Not long ago, I visited my son and his wife at their new place in Brooklyn, New York. We walked from their building to a restaurant where I tried and failed not to be shocked by the prices, then stopped at a bar.Thanks for reading Red Dirt Rambler! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
I agree with you that men are struggling but how can we help them without losing the trend to gender equality women have worked so hard for? The young men I know who are happiest have some kind of "mission" or "quest" at that age, a passion to pursue that energizes and challenges them and builds relationships and connections.
I think we need to find more ways to help young men especially, find those mountains to climb and windmills to tilt at.
Fascinating stuff as someone who lives in Brooklyn (but definitely not part of that culture growing up), I find this really interesting. I tend to see any display of manhood to be frowned upon to some extent, and the 'mellow man' to be a norm now if you walk around Brooklyn, you see people with their heads down like they've been beaten up by life at 20 years old, but hold on, what's going on that these people have thrown the towel early on?
I've been thinking about this myself: Why did our parents set their lives straight and got it all sorted out at 25-30? while we're still thinking of "next step to start a life" at 35? Yes life has changed, the demands of life did too, but how did it work for them (when it was much harder in my opinion) and we're failing at it? Is it the "back against the wall" mode that they were in growing up..? Interesting thought indeed..
Men seem to be seen as less than fully human now. Certainly they’re not taken seriously. I worry about Wokeism and the excesses of #MeToo. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Clearly we’re failing as a society at commonsense and moderation and balance.
Thanks so much, Abdulrahman. You has some really great questions here.
I agree with you that men are struggling but how can we help them without losing the trend to gender equality women have worked so hard for? The young men I know who are happiest have some kind of "mission" or "quest" at that age, a passion to pursue that energizes and challenges them and builds relationships and connections.
I think we need to find more ways to help young men especially, find those mountains to climb and windmills to tilt at.
Fascinating stuff as someone who lives in Brooklyn (but definitely not part of that culture growing up), I find this really interesting. I tend to see any display of manhood to be frowned upon to some extent, and the 'mellow man' to be a norm now if you walk around Brooklyn, you see people with their heads down like they've been beaten up by life at 20 years old, but hold on, what's going on that these people have thrown the towel early on?
I've been thinking about this myself: Why did our parents set their lives straight and got it all sorted out at 25-30? while we're still thinking of "next step to start a life" at 35? Yes life has changed, the demands of life did too, but how did it work for them (when it was much harder in my opinion) and we're failing at it? Is it the "back against the wall" mode that they were in growing up..? Interesting thought indeed..
Men seem to be seen as less than fully human now. Certainly they’re not taken seriously. I worry about Wokeism and the excesses of #MeToo. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Clearly we’re failing as a society at commonsense and moderation and balance.