This is my look at what there has been on Men on the Internet in May. There is not as much as there should be that looks at Men’s Issues in a serious and enlightened way. It is my intention to promote what there is to help us all reach a wider audience. If you know of anything interesting that I have missed please highlight it in the comments.

This month I feature Jayson Gaddis, The Good Men Project, Primer Magazine, The Art of Manliness, Citizen renegade and The Art of Non-Conformity.

Jayson Gaddis has announced the Evolving Men’s Conference. It’s Purpose Statement is “To bring together leaders of various men’s organizations to brainstorm the development of an Evolving Men’s Conference that galvanizes the men’s movement, promotes collaboration among different men’s organizations, and evolves the consciousness of men around the world.” A pre-conference will be held in Boulder in September 2010 with the main conference in 2011. This is definitely something to get involved in, I will be there.

The Good Men Project is looking for Bloggers for it’s forthcoming Online Magazine. As they say, “On June 1st, 2010, The Good Men Project will also be a full online magazine. And…here’s where you come in…We’re looking for bloggers — any interested writers — who want to be a part of the project.” Contact them and get writing. This is an important project.

Primer Magazine has an article worth reading on “The Secret to Having a Commanding Presence“. Antwan McLean says, “Nothing can ever take the place of presence. The world is simply a reflection of the energy we put out from within. Consider the fact that it is impossible for someone to know your history at first glance. You don’t walk around with a resume taped to your chest announcing your finer points to the world. People are drawn and respond to the physical energy you display.” Presence is absolutely essential to a man’s development, read more about and start working on it.

In The Art of Manliness, Brett and Kate Mackay get down to describing “What is Manliness?“. They say, ” So my definition of manliness, like Aristotle’s and the Romans, is simple: striving for excellence and virtue in all areas of your life, fulfilling your potential as a man, and being the absolute best brother, friend, husband, father and citizen you can be. This mission is fulfilled by the cultivation of manly virtues like: Courage, Loyalty, Industry, Resiliency, Resolution, Personal Responsibility, Self-Reliance, Integrity, Sacrifice.” I agree with so much of this and I feel that we need to spend more time outlining the qualities men should strive for.

Citizen Renegade has a fun piece of “Beta or Herb?“. I don’t agree with the Alpha obsession of this, and similar, blogs, but, nevertheless it does have some interesting stuff to say, from time to time. His description of a ‘Herb’ as, “a schlumpy, nondescript white guy with no fashion sense, chin, or sexual gravitas, who has managed to hook up with a cute chick” has a resonance.

Lastly in The Art of Non-Conformity, Chris Guillebeau talks about “How to be a Motivational Speaker“. Chris does not write on Men’s Issues but more gneerally about how to take on the world. This article focuses on Passion, “You can’t just BE A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER. No one likes that shit. What you should do is BE PASSIONATE ABOUT SOMETHING. Show up and talk about something you give a damn about. Your passion will be motivational in itself.” He is definitely worth reading.

I hope you enjoyed the articles and would like to see more of this type of writing. Let me know in the comments what I have missed and what you would like to see in June’s edition.

Technorati Tags: manliness, Masculinity, Men, Passion, Presence

Male eXperience feels strongly about stereotypical men. My son put in his blog, “if i ever become Frank Wheeler please tie me to a chair and punch me in the nose until I can smell my bullshit”. Having just seen Revolutionary Road myself I started thinking about Frank, thinking about the hopeless emptiness.Frank is the man that so many women meet and marry. Frank is the man that so many women fear they will end up with. Frank is so typical of so many men. He is overwhelmed with fear but doesn’t see it like that. He fears that underneath there is truly nothing there (I know that because for years that was me, I was scared I would be found out, scared that the truth would come out). He covers up that fear with concern for the children, promotion at work and a sense of responsibility for his wife. He pretends he wants to strike out for freedom, to go and find his passion, but he ends up like his mates and his colleagues. He settles for the ‘sensible’ option, a life of hard work and responsibility. He avoids the emotion but loses out on life.

Frank is also scared of his wife, as so many men are. Not only does he not understand her, he doesn’t try to. He is afraid of her wildness and her unpredictability. Why can’t she be more like him, why doesn’t she make sense? Of course, she’s a woman and, like so many men, he doesn’t understand them. He gets caught up in her passion when they are young, but expects her to settle down when they get older, get a house and have children and that that is enough as it is for him. As the song says, “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” In the end he just sees her as mad, needing a psychiatrist, and her death at the end just proves it to him.

Men, wake up and see your women for what they really are, passionate, wild, unpredictable, chaotic, loving and so in need of some strength and presence from their man. You need to be a rock for her, strong and confident in yourself. You need to know yourself and you need to have conquered your fears. She needs to whirl around you and know you will still be there. She needs to have crazy ideas and know you won’t run away in fear. She doesn’t want you to control her or tell her what to do, but she wants you to understand her, even when she doesn’t understand herself. She wants you to know!

I throroughly enjoyed the film and thought the performances from Leonardo and Kate were amazing, even more powerful than Titanic. They really plumbed the depths of the characters and truly brought them to life. But even more stunning was the character of John, the ‘fool’ who spoke the truth. He brought an amazing film to life. Men, go and see this film and take action, never become Frank Wheeler.

Technorati Tags: Frank Wheeler, Masculinity, Passion, Presence, Revolutionary Road, Role Model