How to Be a Man

One of articles recommended this morning by the Firefox web browser was this one: Moms Are Worried About Their Sons Post-Election, Too. It got me thinking about producing a vlog on the topic of what it means to be a man and how to become one. That led me to think about with whom to collaborate, and that made me realize that no one, including myself, feels like an authority about what it means to be a man.

We’re in a moment where Donald Trump is evidently a role model of what it means to be a man, where Josh Hawley has somehow published a book on manhood and masculinity (which, for the record, I have not read). I just feel like the world needs a guide that is less extreme. Less conservative. Less grab ’em by the pussy.

I don’t have any doubts about myself being a man, but there are definitely parts of manhood I would have trouble explaining. Parts of manhood that I don’t encounter recently or often enough to have really thought through in terms that I could define.

The generation following mine struggled with “adulting”. That makes me doubt whether they are suitable collaborators on such a project.

Heck, my own life isn’t exactly a showcase of success. Maybe I shouldn’t be the one running this project.

Maybe the project should be to find successful progressive men and showcase them.