How to Be a Real Man
A Short Guide For a Changing Landscape
There’s a lot in the zeitgeist right now about what it means to be a man. It’s come on the heels of the recent deluge of stories from women about just how pervasive sexual harassment and general poor behavior towards women actually is, although I suspect it’s been there lurking for a lot longer than the past year. Sure, it’s #NotAllMen who do these kinds of things, but this type of unacceptable experience is something that has happened to nearly all women, and as we are starting to have a greater understanding of that, it’s shaking up the conversation even further about what it even means to be a man.
This conversation may have catalyzed with the Harvey Weinstein story breaking open, but when it quickly became apparent that this kind of abusive behavior goes on not just in Hollywood, but in every industry and sector of the population, it became the topic for an even larger dialogue. We saw how harassment and abuse happens even to “strong” women who have been successful in male-dominated arenas. In November 2017, an open letter from women in national security was published which detailed some of these experiences.
“Signatories to the letter include 223 women who have served across the federal government — in the State Department, in the intelligence community, at USAID, and at the Pentagon —…
