Father's Day
There's been so much in the press recently about equal (#not so equal) pay across all walks of life, the me too movement and the centenary of the first women in this country having the right to vote. And rightly so! We're still too slowly making our way down the road to equality, but the raising of one group shouldn't mean the denigration of another. And we're a broad church here at Modo, so it's men that are on our minds this week. And it is Father's Day on Sunday so, you know, it might be nice to pause a while to think of all they are and all that they do for us.
There 'aint no doubt that men have got their own struggles going on at present. Young boys often possess a greater energy, a need to master the big motor skills before they can get to grips, quite literally, with the finer ones. Turns out - all that running-round-like-nutters thing they do, they might need that for longer than girls before they're ready to sit and learn. So, our classrooms have too many fidgety boys, looking out of the window, beginning to think they might not be quite good enough. The male role models they so desperately need are too often absent. As teenagers, they might be bored. They may be told to man up, to put their bottom lip away. In short, could we be letting too many of our boys down and all that uniquely male energy gets diverted somewhere darker and they never flourish into the gorgeous, kind, happy men they have the potential to be?
Traditional roles are breaking down and the masculinity associated with this seems to becoming redundant. Massive social change leave our minds struggling to catch up. We've all, men and women, had ideas about gender instilled in us as children by the parents who had it instilled in them. But the world has changed and those ideas must change too. And so here we are. Adapt or perish - isn't that how the saying goes?
So, let's adapt then, shall we? Because if we put our struggles aside a minute, might this not be a really exciting time? If the rules about gender and roles are all in the air anyway, why not raise our hands and feel liberated as they fall back down around us? There's so much to celebrate. Women are finally allowed to be funny. Gay couples are free to raise happy children. Some men can now work with a flexibility that allows them to be involved in the raising of their children to an unprecedented degree.
It would be so great if we could edge forward together. Appreciating there's actually a lot more that unites than divides us. And, where those differences are apparent, celebrating them in each other! We'll cheerlead your right to emotional vulnerability if you've got our back on fair pay. That sort of thing. So, if we're all agreed, we'll start! We challenge all the people reading this to think, really think, of the qualities the fathers they know possess and the very many special things they do each day that deserve our thanks and utter admiration. And a nice card. And some time to themselves perhaps.
watch: The Mask Of Masculinity
Listen to: Frank Turner, Be more Kind
For further proof of how far we've come and to enjoy a serious story told in an irreverent way, catch up with A Very English Scandal (just try not to get distracted by the Paddington voice - it makes it a bit weird).
Read Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man - who expresses similar ideas to the above, approximately a gazillion times better than we have.
There 'aint no doubt that men have got their own struggles going on at present. Young boys often possess a greater energy, a need to master the big motor skills before they can get to grips, quite literally, with the finer ones. Turns out - all that running-round-like-nutters thing they do, they might need that for longer than girls before they're ready to sit and learn. So, our classrooms have too many fidgety boys, looking out of the window, beginning to think they might not be quite good enough. The male role models they so desperately need are too often absent. As teenagers, they might be bored. They may be told to man up, to put their bottom lip away. In short, could we be letting too many of our boys down and all that uniquely male energy gets diverted somewhere darker and they never flourish into the gorgeous, kind, happy men they have the potential to be?
Traditional roles are breaking down and the masculinity associated with this seems to becoming redundant. Massive social change leave our minds struggling to catch up. We've all, men and women, had ideas about gender instilled in us as children by the parents who had it instilled in them. But the world has changed and those ideas must change too. And so here we are. Adapt or perish - isn't that how the saying goes?
So, let's adapt then, shall we? Because if we put our struggles aside a minute, might this not be a really exciting time? If the rules about gender and roles are all in the air anyway, why not raise our hands and feel liberated as they fall back down around us? There's so much to celebrate. Women are finally allowed to be funny. Gay couples are free to raise happy children. Some men can now work with a flexibility that allows them to be involved in the raising of their children to an unprecedented degree.
It would be so great if we could edge forward together. Appreciating there's actually a lot more that unites than divides us. And, where those differences are apparent, celebrating them in each other! We'll cheerlead your right to emotional vulnerability if you've got our back on fair pay. That sort of thing. So, if we're all agreed, we'll start! We challenge all the people reading this to think, really think, of the qualities the fathers they know possess and the very many special things they do each day that deserve our thanks and utter admiration. And a nice card. And some time to themselves perhaps.
watch: The Mask Of Masculinity
Listen to: Frank Turner, Be more Kind
For further proof of how far we've come and to enjoy a serious story told in an irreverent way, catch up with A Very English Scandal (just try not to get distracted by the Paddington voice - it makes it a bit weird).
Read Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man - who expresses similar ideas to the above, approximately a gazillion times better than we have.
