We Need Men to Prosper
When my daughter was aged 6 she blurted out: ‘We can do anything boys can do, and have babies...?’
So, who needs men? We do...we need men to prosper.
There has been a lot of talk about the ‘metro-sexual’ in the lifestyle sections of magazines, and this has recently all but been replaced by the term ‘retro-sexual’ - where there are abundant tales full of men wearing hunting garb, buying designer swords or axes, and writing about the Art of Manliness on blogs.
The truth is: it’s not how men style themselves that will make them whole again—it’s what they do with their days. Susan Faludi, the author of books on both sexes’ points out: “their sense of their own manhood flows out of their utility in a society, not the other way around. Conceiving of masculinity as something to be (a part to play) turns manliness into [something] ornamental, and this is about as ‘masculine’ as fake eyelashes are inherently ‘feminine’!” (Newsweek, Sept 2010)
In this country, THE MANKIND PROJECT *and the Lords of Bling* have gone a long way in providing a platform for exploring the deep instinctual energy at Men’s core. These programmes restore men’s integrity, accountability, and connection to feeling – leaving them with a renewed sense of passion and personal responsibility.
So let’s embrace the new macho, throw our weight behind men who want to make a change .We women need to get back to the forgotten principles of the original women’s movement, which put men’s progress hand in hand with women’s. ‘The only way that we can resolve these issues is for both men and women to join together,’ says historian Barbara Berg. ‘You can’t liberate only one half.’
Forty years ago, Gloria Steinem said that women’s liberation would also be men’s. Today, maybe it’s the opposite: that men’s liberation will be good for women.
Warmest Wishes,
Hanlie Raath
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