What do recent events such as #MeToo, the election of Donald Trump, and an onslaught of mass shootingsperpetrated by white men all have in common? They’ve all provoked important cultural conversations about manhood in America.
About 60% of menbelieve that society puts unhealthy pressure on men. Michael Ian Black declared in a recent buzzed-about New York Times op-ed that, “America’s boys are broken. And it’s killing us.”
Though women’s studies-- a field that has long helped to parse the nuances of womanhood-- has become somewhat entrenched in our cultural discourse, men’s studies--a subset of feminist/gender studies aimed at critically analyzing manhood and masculinity-- has yet to earn a real space in the conversation. Many argue that our aversion to talking about men and manhood is hurting women and men alike.
What is unique about being a man today? Is masculinity in crisis? What steps are men taking to preserve or shift their own definitions of manhood?
We wanna know what you think it means to be a man in 2018. Call us at (860)-275-7272.
GUESTS:
- Anna Sale - Reporter; host and managing editor of WNYC’s Death, Sex, and Money podcast.
- Thomas Page McBee - Vice’s “masculinity expert” and a former editor at Quartz. His memoir, Man Alive, was named one of the best books of 2014 by NPR Books. His newest book is Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man a Man.
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Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
