Why We Need To Talk About Men

Article here. Excerpt:

'Luckily, Plank’s new book, “For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity,” which comes out Tuesday, attempts to dig into this Very Big Question, and drives home that a system we all participate in is one that we have the power to collectively transform.

Plank’s book paints a deeply-researched, compassionate and critical portrait of modern manhood. Through years of research and interviews with a diverse cross-section of men, she explores the ways that toxic ideas about masculinity push men into undue suffering, stifling their emotions, their friendships, their health, their professional and social fulfillment, their interactions with women, and their literal lifespans.

“We’re forcing people into boxes that don’t serve them or society,” Plank said. “And I’m interested in how transformative it can be for us to just have 1 percent of this conversation. Just for one guy to ask himself one question, I think, would be fundamentally huge for our society.”

“For the Love of Men” effectively makes the case that the time for talking openly and honestly about masculinity was forever ago, and therefore we need to start immediately. And the stakes could not be higher. As Plank writes in the introduction to her book: “There is no greater threat to humankind than our current definitions of masculinity.”'