manweek

following on from that post about feminism, it seems that there's a bit of a 'thing' going around called 'manweek'. part of an initiative of reachout.com.au, some of the boy bloggers are expressing their feelings about being a man, in an aim to get boys talking about how they feel about stuff, in an effort to stop the crazy depression/suicide rates of australian men.

and as much as i stand and applaud the initiative (and its fantastic mix of twitter hashtags and radio), i'm going to be challenging some of my boy blogging friends to dig a little deeper yet again. whilst it's vital to express ones emotions, nostalgia and responses to life, i think it's also necessary for these particularly articulate mates to also ask questions like 'why?' and 'how?'. why do i care what my father thinks of me? why do i feel it necessary to be extroverted, macho and/or brave? how can i use my feelings to reflect/develop my idea of masculinity? who are my male idols and why?

again, i think it's about a continual assessment of what identity and gender roles are placed on us and whether that leaves us as human, social beings.