I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know what it means to be a man.
As a mom of boys, though, I’m acutely aware of the fact that my boys (and yours) are surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of messages that subtly and not-so-subtly infer what’s manly and what’s not. Pink, glittery sparkly shoes are not considered manly in our culture. Football is.
Sadly, most of the “this is how to be a man” messages our boys are receiving are one-dimensional — and potentially harmful. These messages falsely restrict and limit our boys, forcing them to live in what author Rosalind Wiseman calls the Act-Like-A-Man-Box. And all too often, these message lead our boys towards trouble and away from responsible, fulfilling lives.
Author Mike Palombi fell prey to these messages as a young boy. His warped ideas of manhood ultimately led him straight to prison.
Palombi learned from his mistakes, and now works with at-risk youth. Stay tuned for a Q & A with him later this week!
