Going to therapy is much more common and far less stigmatized than at any other point in history. But how do we know if we need to go to therapy? Is self-care, self-help, or peer support enough?
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To celebrate Next Gen Men’s eighth birthday last week we are looking back on the three trends that shaped last year’s conversations surrounding masculinity.
If you read our discussion of the internet trending to be the next generation’s biggest cultural touchstone and your biggest takeaway was that boys should than spend less time online — you might be missing the point.
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A smoky small-town rodeo arena might seem like an unconventional place to situate an analogy about supporting boys’ emotional lives, but there are three main qualities of pickup riders that have become part of how I envision working with boys.
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We all think we know what testosterone is, but where is the line between fact and fiction? Well, it’s complicated. Testosterone has become more than just a hormone — it’s also a commodity and a symbol. How did one hormone become so intertwined with what masculinity is supposed to mean?
To find out, let’s take a deep dive decline into the three sides of testosterone.
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Men’s involvement in feminism pre-dates our Next Gen Men community by more than a hundred years. From the UK to the US, as early as the mid-1800s, there were men who supported women’s right to vote.
Men’s support for women’s suffrage was certainly slow and sparse to start — and indeed many men found the idea laughable — but it grew steadily toward the turn of the century.
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A man can be as feminine he wants, and still be a ‘strong’ man: Femininity will never make a man weak. So to any comments like ‘be a man,’ ‘toughen up,’ or ‘dress like you’re supposed to’…I say, I shall not! I shall dance, filled with joy. And that does not make me any less of a man.
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Sometimes, especially on social media, folks wan to simplify the world by creating false dichotomies (i.e. you’re either feminist OR sexist) that cover up the complex ways that people encounter and perpetrate oppression both as individuals and within systems. The reality is typically more complicated.
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When it comes to school performance, behaviour, and social skills, children with involved dads perform better than those without. In many ways, by being affectionate, open, caring, nurturing and present, you are giving your children a head start to have healthy minds, hearts, and relationships.
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“Is it a boy or a girl?”
It’s one of the first questions expecting parents are asked—and remains one of the clearest examples of how, even before we’re born, gender is considered a defining feature of our identity. But is there more to being either a boy or girl?
What exists beyond the gender binary? The short answer is a lot.
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It's not surprising then, that menstruation carries a sense of shame. We have to navigate our first menstrual cycles in junior high or high school, an already tumultuous time, quickly hiding sanitary products up our long sleeves, in our pockets or bags, in fear that someone will know.
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I think it’s time we have THE talk.
Sex isn’t the most comfortable subject to talk about for some people, but to promote sexual health among the next generation we need to break the silence.
And let’s be honest with ourselves, the “sex talk” is overdue for an overhaul.
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Growing up, telling the heroes apart from the villains was easy.
The good guys were good, and the bad guys were bad. The odds were stacked against them, but the good guys always won, and the bad guys went away.
Everything was enviably clear.
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