Unpacking the Man Box: How to Face Your “Stuff”

Written by Ray Arata and Narrated by Marie T. Russell. All it takes is turning on the news, reading the newspaper, or talking to people these days to be reminded that men’s behavior is getting a lot of attention — and not necessarily for good reason. The #times up, #metoo and Black Lives Matter movements provided the requisite spark to raise awareness about toxic, masculine behavior. The list of “fallen men” in high profile public and private sector industries and companies continues to grow. This group of men are the minority of men. Yet they are not the only culprits. In fact, the majority of men — who stand by unaware, silent, idle, afraid and reluctant — are contributing to men’s behavior remaining in the spotlight. In my work with men, both at the individual and organizational level, when I bring attention to the unwritten rules of what it means to be a man and how they do not work for anyone, men included, I rarely get any pushback. Rather, most men are interested in not adhering to the old “playbook” of what it means to be a man. They just haven't given it much thought. Because there hasn't been a new playbook created yet, many men end up asking, “What do I do?” This is their early-stage empathy growing roots, and it's a good thing... Continue Reading this article at InnerSelf.com (plus audio/mp3 version of article) Music By Caffeine Creek Band, Pixabay Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved. Published with permission of the author.