Here’s where we were wrong.
We thought pain would be as difficult for men to talk about as were topics like race, and pornography and honesty, and rape and sexual violence, and gender. As it turns out, men want to talk about pain. They wanted to admit to an attraction to pain, a fear of pain, a fear of showing pain. Several even admitted to not being able to objectively point to the correct face on a pain chart. Instead they found themselves point to how they thought they were supposed to feel about pain.
We didn’t stop with a discussion of physical pain, although we went from the scientific to the makes-me-want-to-scream anguish of the physical. We also looked at emotional pain, from broken hearts down to deep, soul-crushing angst.
All of our conversations around these hard-to-talk about topics are ongoing. Feel free to submit your own story at any time. Send submissions to [email protected]
Pain
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Pain Makes Me Feel Unmanly by Yago Colás
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I Love Pain by Tom Matlack
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The Pain of Indescribable Pain by Elijah Oberman
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I Eat My Pain by Jackie Summers
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My Life as a Hermit Crab by P.M Leonard
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Not Just Physically Do I Shatter by Vince Cousino Anila
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The Many Faces of Pain book review by Andrew Ladd
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Pain is a Gift, Recognize It by Seth Mullins
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No Gain in the Pain: Self-Injury, Endurance Sports and Male Narcissim by Hugo Schwyzer
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The Fear of Tears by Rick Belden
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500 Million Years of Pain by Michael White
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What Is a Man by Judah Oudshoom
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Broken Bones and the Father Wound by Rick Belden
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Only Good Boys Get Hurt by Yago Colás
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I’ve discovered, like you have, that men do want to talk about their issues and pains. The challenge is that there are not a lot of safe spaces for them to do so. Thanks for this series.