Tony Porter Ted talk; A call to men.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. I thought it was thought provoking.

On the one hand, there is a strong cultural expectation that men don't express what they're feeling unless it's anger or posturing for the benefit of the gang. This "man box" is destructive for the people forced to live in it.

On the other hand, I dislike the perceived need to argue that changes to our self-destructive attitudes are necessary only because they bother women. The fact that they are self-destructive and reflective of limited self-respect is reason enough. Maybe if he were giving the speech to a room full of guys; ostensibly his intended audience, the tone would have been different.

We've been experimenting on boys for 30 years. I think that the "fixes" that have been applied to them are demonstrably not working. They are depressed, alienated, disillusioned and detached from any useful model of what it means to be a man. At least when I was young 40 years ago, I knew what I was supposed to be when I grew up, warts and all.

And welcome to DU.