Why Don’t Men Have Book Clubs?

It’s long been known that the act of reading a story can be therapeutic.

Stories have long been told to help us humans understand our creation, our emotions, and enlighten us with the experiences of others.

Stories can meld together nations, explain religions and cultures, and even give us some understanding about how earth came into being. They can endure for millennia and become a part of our fabric as human beings.

By reading a novel we have distance between our actual problems and the problems a character is dealing with–it can give us insight and perspective on our own choices as we can see what the character(s) choose to do.

In that way we can see how we may find a solution or at least understand why we have the problem.

Another therapeutic aspect is the feeling of being part of something, like a community of book lovers. Feeling involved is something we as humans are wired for. Thus it’s no wonder that book clubs have been around since books came into print.

Public figures like Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah Winfrey hold their own book clubs to help empower women and minorities understand themselves and their origins better.

For many centuries men have held authority in this realm of storytelling. Men have, historically, been overwhelmingly the ones to record events, attend educational institutions and share their own experiences in the written way.

Even in modern times, until very recently, male writers got more acclaim and publicity. However, I believe this has balanced out with the help of technology and social media.

Average women, for the most part of history, were banned from sharing their thoughts and experiences in life and were banned from learning how to write and read. Now women and others who were not allowed to share their stories before can do so with no restriction.

With this said, why aren’t public figures like Sam Heughan (an author of three books), Richard Armitage(another actor turned author), Prince Harry ( who wrote a book) Orlando Bloom, and Tom Hiddleston not establishing book clubs?

With their large followings it would be easy for them to influence their male followers to find therapeutic meaning in literature. It would also allow their fans to feel connected and included in something bigger than themselves. I believe that the reason men join the military, hang out in the gym, have man caves, and spend time in the garage fixing stuff is because they feel modern society is so foreign to them.

It’s why men are struggling with more mental health issues, because they feel so disconnected and out of place.

Their time of meaning is being run over with robots and the cyber world.

At one time being solely responsible for getting food, building shelters, and protecting women and children from other men or wild predators, they are waking up to a society that doesn’t necessarily require these things of them anymore.

Hence it would make sense that having a male oriented book club could help some men become more aware of their shared issues in life through a character and plot.  Instead of going online to dole out hateful spite towards women or go out to riot, or sulk about “how everything’s changing”, why aren’t more men finding community and solutions in reading?

Why aren’t male public figures establishing monthly book clubs, cracking open a book to ask male followers their thoughts on said book? To ask followers their thoughts on characters and motives?

Why aren’t these same public figures making a male version of Reese’s production company Hello Sunshine, that incorporates healthy, wholesome masculinity?

After all, both cinematic and literary worlds can become a vehicle to examine issues that every day men struggle with. Heartbreak, betrayal, infertility, miscarriage, love, divorce, suicide, poverty, racism, disability, abuse, etc. The same issues women face-but with the male psyche in mind.

These vehicles of fiction can become a solace and inspiration for men or boys who feel lost or unsure of what to do in these times of change. Boys and men who may lack healthy, stable father figures in their lives, who live for the stories in their hands or the heroes on the screen, looking for some kind of meaning through them.

Why aren’t men being encouraged to share their own story with other men? It’s through sharing a story that we can mirror someone else’s experience and validate it.

It’s also a way men could further build a community online and perhaps in person for various issues they may face.

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This Post is republished on Medium.

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Photo credit: iStock