The Good Men Project Community talks with Publisher and CEO, Lisa Hickey, about how to create social change without being overwhelmed.
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Every Friday our Premium Member Community is invited to join me for an insider’s conversation about “the changing roles of men in the 21st century.” When The Good Men Project launched nearly six years there was no one else having this conversation. Now we can find tidbits of this conversation on nearly every other major publication. ~ Lisa Hickey
On last week’s call we talked about a comment thread that took off in our Premium Member Community group on Facebook. The point of that thread was that we are all “cultural creators.” Not just those who have committed to being #changemakers (which is a hashtag that came up as a result of our “How to Create Social Change” Workshop) but those of us who have a vision of a better world, for both ourselves and society—and create that change that drives our culture forward.
So you are a cultural creator—what is your vision? What is the most critical change you would like to be part of? What social change would you create? How would the world be different if you were able to create it?
The comments in that thread ranged from destroying stereotypes, embracing the purity of true love again, people taking ownership of their lives and giving up the blame game, to changing the culture among males to endorse men showing physical affection toward each other.
… 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.
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As Lisa Hickey herself says, “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. And as other callers mentioned today—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.”
When we started almost six years ago this absolutely was “the conversation no one else is having.” Other media outlets thought the conversation was “too hard”, and even harder to use that conversation to impact the world. Today, we see pieces of this conversation creeping into the mainstream. But to this day—no one else is taking it all on, or addressing the conversation about the changing roles of men as deeply or as systematically as we are. We know that our stepping up to the mic, so to speak, and inviting others to have a voice on these issues really has been a #changemaker.
More Inside the Conversation
But Where Do Men Go From Here? | The Man-Box is Inherently Traumatic | How Storytelling Changes People | Somewhere Between Free Speech and Hate Speech |
Be a #changemaker. Join us for the next How to Create Social Change Workshop.
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Photo: Pixabay