Boys Will Be Human: A Get-Real Gut-Check Guide to Becoming the Strongest, Kindest, Bravest Person You Can Be

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This MG+ book has my whole heart. I believe every human should be required to read it and have the conversations that come naturally in every chapter. If you get uncomfortable or disagree KEEP READING! It’s okay to have those feelings—if you don’t have them while reading a personal development book then you’re doing it wrong. This was real, raw & relatable and it goes in any middle/high/public library immediately. Liz Plank went around the country interviewing men for her book and she avoided using the phrase “toxic masculinity,” which I also took to doing. When Plank asked men what was hard about being a man, the most common answer she got was other men. Most of the men Plank spoke to had never talked about these problems with other men in their lives. “That’s not to say women don’t reinforce these patriarchal notions of masculinity and have absorbed them as well,” she wrote. Throughout the book she articulated how intersectional this issue of masculinity is, and promoted something called a “gender reset for boys,” in which we teach them how to create healthy emotional habits and to be aware of one’s internal dialogue and behavior. She coined the term “mindful masculinity.”

Boys About - Parents Justin Baldoni Releases a Book To Teach Boys About - Parents

Over the past few years, I have grown interested in the environment that allows for violence, hatred and misogyny to take place and adjacent to that, how boys and men are socialized. So, I decided to explore a very complex issue: the identity of a man. I wanted to know what it really means to perform masculinity and more about this whole toxic masculinity thing: where it came from, how it is perpetuated and how the use of such language affects the lives of real people. And it turned out, I was not the only one thinking critically about issues related to this community. Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association sounded the alarm when they created the first-ever explicit Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Men and Boys. While there had been previous guidelines for practice with women and girls, transgender people and gender nonconforming people, older adults and even guidelines for certain issue areas, but not for boys and men because for decades, psychology treated men (particularly white men) as the standard for psychological development and treatment. Justin Baldoni, American actor, filmmaker and podcaster, whose 2017 TED Talk on ‘what it means to be man enough’ went viral, has written a chatty, kind, honest guide to being a boy. Covering topics like being brave, being smart, being cool, as well as sex, puberty, bullying and being bullied, body image and love, this is essential reading for 10+.Now tell me I don’t sound like an actual insane person. Would you believe I’m quite educated? Would you believe I look normal and act normal in society? Would you believe i put on my mask like everyone else and go and function in the real world with a smile on my face for my children? Would you believe I’m just like you? Another hurt victim of this terrible system with a good heart and belief in humanity. Really makes you think…doesn’t it. Really makes me want to read Marx and get into my community ❤️✌️ What a drag capitalism is… That’s the thing with starting to deconstruct all the systems we are forced to live under and have no say in. All roads lead to the bourgeoisie war against the working class.

Boys Will Be Human | Justin Baldoni | 9780063067189 | NetGalley Boys Will Be Human | Justin Baldoni | 9780063067189 | NetGalley

It's been five years since your Ted Talk on masculinity. What was the root of that talk? That feels to me like the root of Boys Will Be Human, in many ways. I listened to the audiobook and I think this book is an excellent read and conversation starter for men but particularly boys and young men coming into their own. Justin does a good job of laying out unhealthy, though very normalized, behavior while not damning or condemning males. His jokes are hella corny but I think they serve a purpose of helping the reader/listener along in the winding road of challenging topics that are relevant to men. By engaging a group of men, and then sharing the content of our convo, I will be able to reach a lot of men and encourage conversation and accountability among them. Even though I didn’t find any groups where men, especially young men, were self-gathering around this specific issue, I did find groups and organizations working to support boys and men and at least starting to have these conversations. Make It Happen, for example, serves young men of color between the ages of 16 and 24 who have been negatively impacted by community violence. More on them later. Wanting to serve a community that has historically been underserved by mainstream media, I went to East New York as it is largely a community of color in a low-income area and looked for community centers and other programs where boys and men met already. He sounds like a man-child who newly found therapy, discovering himself, the guy who used to act with a golden retriever adhd cute guy energy and people took advantage of his low impulse control, walked all over him, and now somehow thinks he is ready to share his knowledge. no bro, you are still a child.

This engagement project is about learning to make connections with words rather than fists. This is about letting young men of color know that their experiences are not isolated and that they are not alone even when they are taught to remain stoic, in-control and dominant. This is about feeling a sense of community and a source of inspiration. This is about hope. With this project, I wanted to provide the space and experience for them to feel comfortable determining their own future; their own path; their own identity apart from societal expectations because this affects more than just boys and men, this affects everyone.