In responding to Michael Wolff’s new book about him, Donald Trump tweeted that Steve Bannon “cried when he got fired.” I’m not a fan of Steve Bannon. Based on what I’ve seen, I doubt that he really did cry, at least not in front of Donald Trump. I think this because, as older American men,…
Category: Good Men Project
The Only Way Out is Through
As I write this, it is the last day of 2017. This is the fiftieth Good Man Project article I’ve written this year. Thank you for reading. I’ve been thinking a lot about labyrinths lately. This year, my stepmother sold the house and land she and my father had bought decades ago for their retirement….
How I Overcame the Christmas Blues
When I was a child, I loved Christmas. I loved the gifts, of course, but it was also a time for togetherness. Along with Thanksgiving, it was one of the two times a year that my family was obliged to act like a loving, healthy group. We would visit other relatives, too. I had cousins…
Three Ways Male Entitlement Erases Women
One. The other day I went to McDonald’s with my eight-year-old son. We don’t go very often, but he likes the Happy Meal toys, and he was putting up with Christmas shopping. While we were waiting in line, he went to check out the toy display: Train cars, tied to various popular children’s franchises. Hot…
Melting the Icebergs of the White Patriarchs
I’ve been thinking about icebergs again. I was thinking about them earlier in the year. At the time, Richard Spencer and other white nationalists were marching in Charlottesville. Moderate white people were rushing to distance themselves from the Nazis with tiki torches defending statues of General Robert E. Lee. The problem with that, as I…
A Eulogy for Porn
The first time I saw a pornographic magazine, I was about twelve years old. My older brother had gotten half a dozen issues of magazines like Hustler from a friend whose father had an extensive collection. The teen boys would look at the magazines in his bedroom, and I was invited to join in, in…
Write for the Good Men Project!
When I first found Good Men Project, I was excited. Here was a website dedicated to changing the traditional views of manhood and working towards social change. This was somewhere that I could offer my own voice on being a man in the 21st Century. But I hesitated to offer submissions because I thought my…
Four Reasons Why LaVar Ball Isn’t Giving Thanks
Today is supposed to be a day for giving thanks, so let’s talk about one man who’s currently famous for refusing to do so. I recently watched the entire twenty two minutes and change of Chris Cuomo trying to figure out why LaVar Ball won’t say “thank you” to Donald Trump for his role in…
Venomous Snakes and Turd-Filled Candy
Muhammad Ali once explained why the idea that there were some decent white people wasn’t a useful argument for him. Suppose there were ten thousand snakes, most of which were venomous, in the next room. Should he hope that the non-venomous snakes would protect him, or should he close the door? Last year, Donald Trump Jr….
Awakening of the Nerd
When I was a younger man, I loved the movie “Revenge of the Nerds.” I was a disenfranchised nerd, so its message of the underdogs overcoming the beautiful people resonated with me. I was a white, male, straight American, so its casual racism, sexism, and homophobia flitted past me. They bothered me in the way…