The Rise Of The Men's Movement

The Rise of the Men's Movement

Michael Ybaben

11-30-98

English 100 7:00pm

Cause Essay

In the mid-late eighties, an interesting phenomenon began to take place, groups of men began to come together to talk. Something was going wrong in the world's community of men and we needed to figure out what it was. The fifties had been a long time ago, the sixties also in the past. Time was moving fast as usual and things were generally getting better, or so everyone thought. Men had gone through many changes since the 50's and there were different reasons. We had made many changes in response to the Feminist movement and to Viet Nam and to the "Ozzie and Harriet" ideals of the 50's, but something just still wasn't right. We were still lost and we were still hurting. What is a man? What does it mean to be a man? How do you become a man? These were things we needed to find out and the Men's Movement was a possible solution.

In the 50's, everyone was told how you were to act to be a man. It was easy; just join a fraternity, play sports, sleep with a lot of girls, be tough, don't cry, get a good job and make lot's of money. It seemed so easy yet why did so many of us fail. The answer was because living like that was killing us. That image was not one of a whole person, a whole man, it was one of a mutilated man. It was an image of a disconnected man. "We are living at an important and fruitful moment now, for it is clear to men that the images of adult manhood given by the popular culture are worn out; a man can no longer depend on them" (Bly 9). He continues to say that as we near mid life the images we received in our youth do not work any more.

During the 60's and 70's, another type of man began to emerge. He was a man that saw the rigidity and closeness of the men in the 50's and knew it wasn't right. In the meantime, the feminist movement encouraged men to actually look at women, forcing us to become conscious of concerns and sufferings that the 50's tried to avoid. As men began to examine women's history some men realized we had a feminine side too and we needed to pay attention to it. This has been a process that has continued to this day. The journey many American men have made into developing their feminine side has been a valuable one, but more travel lies ahead.

This is where the Men's Movement really comes from, from the inner knowledge that we have that there's more work to be done. According to many of the movement's leaders, two of the major motivations for