Can Men Evolve?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by davidcates

This weekend in Boulder CO, a group of men from around the country (and the world) are gathering. Our mission? To evolve masculinity into a form that can thrive in the 21st century… and make us glad to be men.

Your daddy’s masculinity is out of date. Testosterone has trashed the global economy.

Women are overtaking men in the job market and in colleges. The future looks grim.

Young men seem locked into perpetual boyhood. Nobody wants to grow up.

The men’s movement is disappearing down its own navel.

Jayson Gaddis called this conference because he recognized the simple truth that men tend to isolate from each other, and men’s organizations pull that same stupid shit. Instead of working together, we’re all too often out there reinventing the wheel, hiding our failures, refusing to ask for directions when we get lost.

The Evolving Men’s Conference asks the simple question: What happens when men who are passionate about men’s work actually work together?

What happens when men’s organizations sit down together and collaborate?

Stay tuned…

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  • http://gwenbell.com Gwen Bell

    As a friend of Jayson’s (arrived here from his tweet to your post), pushing back a bit on what you’re claiming Jayson said. “Jayson Gaddis called this conference because he recognized the simple truth that men tend to isolate from each other, and men’s organizations pull that same stupid shit. Instead of working together, we’re all too often out there reinventing the wheel, hiding our failures, refusing to ask for directions when we get lost.”

    I’ve been on the receiving end of what happens when men doing men’s work incorporate other men, and women, doing this work, in their lives. It’s a slow coming out of the shell, but in small increments, yes, men evolve. Just as women evolve.

    I have friends in men’s groups in Boulder that are doing tremendous work. They make the occasional post to their wall that elicits a tumble of emotions, of heady proclamations, of reassurances from other members of the tribe. While the men in these groups may not be evolving as quickly, they are certainly evolving. (Based on Jayson’s recent post on shadows, my guess is he’d agree – sometimes brute force isn’t the best way. In fact, it’s that brute force that got us into some messes in the first place.)

    Through their blog posts, in quiet conversations under covers, in the corner of a coffee shop right now, change is happening.

    This time, let’s encourage it be alongside women. Rather than worrying that women are “overtaking men in the job market,” let women have a day in the sunshine. And men, build. As you will. And this time, for the long-haul. In a way that supports us all.

    • http://deepmasculine.wordpress.com davidcates

      Thanks for checking in, Gwen. I love that you’re a proponent of balance online and off! Not quite sure that’s the approach I’m choosing for this particular work. Waking men up can require loud noises, administered repeatedly. Once they’re out of bed, the more balanced conversations can begin…

      I see from your wonderful website you’re a fan of whimsy. Any suggestions for using more provocative or edgy forms of humor online? In person, that works well with men. Guess I’m still fiddling with the finetuning here in print.

  • http://jaysongaddis.com Jayson

    Hi Gwen,

    For me it’s a both/and. Some men need a kick in the ass, particularly men’s leaders who are not practicing what they preach. Other times, a kick in the ass will only isolate a man even further.

    Yes, change is happening. More and more men are quietly looking in the mirror and asking the important questions about their life. Then, perhaps they tell someone about it. This is huge.

    And yes, for me the new paradigm we are stepping into is one of co-creation, masculine and feminine walking side by side raising us all up. But that is largely up to men to embody since women are already there as you point out. We men are the ones needing to embody our inner feminine and learn to know her deeply. That will make the co-creation much smoother as we move forward, together.

  • Andrewlangham

    dna is a molecular ribon structure and is held together by low energy photons which are polar & possess a charge value and are so small gravity does not effect them! the human cell is like a larva lamp it has millions of gliserol protein cytosol  molecule similar to  egg albumin’ the gliserol fats have their own specific weight and viscosity and surface tension charge’  Note when atoms are in ensemble mode’ ie testosterone the molecule possesses an over polarity according to the compaction of lowenergy photons surronding it! These photons are the bonding elementary process’ note glycogen is a triplicate starch formation that is triple polar biased and has female inward projections that dock with gliserol protein!  such as testosterone! and many other hormones’ they are carbon hydrogen bonds! and multiplexed  photon polar bonds’ all peptides bond in this manner!