pickA must for any man or boy!
From the perspective of a man living in the Western world, I recognize that initiation rites into maturity (for males and females) are essentially non-existent. Society has forfeited its role to government and the result has been none to kind. We do not have mentors, there is no great wisdom being passed down from one generation to another, but thankfully we do have a few select books that can at least point the way.
pickThis is a tenderly funny look at a bunch of middle aged men who gather each year to reenact the football game where Joe Theismann‘s thigh was snapped. Bachelder did a great job of giving each man a distinct personality in a very short space. I rarely read a book that gives a group of men such emotional depth. #roll100
#tlt @dabbe
(This is off the top of my head, there are too many to sort through.)
1. Philip Marlowe from...well...nearly every Raymond Chandler novel.
2. Stevens from Remains of the Day
3. Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Tag @RaeLovesToRead @cbee @ImperfectCJ @BarbaraBB @IndoorDame
pickI don‘t think there was a single passage that didn‘t go right to the gut: Shraya, a Western Canadian, writes directly and beautifully about her young experience of being forced into masculinity, and the impact a masculine-dominated culture continues to have on her as a woman. She questions binary structures and stereotypes, and shifts from second-person “you” to “me” writing part way through.
#Nonfiction2023 #LikeAVirgin
#Booked2023 #Transgender
When I was learning to be a man, I wish that instead of the coaching I received to take up space, I had been taught to be respectful of space, to be ever conscious of and ever grateful to those whose sacred land I inhabit, to be mindful of the space and bodies of others, especially feminine bodies, to never presume that I‘m permitted to touch the body of another, no matter how queer the space, to give up space when I‘m afforded more than others.
Consumption is a key to masculinity. I observe what foods men chuck into their carts and fill mine with the same, hoping to eat my way to a body like theirs. I lift weights despite recurring injuries. What would my body look like if I didn‘t want affection from gay men and protection from straight men? What would my body look like if I didn‘t have to mould it into both a shield and an ornament? How do I love a body that was never fully my own?
pickYes. To summarize the book in one quote, "....but in the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue." I couldn't agree more. This is my second time through this book. It hit home this time through in ways it didn't the first time. Men, read this.
pickThis book complements Orenstein‘s book Girls and Sex. Through interviews with high school and college age boys/men as well as research, Orenstein explores how the interviewees perceive masculinity, sex, porn, girls/women, hook-up culture. As always Orenstein provides a lot of research and her own analysis of current trends. CW discussion and description of rape and sexual assault.
I've read this before. I think it will be different this time. Real men are needed at this point in history. Men with character and heart.
so-soI've been a Caitlin Moran fan for a long time, but this one didn't do it for me. I was skeptical from the start; I get frustrated with the line that women have it easier than men, which is where Moran begins, and I also think that many of men's problems - aggression, violence, emotional disconnection - result in great harm to women and shouldn't be our job to fix. I agree with Hannah Gadsby's brisk admonition to guys: "Sort your shit out." ???
