam
absolutely beautiful and inspiring, Adam. keep it up and thank you for sharing!